Justin and Kelli

A Proud Mama

2012-02-03T12:36:00.005-07:00

Ok so I realize it has been FOREVER since I have blogged. What a slacker I am. I honestly can say I never thought life would get any busier than it was when I was in school, and then I thought wow I can't get any busier then this when I was on my mission, then I thought that when I got married and was in school and then working, and then I thought oh life can't get any busier then it is after having a baby...WELL I was SOOO wrong. In the last few months I have taken classes with H&R Block so that I can prepare taxes this year, I have started working, we moved, Justin's working still and going to school, and Britlee is growing and crawling everywhere and walking along furniture. I tell you I don't think I will ever say life couldn't get any busier because I have been so dead wrong in the past.

As was mentioned we moved, but we are still in Rexburg. We moved into a wonderful townhouse, which we love. It was a pretty hectic time and timeframe for that matter, but it all worked and we are almost settled :)

I still can't believe I haven't blogged in so long. I missed Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years...Oh boy so I'm warning you now there will be a post with just a bunch of pictures I'm sure.

Our sweet little Bumble Bee, Britlee, is sure growing fast. Just the other day Justin and I were discussing how it is happening far too quickly and we aren't sure we like it. Ok I know I don't like it, but I can't stop her. I've already tried having a sit down heart to heart chat with her and it just didn't work.

For the past couple of months she has army crawled all over the place/the little leap frog(getting on hands and knees and lunging forward) and in the last two weeks has started doing a full crawl. It's so funny cause if she gets going too fast she falls on her belly and she says forget this and starts her super fast army crawl. I just love it. Sometimes I leave our room just to walk down the hall to hers so I can watch her go her fastest to catch up. Honestly it is just adorable. She now sits up from lying down or walking all by herself. And has decided the hardest thing she can get her mouth on is exactly what she wants to chew on. Mainly church benches, chairs, crib...yes I do believe it is to soothe her mouth from the teething, though at times it grosses me out.

Britlee has been going through the "teething process" since she was about 4 1/2 months old. We could feel a bump in her gums one day and then not the next, those crazy elevator teeth. Then we could see the tooth indents on her gums a couple months ago and as of Monday I could see one tooth!! And now we can feel it. Which is exciting and not so much cause she has a tendency to bite down sometimes when I'm feeding her...OUCH!! She loves blueberries and bananas! I tried offering her raspberries the other day and she decided she is not ready for those yet. She will eat other fruits but they aren't her favorite. She is constantly trying to eat whatever we are eating and just stares as we eat. She even moves her head to watch us. She loves veggies too and the meat she doesn't mind much. She actually ate that better for awhile then the fruit. Too sweet I suppose. She had some avocado's yesterday and ate a few bites and thought it was great and then decided well maybe not. So we shall see.

I seriously cannot believe how much time flies and so fast. She still talks all the time and people still turn to stare at us in public places, especially church. I can't help that my child wants to sing along, share her stories, and testimony right along with everyone else. I love it! She has found a favorite thing she likes to do every morning and I finally got it on video the other day. She loves standing at the end of our bed and tell stories. She stands there and waves, dances, and tells stories. A total crack up! She is our little entertainer.

Justin is enjoying school and work. He is doing amazing at both, yes I might be a little bias but it's true. He actually said yesterday he isn't as stressed about it all as he thought he might be. It's not easy being a full time student, working a part time job, and playing mr. mom at night. But he does great and I think Britlee loves her time with him.

Me, well I feel busy but I'm probably not as busy as most. Britlee and I play constantly and don't do a lot of housework, oops! But I figure since I started working I don't get as much time with her so when I do I want to take full advantage! I work 3 to 4 times a week at H&R Block, which I really enjoy. It's still really hard to leave Britlee for a few hours but I don't cry nearly as often so I think I'm making some sort of progress. The last two weeks have been really busy so I have worked the 6 days a week we are open and for a lot longer hours. It has been hard on us all, but I think we have started adjusting. I can't wait to get back to only 3 days a week. But it's been really fun getting to know people and doing what I actually went to school for. Though I must also admit I can't wait for April 18th cause then I will be ALL done!

Oh my, so cute story. As I'm here typing Britlee woke up and I could hear her talking. I went upstairs and what I find is her sitting in her crib reading her book. SO cute! I wish I would've had my camera to take a picture. Maybe next time. She is quite the reader and story teller so I'm sure it won't be the last time, I'm hoping anyways.

Well I do believe that I should endmy story for now. I have a little girl ready for lunch. Pictures and more stories to come.

Who's the Boss?

2011-10-11T15:11:00.005-06:00

SIX MONTHS!! It is so crazy to see how fast time flies by. I can't believe Britlee is already six months old. I feel like she was just born. Everyday sure is an adventure and I love it! I had all these plans though to take lots of pictures of her in different outfits and such, but since our camera got lost I don't think that will quite work out. We still have my old one, but it's not as good so maybe I will still try or borrow my brother's or something. I just want to document such a big milestone :) That and I want more pictures of my adorable daughter! But for now we will just document that she is six months and share all of her accomplishments thus far.

Britlee is now 14 1/2 pounds, which means she has more than doubled her weight! Which is fantastic. Though before she was always in the 80th percentile or close to it, she is now only in the 20th.

She now rolls EVERYWHERE! It is so fun to watch. I was telling Justin that she rolls all around the room and I guess he didn't quite believe me because we he put her down and he went into the kitchen and looked over she was already on the other side of the room he says "hurry come look, I just put her over there and now she is over here!!" But yes I got excited because he needs to experience those wonderful moments as well.

Britlee sure has her favorite toys and when you take one away she cries at you I swear she is telling us that it just isn't fair. Oh boy, it has started already! The funny thing is, is that her favorite toy seems to be the remote! HAHA it makes me laugh all the time. I know someday Justin will regret introducing that to her as a toy, but for now we all just laugh. I tell you I think she might have a personality like her father (wink wink), very independent but wanting everything her way. So really I think I may be making her sound like she is bossy and possibly starting to be bratty already, but that is not the case. She just has her moments of wanting what she wants--yes a typical girl and baby! And I love it.

Britlee LOVES books; she loves to read them and tell them. If she is ever sad I hand her a book and she quiets down and just starts turning those pages.

She loves to help me cook and clean. Many times she has to be in my arms while I do it, or right there with me. Maybe when she is older she really will help me? Is that wishful thinking? I'm sure it is, but for now I will tell myself she is going to LOVE it!! I will have an amazing helper :)

She is definitely trying to scoot but eventually gives up cause she isn't moving fast enough and rolls over and turns herself until she can get to where she wants to be. She is quite creative.

Well for now that's all I have got to share. There are many more but I won't bore you all with them. Six months has truly gone by way too fast and I am saddened but it but also so excited. Every day is a new adventure and I love it! She is an amazing little girl and I am so happy to be her mother!

Anybody have any Rootbeer?

2011-09-23T10:19:00.006-06:00

Ok so seriously I started this post a couple of weeks ago and now just getting back to it. Hopefully I will finish it. There are so many things to blog about all the time but I have no time or don't take the time. But I need to be better, why you ask? Well because it is fun and I think some people might actually read it and if I don't update it than there is nothing new to read and than you are just bored. So I will try and be better.

Britlee has become very fascinated with water bottles lately. Anytime someone is holding one she wants it; whether it's plastic or not she wants it. I think mainly because I always have one so she thinks she needs one too. Maybe? :) Anyways... so a couple of weeks ago we went to the church for an institute class. They had rootbeer floats after for dessert (YUMMY!). We were one of the last ones there and so the couple wanted to give us their the left over soda. We initially said no because we don't really drink it, but than they asked us again so we said sure since we have Cory, Aaron, Stephanie, and Melanie come over all the time --for sure they could drink it. So I was holding Britlee and Justin had gotten the soda. Britlee kept reaching for it and wanted it. Justin came closer so she could touch it and she basically grabbed it out of his hands. And this was not a small bottle mind you, as you can see below in the picture. But she sure wanted to hold it. Silly girl. She thought it was so great. She was holding on to it and smiling and laughing. As we were walking home I look at her and she is trying to suck on it. Oh my we just laughed and laughed. We tried to get good pictures but we were laughing so much she would get distracted and have to laugh too. So the pictures don't quite do the situation justice, but close enough. I tell you that girl is just too funny!

see little kisses!

Boise

2011-09-19T10:06:00.005-06:00

Yesterday ended our trip in Boise and we are now back at home in Beautiful Rexburg! We had a wonderful time :) I used to spend summers in Boise but that was so long ago I forgot most things so it was fun to go back and get a different perspective.

We stayed with a friend of mine from back home, Bridget, whom I have not seen since high school. Friday was filled with a campus tour of BSU, a question and answer seminar, meeting with the Business department, visiting my cousin Angie who I have not seen in more than 15 years, and of course we ended the night with a BSU game at Bridget's friends house filled with goodies and serious game cheering! Britlee and I enjoyed the game for awhile but than she was so tired so I wandered the house trying to get her to sleep. She would almost get there and than say oh wait there are people here who think I'm cute I can't sleep. (yes I really do think she thinks that, she is quite the entertainer) She finally fell asleep in the last five minutes.

Saturday was just as eventful with a trip to the Farmer's Market. We LOVE Farmers' Markets and we were extremely excited when we were finally able to go to the one here in Rexburg, but after walking through and seeing everything in 5 minutes we decided it was not worth the drive into town. So sad I know! So when we go other places and someone mentions one we have to check it out. When we were in Salt Lake a month or so ago we went to the one in Salt Lake and completely fell in love. Yes that sure is possible. (maybe not for everyone but for us it's so exciting. Small towns will do that to you I think) So when Bridget mentioned there being one in Boise we of course had to check it out. And yes we thought it was fantastic. So much to see and so many yummy things to try. It wasn't as big as Salt Lake but it still got us excited. There was this CUTE little boy, I say probably about 7 or 8, there selling his drawings. I tell you it was the cutest thing ever. Each drawing was 5 cents. We couldn't pass up the moment. Justin searched through the stack and found the perfect one and the boy even signed it for us. ADORABLE!! I think Justin gave him a quarter and the little boy wanted to give him change but Justin told him the rest was for him. He was pretty excited. What a great artist, starting so young. He was just sitting there with his glasses and cute little bow tie (yes of course I took pictures, BUT can't post them--well because there was a mishap that I will talk about later). After the Farmer's Market we headed over to our apartment tour. Yes, that's right, we are contemplating transferring to Boise State. So the rest of that afternoon was spent driving around viewing the city and apartment hunting. We saw some great ones. Some way out of our price range and some that seemed to make an impression. Others we wanted to view but offices were closed. So now if we decide to go we will just have to keep looking online and hope the one we pick makes us happy.

After a long afternoon of apartment hunting we went to check out the Capital Building, which was amazing. Took some pictures and than headed for the mall. Yes being in a big city we have to go to the mall. We wandered with amazement! You see our mall is not so big and could be eaten by this mall and still be hungry :) We grabbed a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and headed back to Bridget's for dinner. We enjoyed a delicious meal of ribs, potatoes, and salad with a dessert of popcorn and cheesecake!! So delightful. We then ended the night with a movie. Britlee was already asleep and I sure didn't take long to follow. I am not sure I saw much of the movie.

And than Sunday we enjoyed some visiting and left midmorning for the drive home. The trip was great, but happy to be home. Britlee had a blast, but I think she enjoyed sleeping in her own house. I could tell this morning she was happy to be back home because she gave me a "welcome home" diaper! Lol we always enjoy getting one of those after a trip.

I'm sure after these great stories you are wondering where the pictures are, well I tell you there are some! Of course there are :) I know I am bad at taking pictures and really need to get better, but this time I really took some. Some good ones too, BUT there has been a mishap. Quite a tragic one I might add. The camera has been lost, yes you read that right-LOST!! I know it is very depressing. I can't believe it either, tears are almost streaming down just talking about it. The camera contains ALL of our pictures of Britlee and no not all of them have been transfered to the computer yet. We took pictures at the Capital Building and than the next time I wanted to take a picture it could not be found. Somewhere between Capital Building and Mall it has been misplaced. When we were at the mall we figured it was just in the car, but NOPE! AHHH!!!! So now we have no idea. We are home with no camera and broken hearts. Hopefully by some chance Bridget will find it in her car miraculously. We are hoping for a miracle. If not that is what I am asking Santa for Christmas this year. Or maybe from the birthday fairy :)

But even with the tragic end the weekend was fun. Justin fell in love with Boise--I think mainly because it was a big city and he loves to be in big cities. I on the other hand loved it, but not sure I want to move. Big cities aren't really my thing anymore. And I'm comfortable here in Rexburg. So it will be fun trying to decide what to do. So stay tuned for what we decide!

A Daddy and his Daughter

2011-09-13T12:11:00.008-06:00

I have always wondered whatit was that made a relationship between a daddy and his daughter so special. I mean I am close to my daddy and just love him and know he would do anything for me. He is very protective, more with me than with mybrothers. There is just no relationship like it. I know he loves all of us kids, but somehow I just feel the relationship is just a little bit different--maybe because I am so sweet! :) But I have noticed that is how it is between other girls and their dads and even mothers and sons. So what is it that makes this so? I can't quite figure it out, but I do know there is something special about it. I see it in my home EVERY DAY!! Justin and Britlee just adore each other.Britlee and I have so much fun together all day and can laugh and smile and sometimes I am the only one that can calm her down, but I tell you when Justin gets home she smiles SO big. There is nothing like it. I just love it! When she's tired and Justin picks her up, many times she will just lay her head on his shoulder and snuggle and within just a short time she falls asleep. So precious.

I must admit I do love watching them play. When Britlee is really sad and crying Justin talks to her and does everything he can to calm her down. Most of the time it works. Amazing!

We sure have lots of laughs because of those two. One being the way Justin dresses Britlee. I tease him all the time telling him he sure is lucky she doesn't know any better, but someday she will see pictures and wonder what on earth he was thinking when he picked out her outfits. We have had quite the unique color scheme. Pinks and peaches and reds. Yes that would be all in one outfit. I think that one is my favorite. For awhile he had this favorite outfit and kept picking it out for her even if it was gigantic. At first I would tell him J that is just too big, but when he kept getting it out every time I would ask him to get her an outfit I knew it would be better just to dress her in it. She was so cute it didn't matter, and it made him smile. Another time was when he put her shirt on backwards. I couldn't figure out why it looked so weird. It had a collar and was just really puffy or something. I finally figured out why it looked so funny. It was on BACKWARDS!! I laughed and than asked why he put the tag in front instead of in the back. He smiled and said OOPS with a big grin. He didn't even pay attention to the tag he just saw buttons and thought for sure they had to be the back. I really love that guy. Britlee doesn't usually notice any of these weird things her dad does, she just wears the outfits he picks with pride, as if nothing was off. What a good sport :)

I am so in love with these two! There is no cuter pair.

Time Sure Flies When You Are Having Fun

2011-08-08T19:10:00.005-06:00

All week I have been planning on doing a post but somehow just let other things get in the way. Number one being playing with Britlee, seriously that is WAY more fun than blogging so she always wins, and always will.

I can't believe it, but seriously for more than 2 years now Justin and I have been married. Can you believe it? Yes seriously, two years. It is truly amazing how fast time flies. I told Justin the other day that sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that we got married and other days it feels like we have been married forever. The forever part not being rude or complaining about torture but rather just that life is so great with him that I can't remember what it was like without him. Yes ups and downs come but I would take them for all the great days and moments.

What a wonderful man I married. Yes yes this will probably be a sappy post!!

Justin is truly my best friend. It's hard that he works so much because I don't get to tell him every second of every days' happenings, but that is probably for the better. :) Justin and I of course have a very interesting story. Honestly I must admit he is probably one of the last people I ever thought I would marry, but what do I know. Obviously nothing, because it was the best choice I ever made. The poor guy puts up with all my weirdness and crazy ideas. When I'm grumpy he loves me just the same or more so that I will get past it, what a guy! He works his little butt off for us so that I can be at home with Britlee, not only that he does it with a smile. Man I sure do get to have all the fun. He is the most patient guy I know and is really the only person (well besides my mom) that knows how to calm me down in stressful situations. He is the best dad a girl could ask for. He has jumped to the opportunity to change Britlee's diapers since day one, even when they are SUPER poopy. So all around he is just the best guy EVER!! Of course there are so many more things I could list but I won't do that, the post would be endless characteristics of Justin. And the best thing about him, ok well two of the best things are: he makes me laugh everyday (which was number one on my list of must haves in order to marry someone), and the fact that he loves me!!

After all that I know what you are all thinking, you're thinking you wish you would have married him :) hehe But too bad for all you ladies, I got him and I'm not letting him go!

Living the Good Life

2011-07-13T12:18:00.004-06:00

Britlee is now 3 months old! I can't believe how fast time flies. She is growing like crazy. She is now somewhere around 12 pounds :) She smiles all the time and talks a lot. She has started doing this thing where she gets really tired so she just keeps talking. I'm not sure if she is doing it to keep herself awake or if she is singing herself to sleep but it is so cute. I told Justin she is a lot like me in that she likes "pillow talk." When it's time for bed she just wants to talk and talk, tell us about her day I guess.

Britlee grabs everything around her and puts it straight to her mouth. She refuses to take a pacifier, which is great in that I won't have the battle in a couple years of trying to take it away, but she likes to suck on her hand instead. Which results in sometimes sucking her thumb, which isn't great at all. Very cute though (for now). She loves tummy time and laying on her back so she can just stretch and kick those legs and swing her arms. Our daily walks are her favorite past times I think. She usually gets so excited when I put her in her carseat and stroller. She usually falls asleep half-way through it, so that definitely means she likes it...right!?!

3 months old and definitely enjoying it

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-10T17:18:00.008-06:00

OK I know I am WAY behind on my blogging if I am talking about something that happened weeks ago...
We had a FIRST trip with Britlee! We went to Utah and I must admit I was a little nervous not being sure how Britlee would do in the car. She normally is great in the car, but she has never had to be in it for more than 1 hour at a time, so going for a 4.5 hour drive is a bit different. She did very well! We stopped a couple of times for her to eat and even was able to stop in Centerville to see my great grandma for a short visit so Britlee could meet her Great Great Grandma and Justin could meet her as well. It's funny how we havebeen married for almost 2 years and there are lots of members of my extended family that haven't met him. O well, I am sure he will meet all of them with time.
Our trip was so fun. We sure had a blast with friends and family. Justin and I were able to go see some of the people we met on our missions. It has been a long time since I have seen people so it was nice, I just wish we would have had more time to visit more people...maybe next time.
So really this post is going to be mainly showing pictures and maybe some comments here and there. Oh yes one thing I must say-Britlee slept all night twice while we were on our trip. She hasn't since, but we tired her our enough on vacation that she did. Either that or the Holt's house is lucky! Now the trick is just getting her to do it again and to have me sleep as much as she does. My body is still trying to get used to her not waking up as much. There are many nights that I wake up a few times in between her getting up to eat because I need to check on her because it has been "too long."

Britlee with Grandma and her cousin Eliza.

They met for the first time

Britlee with Grandma and her cousin Clara!

Clara is one month younger exactly

We tried to get the cousins together. Some were not very happy.

We missed Ryder, he couldn't be there with us :(

Britlee is spending quality time with her Uncle Trent and cousin Eliza.

We can say she is cheering that Uncle Trent is snuggling with her,

but really she is stretching. lol Just don't tell anyone :)

Grandpa and Clara

Grandpa with Britlee and Eliza

The girls having tummy time together

Meeting her Great Great Grandma! Wahoo!

We just needed my daddy to have 4 generations! What a cute bunch :)

This is a day we went to visit people, can't you tell she loves it!

Isn't she just SO cute!!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

Sadly we did not get any pictures with the 3 girls together, but we will just wait until Christmas after Ryan and Karen's baby girl has arrived and can join in on the fun!!!

The weekend was long, but so fun. A much needed vacation for our family and especially Justin. We hadn't been anywhere together since last fall and Justin has just been doing non-stop work which is no fun. It was fun to be the three of us!! Britlee sure enjoyed it too. She loved getting lots of attention, though I think sometimes she was wondering if it was ever going to end.

Being a weird mom

2011-06-28T18:05:00.003-06:00

So much has happened and yet at the same time it feels as though nothing has happened and I have no idea what to blog about. And right now I just can't think of anything but I really want to post pictures of my adorable baby girl.

So stinkin' cute!! I just want to pinch her cheeks. This blanket is one of our favorites. My Uncle Ron made it for Britlee!! such a great blanket and will keep her warm for forever. And she looks so cute with it.

Big Girls Don't Cry!

2011-06-05T20:45:00.004-06:00

Ok seriously I believe I have the best daughter in the whole world. Yes I am bias, but I am sure you would all have to agree, she is such a good baby. She hardly ever cries, only when she is super tired and hungry. May 29th (last week) was Britlee's baby blessing. Since she doesn't sleep all the time anymore I was kind of nervous that she would cry through it all, so to help avoid this I left Sunday school class at church to feed her to make sure she wouldn't freak out in the middle of Sacrament Meeting because she was starving. As Sacrament Meeting started Britlee woke up and I thought oh boy this will be interesting. But in the meantime I kept teasing Justin because he was so nervous--he never gets nervous so I have to take advantage whenever I can.

The time for the blessing came and Britlee was WIDE awake and stayed awake the WHOLE time! Not one peep!! Apparently she just stared at everyone. Ok now you totally understand why I say I have the BEST daughter. Most babies if they are awake just cry and scream, but not mine! I was so proud :) And not only that but she was/is beautiful.

7 weeks old and Blessing Day! Britlee's Great Grandma's

Britlee in her cloth diaper Britlee just being super adorable

The last couple of weeks it seems as though the weather has been, lets say...very unenjoyable. It has been very wet and rainy. I really have not been enjoying it, Britlee and I just want to get out and play and go for walks. We have tried to be patient, but I must admit my patience was running thin. And than the best day ever came. Friday was sunny but a little chilly so we decided to stay indoors, well until probably around 7pm and we just couldn't handle it anymore. I wrapped my Moby Wrap around me and stuck Britlee inside and we went for a walk to drop some cookies off at our friends' house. Best decision we could have made. It was so nice to get out, we got to socialize, and we even got invited out to get a snow cone. Really no better thing could have happened. Even Justin got off work early so he got to go with us.

Saturday came and the weather was FANTASTIC! I fell in love with Rexburg all over again. I was starting to really wonder if I liked it here anymore, but yes, yes I do!! Justin got home from work and we finished preparing for our picnic and headed over to the park!! Britlee had her adorable sun hat on, which was so cute! We had friends that joined us and so did Uncle Cory and his roommates. The football was thrown around, mitts brought out to play catch, and lots of laughter was shared. I love summer!!!! I can't wait for more picnics and walks outside.

Yep, the cutest thing in the whole world

Holy Chunks!

2011-05-23T14:48:00.006-06:00

Britlee sure has grown, and I mean really grown. We had an appointment yesterday with the WIC office so of course we got a height and weight out of Britlee. I must say I am awfully proud of my chunker. In the last month (since our last appointment) Britlee has gained over 2 1/2 pounds!! YAY! :) Seriously, wow. She is now weighing in at 9 lbs. and 10oz. She has some rolls and I just love them and those darn cheeks make me smile every time I look at her. She is in the 75th percentile for weight. YA Britlee. Way to go!!! I must say she hasn't grown much though, since birth she has only grown 1 1/2 inches. Putting her in the 50th percentile. But honestly since she is a Packer this is to be expected and we are still super proud! She is now fitting into some of her 0-3 month outfits, but still mainly wears her newborn attire.

We have had quite an adventure trying new things lately. One being cloth diapers. And holy smokes does she look adorable in them. She is quite the pee-er so she has to be changed a lot, which puts us out of the cloth diapers pretty quickly. So we of course and looking to get more. Since she goes through them so fast it seems as though one day is cloth and the next is disposableand than back to cloth. We will get this down soon I promise. But honestly it isn't as bad as I had feared cloth diapers to be. So this may work out after all!

Britlee sure is changing. She smiles a lot more frequently, gets cuter everyday, loves snuggles, and sure hates to miss anything. Before she would fall asleep at the drop of a hat, but now she must think she will miss something if she does. She is up and alert more, which is so fun. We get to watch her play and smile and just be content. But when she gets tired she will let you know, oh will she sometimes. She will fight it for as long as possible. She flops her head from side to side and scoots down on you til her head is buried in your arm or chest and then moves all around again. She constantly moves so she won't fall asleep and if she does she'll open her eyes real quickly and nice and big. Even when she is eating and super tired she cries for a second just to keep herself up I assume because than she will stop and then do it again later if her eyes start drooping. What a character.

As for Justin and I, well not many changes. Justin started a new job a couple weeks ago and is enjoying it. It is weird for both of us still to have him home around 5pm. Before it was so much later then that. As for me, well...my finger is still intact and I am sure grateful. Ok so it wasn'tthat traumatic, but there were moments it felt like it. I was getting dinner ready the other day and was cutting the carrots, but somehow missed the carrot entirely and just got my finger. So things got a little messy for awhile. But no worries we got it wrapped real good and eventually the bleeding stopped. Now really the only complaint I have (as long as I don't bump it ) is that everything is a bit more challenging, it all takes so much longer. But we will survive and make it through!

see what I mean by cuter every day!! This was her on Sunday

What's in a name?

2011-05-01T11:39:00.008-06:00

How did you get your name? Is there a story, or did your parents just like a name and gave it to you?

I personally have had my children's names picked out since I was a little girl. I never thought they would change. Even before marrying Justin I told him all of them so he could get used to them. Poor guy didn't have a say. But than one day I was sitting in sacrament meeting and heard a boys name that I absolutely fell in love with. Which means one more name to add to my list. When we found out we were pregnant I just knew all the names I had picked out were not going to be used to name this child. Oh boy, what disappointment. So I had to start searching. We decided if it was a girl we would use Britni, my sister's name that died shortly after birth. From there we didn't know whether it would be a middle name or a first name. I picked some favorites and shared them with Justin. Some he liked, and some he didn't. Sometimes I wondered why I gave him the option to help because before when I had my childhood names there was no changing my mind. It just makes it so much more complicated to add a spouse in helping to make the decision. It's hard enough with just me. OPINIONS...sometimes it's good to share them and sometimes it just makes life so much more complicated, sometimes in a good way and sometimes not. But I do have to admit it is fun to look through baby name books. There are some INTERESTING ones out there. I am glad Justin helped pick the name though, really it can't just be left up to me. :)

After months and months of searching and discussing we finally got Britlee's name down to a list of TWO!! YAY, we felt so proud. Justin was going crazy not having a name and I just kept saying well we gotta wait and see her to officially decide. Thank goodness Justin is patient and loves me or I think he would have strangled me. Ok not really but you know what I mean. People kept asking us her name and I think Justin was tempted to just say the one he liked and that would be that. But thank goodness he didn't because just a month or so before Britlee was born my sister in law mentioned Britlee to us again and of course we fell in love. The first time we heard it we liked it but somehow it didn't make it to the top 5 or whatever list we had going. So after that a long discussion took place and we added it to the top two! YAY for us, it really felt like an accomplishment to have two names we both loved and agreed upon. So the next step was just waiting until we saw our bundle of joy to decide on the official name. That day did come and still I was so unsure. I loved both names and I didn't want her to have the wrong one. So it took us a couple days in the hospital, but now Britlee is Britlee forever! And we LOVE it! It fits her so well...I think anyways.

So to end the suspense of whether Britlee's name has meaning, I know you were all just sitting on the edge of your seats wondering, I have to say YES it sure does. Her whole name is filled with meaning! It is also made up, so it is very unique to us. Though I have to admit we were not the ones to make up Britlee's name, it was her Uncle Ryan and Aunt Karen. They are so creative :)

So now I will tell you where Britlee Rayne came from.
I have a sister, Britni, that died shortly after birth and since I was having a girl and she was due the same month my sister was due I thought it would be kinda cool to name my baby after my sister. It took a long time to decide whether Britni would be the first name or the middle name. We tossed lots of ideas around. Ryan suggested Britlee--Britni and Lee combined. So Britlee is named after her aunt and her grandma! Lee is my mother's middle name. Pretty neat if you ask me :)
Rayne is a combination of my Grandma's middle name and Justin's grandpa's name. RA is from Rae (my grandma's middle name) and AYNE is from Wayne (Justin's grandpa's name).
Ryan came up with her first name and Karen came up with her middle name. So as you see our baby girl Britlee is super special with a special name and being named by her aunt and uncle. She is one lucky girl.

So what is in your name?

Miracles!!

2011-04-18T09:40:00.014-06:00

Right after my water broke. I felt great, though a little large :)

Just before we left! Mommy with daddy and mommy with Uncle Cory.

What an adventure life can be. As most, if not all of you know, our baby has arrived! Quite unexpectedly if I might add, but of course we were overjoyed. Our little angel, Britlee Rayne arrived April 10th at 10:55pm weighing 7 pounds and 20 inches long. She is absolutely perfect. Honestly some days I wonder how we got so lucky to have such an amazing little one. She is so good and cuddly, I just can't get enough of her.

So I must tell you our story...

Justin and I have expected this little one to arrive late, as most first babies do go past their due date. So as the due date approached we just thought ok well thats cool but who knows when she will come. Of course a couple weeks prior she started to make her way a little with dilation progression but than nothing so we thought she would still come late. So we continued to go about our business. Justin continued with work, finished his finals and made plans to play golf. I continued cleaning and cooking and hoping for warmer weather so I could go for walks, oh and of course shopping. lol. Sunday started just like any other day. I slept in a little and took my sweet time getting ready, seeing as church isn't until 1pm. Justin had to work so we had breakfast and eventually he left. I decided, "well today maybe I will do my hair." I haven't really done my hair much the last few weeks. So I felt great anddecided Sunday was the day to do it, plus we were coming to week forty the next day so I thought I needed to take a picture. I got ready and walked over to church. Of course I was slightly uncomfortable as I felt huge but other than that I was as happy as I could be and felt great. My friends kept giving me a hard time that I would go into labor at church. But no such luck for them, which I must admit I was very grateful because I would have been quite embarrassed. Anyways...so I made it through church and they were worried for me to walk home but I felt great so I waddled my way home.
After church I started to get dinner ready. We were having lasagna, Justin's favorite. Which of course I didn't have quite enough noodles. I didn't even check because I thought for sure I had a whole box. Way to go pregnant woman right. So I had to text a friend and borrow some. I left to pick up Cory for our weekly ritual Sunday dinner. Still feeling super. I needed to run (HA yeah right, more like waddle) to my friends house so I told Cory how to get it all started. When I got back we finished it off and put it in the oven.
I am always bad about my timing on how long it takes to make dinner so dinner would not be ready when Justin got home, but such is life. So we just chatted and waited for Justin to get off work. Justin had been home almost a half hour and dinner was just minutes away from being ready. We got up to heat up the vegetables on the stove. I had to pee so I walked in the bathroom, shut the door (sorry if youfeel this is too much info) and UH OH...I called for Justin, in the meantime peed. Cory kept saying Justin, Kelli is calling for you I think her water broke. Who knows what it feels like to have your water break? I sure didn't but I knew something was off and had to assume that's what it was. Justin came in and I told him and he said "Are you sure you didn't pee your pants?" HA, yes I'm sure. I have more control than that. Anyways I called my mom and asked her. She said her water never broke but assumed what I described was right. So now I can leave out the rest of those details. We called the widwife she said to time the contractions and head to hospital when they are 4 minutes apart for one hour and one minute long. So I was hungry and said lets eat dinner. :) The the midwife called back and said I needed to go to hospital now because I needed to start on the antibiotics for Strep B so the baby wouldn't get sick.
Everything went great! Honestly I couldn't be happier. We took an amazing birthing class which I must say was Superb. I can't even describe how grateful I am for that class. I was able to have the birth I dreamed of, ALL NATURAL!! Go Hypnobirthing!! And oddly enough it was very short. 3 1/2 hours! AMAZING. Who knew birth could go so quickly. Everyone I talked to said it lasted more than 8 hours. Mine was 3 1/2 from time of water breaking til time of birth. I didn't even feel any contractions, or as we like to call them, surges, that day. This little girl was ready when she was ready. When they say birth is a miracle they aren't kidding. Seriously it is the most amazing experience I have ever had. I can still remember seeing Britlee and being able to pull her up on my stomach. There is no greater feeling. She stared at me for almost an hour. Her eyes nice and wide open. Her daddy and I of course cried. Honestly how can you not. She was (and still is) perfect and beautiful. She had a hard time breathing after a little bit because she had too much nasty stuff in her because she was silly and pooped while still inside and swallowed some. Silly babies that do that. But they cleared it out and she is perfectly fine.
My little brother Cory was there to be able to video after she was birthed, don't worry we didn't video tape the actual birth. To me that is just too much, no one wants to see that side of me. lol! But he got video of her being weighed and measured and such. We stayed in the hospital for 48 hours and finally got home LATE Tuesday night. And oh boy did we sleep good. I think Britlee likes her new home, she slept much better here than she did in the hospital during the night.
Being a mom is fantastic! Honestly I just feel so happy all the time and constantly want to take pictures cause she is so perfect. I am exhausted, of course, but because of my mom being around I have been able to take naps during the day.

On our way home. Isn't she SOOOOOO cute!

Photo Fiasco

2011-04-08T13:42:00.006-06:00

I am so excited, a few weeks ago Cory took some "family" pictures for us. I thought it would be fun to have family photos before baby with the pregnant belly and such and of course we will be taking lots after she arrives! So Cory being so nice said he would do it--mainly because it meant he could use his fancy camera!

It was a cold day, but when are they not cold in Rexburg? After the pictures were taken, getting them to the store to be developed was seriously a huge fiasco. One I kept forgetting to get them developed. I would go to Walmart and have the film in my purse and on the drive back home realize I forgot to drop them off. That had to of happened at least 3 times. I finally took Cory with me so he kept reminding me to do it. When I went to pick them up only one was there. Interesting to me that they say it is a two day thing and I had waited a week and they only had one done and not two. So lame. So the pictures below are the ones from the first roll, and the second-well I gotta find a way to put those on CD because Walmart had too much difficulty I guess. When I went to pick up the second roll they had made them slides and not pictures. I was SUPER confused. I didn't even know you could still do that. lol. So I told them I didn't want them, I had requested the pictures and a CD. So they fixed it and I went back to pick them up after they called and told me it was ready. That trip I assumed (which is never a good thing) that it was right and just paid for it and left. When I got home guess what, NO CD! Seriously so frustrating, so now I am waiting for Justin to be able to go and say something. Maybe than they will get it right. I really don't know why it is so hard. But anyways we have some pictures. I am not very photogenic so please take that into account. I swear these pictures make me look bigger than I am, but maybe I just have a different perception or at least what I am hoping for. HAHA so enjoy our little family!

Projects and more Projects

2011-04-05T15:04:00.007-06:00

Forever I didn't understand why pregnant women counted down to their due date and just couldn't wait for it to be over. I am slightly beginning to understand it. Probably not to the same extent as some because honestly I feel pretty great, but I must admit every day my back hurts more and more. Today mainly because I was on my feet all day yesterday and my stomach is just poking out more and more so it puts a lot of pressure on the back--right?! :) So as we speak I am basically laying on my birthing ball. It helps, honestly. It does make it a little harder to type with a ball and a belly in the way, but somehow my arms are still reaching the computer! One more week until our due date, but honestly who knows when she will decide to make her appearance! About two weeks ago we went to the doctor and found out I was already 2 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced. How exciting!! As we left we both felt slightly unprepared, we thought oh my we weren't expecting her for at least 2-3 weeks. So we hurried and got the last minute things we could think of, of course everyday I think of more things. But at least we got the necessities. The following week we went to the doctor thinking maybe there would be more progress, but NOPE! This little one must be paying a lot of attention to Justin and I. We are always teasing each other and I guess she wants to join in on the fun :) We knew the progress didn't really mean much cause it could still be weeks, but we just got so excited that we might get to meet her soon. So now we are back on track just thinking she will come when she is ready! So in the mean time I am re-cleaning our apartment. This is a daily thing but now I am doing more deep cleaning and it drives me crazy that we have to mess it all up. It's just supposed to stay perfect til she comes. If you came to my house today though you wouldn't think I cleaned at all. I have stuff everywhere...mainly a blanket I am working on.
Also during my wait she and I have done more walking and talking. She can be quite the chatter box you know :) This is of course with all of her kicks and movements. We have been discussing a lot how crazy daddy is. He is constantly making us laugh. I must admit I think Justin really panicked at first (of course didn't say anything) when we thought she might come sooner than the semester being over. With all his homework and studying and such, how were we to fit it all in. But He has one more day and than it's over so she can come ANYTIME now. Now that she has teased us, I'm sure she will wait until we least expect her, I tell you, it's her teasing.
Anyways...so to occupy my time I have continued sewing on a blanket I started for her and even started making headbands! It's so fun to become a mom for a little girl. I had no idea it would be so fun. I was kind of nervous since I didn't and still don't do all the cute girly things. But I am so loving all of this. So our little one will definitely be in style...well maybe :)
I am sure you are all curious and want to see my work in process projects so I am going to attach a few pictures. Someday I will finish the blanket but I need my mom or my aunt's help I think so we will wait for them.

I cut out pieces from a bunch of different fabrics as you can see and sewed them together.

Here I am trying to figure out how I want all the blocks arranged and put together. This last one is after it is all sewn together. Almost done!!

Here are all the supplies. Than the headband and finally the flowers to put on the headband!

Party Animals

2011-03-17T19:42:00.005-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUSTIN!! Seriously another year has gone by and we never cease to amaze ourselves in the excitement! We went to "The Craze Fun Zone" and played laser tag and had not so yummy pizza and ate some cupcakes, which were delicious if I might add. Laser Tag was SO fun, even I played. I know everyone else was shocked too. A woman from a month of her due date and running around shooting people. But it was fantastic. I am not sure I helped our team much, but we still did AMAZING! The kids all had fun too, our crowd seemed to be slimmer than we wanted, but still great. It sure does help to have tall guys on your team that can see over the dividers and shoot. Steph and I had to stay down low. In the middle of the second game I was so over the game and needed to sit down but I lasted and than sat out the last game.

These are our amazing Laser Tag champions! I didn't get to be in a picture because someone had to be the photographer!!

Now drum roll please...check out these amazing (wink wink) cupcakes. I got this great idea to make Justin a golf cake, but it called for coconut to be the grass and I hate coconut and so does Justin so that didn't seem too logical. So I continued to research and chat with my sister-in-law and this is what we came up with. Honestly I had SO much fun decorating these. The icing I made tasted great and than the decorating was just a blast. Justin came home before I finished so he wasn't really surprised much, but he was able to get a kick out of my excitement. I want to do another party so I can decorate more. So maybe I have found my new calling in life--cupcake decorating. LOL, ok so they don't look that great, but it's so fun. I recommend everyone do it at least once. Even a guy turning 25 and "cool" college students thought I was awesome!

What will we hear today?

2011-03-08T20:57:00.002-07:00

I must say pregnancy has it's ups and downs-obviously. Being in my last month is very interesting. Some moments I feel great and others, well slightly uncomfortable :) In the last couple of weeks I had heard the infamous words of...

1. So can I ask- are you pregnant?
2. Am I being rude if I were to ask if you were expecting?
3. How far along are you because you look uh REALLY pregnant
4. You are getting SO big (I hear this one most frequently)

Yes these are words I am sure EVERY expecting mother wants to hear. Owell this growing little girl is so worth it! She is growing like crazy and loves to move. If I ever get in a position she doesn't like she lets me know by kicking me til I move! Such a sweet little girl--she loves her momma!

We have a very exciting announcement...Justin got accepted to BYU-Idaho full-time. It isn't his 1st choice on a track, but we are grateful he got accepted. He has been working SO hard and doing amazing with school work. He is on the winter/summer track! So that means he gets to spend this summer with me and baby and even the fall semester! So exciting.

Getting Ready for Baby!

2011-03-03T15:15:00.003-07:00

Everyday seems as though it is a new day of preparation for the baby! Reorganizing, searching for what we need, making lists of what more we need...It's so great. As you see below we have Justin assembling the crib (which took multiple days because we couldn't figure it out--the solution was very simple), stroller assembly and stroller put together. We also have one of our recent "family" photos and me as I have all of a sudden expanded like crazy (please ignore the mess in the background). This is me at 33 weeks!

Memory Lane

2011-03-01T13:01:00.002-07:00

My parents brought up the rest of my stuff from their house this past weekend. Oh boy did my house look like a disaster and still does actually. I have to admit I don't mind going down the lovely road of memory lane because each time I have done so I have found $20. Seriously how amazing is that. I got $40 for just going through old stuff! I'm glad I am one of those crazy people that hid my money! The main reason for hiding it was because my brothers would come and "borrow" some. So I had to hide it so I would have some to use myself. Oddly enough I never remembered where I put it. In past moments of life visiting mom and dad's house and going through stuff I have found money in the most random of places. The most bizarre was probably when I found a ton of my money I had hid in a band-aid box I had in my night stand drawer. Really? Who is that crazy, but hey no one found it :) But because of my hiding I now am $40 richer from money that has probably been around for 10 years. Thank you boys for not finding it!
I have looked through so many old pictures and thrown away a lot, but still can't throw them all away. Why? Who knows. I'm never going to do anything with them. I found pictures from the beautiful beach of Florida. Definitely not getting rid of those-for a couple of reasons. One being it is so beautiful and I miss it, so I have to have something to look back at to say I lived there and it was great. Nice and warm. Another reason being I hadn't realized I was skinny! I looked great in a swimsuit. Ok maybe not great, but comparatively I did. I had to take a picture with my phone and send it to Justin and say "see I really was skinny at one point in life." :) Right now I am not sure those days will ever come again. I love being pregnant and the thought of being a mommy but when I can't even bend over it is nice to know that at some point in life it was ok for me to go out in public in a swimsuit. Right now I would rather die! Anyways...pictures are so fun to have. Before Ryan proposed to Karen he put me in charge of taking care of her ring and making sure it didn't get lost and she didn't see it! So I have to admit when Deanne came to visit in Florida we tried it on and took some great pictures! Of course it didn't look as good on our fingers but it was still fun! Also, going through these pictures I have realized that I take some really random photos. Some I look at and think why in the heck did I take a picture of that. So maybe I will do better now. Though I do believe when this little girl comes we will be taking pictures of everything!! Can't miss a moment!

A new Discovery

2011-02-19T11:51:00.005-07:00

So I have decided that I am going to be better about updating the blog, but it never seems like there is anything much to say so I keep waiting and waiting. Maybe a short post is better than a long one anyways? How about one without pictures? Where is the fun in that? Well, honestly there isn't much but sadly there are no pictures this time but I thought I would post anyways!

Something I found out about Justin this morning, after 18 months of marriage--He talks to himself in the shower! Oh too funny. I opened the door and could hear him talking but couldn't figure out what he was saying so I waited a second and than he started talking again. What humor this has brought me. So I finally asked what he was talking about. He gave me a little embarrassed smile and said nothing. And than told me he had started putting soap in his hair instead of shampoo. What a nerd, but he makes me laugh!

We have a new addition to the DeVore family this week. My first niece :) Eliza was born on the 16th! Very exciting.

This past week I have been taking a trip down memory lane! My parents sent up a bunch of my stuff from my room that I have been saving over the years. Honestly why I feel the need to keep so much junk is beyond me, but it did make for a fun activity. So many things I had forgotten about. And I even threw a ton of stuff out! YAY for me. I didn't know keeping old school papers was so important, or old notes from boyfriends. I think that is something that made me laugh the most. Being young is so fun and looking back I now realize to a more full extent how big of a dork I was! But I love it! So I filled over 3 bags of trash and even have a few things to take to DI! What lucky person will get my "Colorjet spray?" I hope the next kid enjoys it as much and more so than I did.

I must say I have the best timing ever. Monday was of course Valentine's Day! I was so excited, see I used to hate Valentine's day but two years ago this Valentine's Day Justin proposed, so how can a girl hate the holiday now. I was making all kinds of plans, simple but nice. Justin was making his own so I was glad when we finally communicated on it so that we were on the same page. Of course he still had surprises up his sleeve that I was totally oblivious to, but I knew the dinner plans and that was most important. I had been planning on making his favorite meal, but he had been planning on going out, so I'm glad we finally discussed it. I would have hated to have made it and him come home and say lets go out. Anyways... so since he had to work during the day I decided that would be when I would take my trip down memory lane. After I finished I would decorate the house and make him a card. So I went through all my bins and had trash piles and a to shred pile, so basically stuff all over my living room. And then all of a sudden the door bell rings. I got a little nervous because I wasn't expecting anyone and was afraid they would want to come in, how embarrassing. But I opened the door anyways. And on my door was a beautiful red bad with lots of goodies. I smiled and closed the door. Of course it was from Justin! So I texted him thanking him for being so sweet, all the while thinking he had his sister or someone drop it off for him. A couple minutes later there is a knock at the door, I open it and guess what--it's my husband!! Apparently he had taken the day off so he could spend it with me. All morning he was on campus, while I'm thinking he is at work, doing his homework so he wouldn't have to worry about it the rest of the day so we can spend it together. SO sweet. But than instantly I thought oh no, seriously look at this place. I had made a disaster, hadn't showered, hadn't decorated, or made his card. I had previously given him his gift because I couldn't wait-you see I'm not very patient and I got the wrong shirt for him so I wanted to show him so I could take it back sooner. Anyways so my husband is amazing and quite the romantic while I am the big slob of the day. Needless to say I tried to hurry and finish and clean up so we wouldn't have to stare at my mess all day. Aren't husbands great! I think next time there is a holiday like that I will not decide to trash my house, but rather just clean it!

It's official!

2011-02-03T12:41:00.005-07:00

It's official, Justin and I are Idaho Madison County residents. I suppose anyways, we just registered our vehicles and now our license plates say Idaho!! No more Colorado and no more New Mexico. I must admit, it is kind or a strange feeling. I'm not sure now how we will be able to find our vehicles in parking lots. If we forget where we park we just look for the different license plate. It almost feels like we have new cars. :) I think Justin is sad to have to give up his Colorado plates, but he still holds on to that driver's license like his life depended on it. He really tried to avoid at all cost registering his car here. He had his mom try and get his registration renewed in Colorado for him, but it was time for another inspection. We don't have inspections here, so where would he get it done seeing as he is not in Colorado and there were no plans to make it down there in January before the plates expired. So he braced life, probably shed a few tears behind doors, and he registered his vehicle in Idaho. I must admit even for myself it was a different experience. All my life I wanted to be in Idaho and have everything Idaho. So just over a year ago I took the test to get a license and now I have plates that say Idaho. It is a bitter sweet moment though. As much as I admit, New Mexico is not a favorite place of mine, but I feel as though I am growing up too fast and not having all these ties back to that place. Crazy, ugly, and hideous yellow plates I must say goodbye.

Bye Bye Colorado plates

We started birthing classes last week and had our second one last night. I really am enjoying them, mainly because she is teaching us how to relax and what better way than her reading us stories and sitting on comfy seats! I can do whatever I want, even lay down! And last night she taught the daddy's a new way to relax their wives by just running their fingers on our backs! I must say I do enjoy it. We also see lots of birth videos and it makes me laugh cause there is one guy who now and again squirms. Justin doesn't get phased much these days, before we got pregnant I made him watch a few online so he would know what was coming. I love the torture! But it really is a great class and we are learning SO much. Now if I would just learn to relax on my own.

Exercise, exercise, exercise!!! We love it. We have started to work out almost every night. Justin is better at it than I am since he hasn't gotten kicked out for not wearing the "right" shirt. But it is so nice. Hard I must admit since we usually can't go til about 10pm, after he is home from work or done with homework. But it's still nice to go and we feel so much better. Justin is just loving to play basketball so much. Sometimes his friend Dustin goes with him. Cory always says invite me, but he never shows up. What a silly boy.

So a bit of an embarrassing story I suppose. Last week Cory had asked if I would cut his and his roommates hair on Friday. Of course I would, but it was a busy day so it would need to be done late or on Saturday. I guess this didn't fit into their schedule so he wanted to just borrow the clippers. Totally fine, no big deal :) We I had a little extra time on Friday I wasn't expecting so I asked if they wanted to come over than or still just borrow the clippers. They decided to come over! Being pregnant I have to admit my brain is not always there 100% so we had a few exciting moments. Dave, Cory's roommate was super nervous about getting his hair cut by me I guess. So he was just there to watch and if I did a good enough job on Cory's hair he would let me cut his. Too funny, boys make me laugh. I have cut my brother's hair quite a bit and now Justin's so I wasn't worried. So I got dinner on the stove before they arrived so I wouldn't have to worry about it until it needed to go in the oven and by that time we would be done. We are all talking and laughing away. I'm almost done with Cory's hair but needed to get around his ears. With our clippers at home we didn't have the "ear clipper" so I am still trying to get adjusted to that because our set does. Justin loves it so I always use it on his ears. So I just start buzzing around Cory's ear and guess what--it cut SUPER short. How in the world it got that short I have no idea. Seriously it had never happened that way before. So the poor kid has just around his ears super short. Now you would think not a big deal right if it's just around his ears, but guess what it showed and it showed big time. So I had to redo the whole bottom part of his head and do everything I could to make the other side match. I do admit it turned out quite nice and Cory had no complaints. But Dave was not about to let me touch his hair. I have a feeling Cory will be asking for the clippers next time either of them want a haircut. It was humorous but I was kind-of embarrassed. I really don't know how it happened. But it turned out just fine :) I should have taken pictures to show my "masterpiece."

The Baby is still growing and moving around like crazy. Just yesterday at the doctor's he was trying to hear for her heartbeat and he said she just keeps moving! So it's fun, even in the middle of the night when I am trying to sleep! :) She is head down already! So we hope she doesn't flip but just moves so her back is out and not to the side! I can't believe how fast time flies. We still have time to prepare and learn but it still seems so close.

Who's shirt is this anyways?

2011-01-25T12:54:00.006-07:00

I am not sure if you can tell from this picture but one shirt is mine and one shirt is Justin's. Now there is a VERY funny story to go with these amazing shirts. Just before Christmas my brother Ryan and his wife Karen and their little guy, Ryder, came for a short visit and to pick me up for a little road trip back to New Mexico. Ryan has his own businesses and makes these shirts for it. They were so kind to bring us each a shirt, of course we were thrilled! I had added them to the laundry pile before I left town so that they would get washed since one landed in someone's plate of food :) While I was gone we skyped with Justin and one day I noticed he was wearing one. No big deal right? After returning back to Rexburg Justin informs me that Ryan must have made a mistake because he gave Justin a size Youth Large. This would be craziness right, Justin does not wear youth sizes. I kind of laughed and said, "No, I remember him giving you a large and me a youth large." Justin was very sure that he got a youth large and informed me it was super tight. I laughed and told him that most likely he had worn my shirt and not his own. As days went by and conversations continued about this shirt I asked him why on earth he would wear it if it didn't fit. He said "well I couldn't get it off so I wore it the rest of the night." :) Oh man my husband is absolutely adorable. After doing the laundry again I found both of the shirts and asked him which one he had worn. And of course as we all can predict, he wore mine and there was still another shirt--HIS! Honestly, I wish he would have taken a picture. But we won't torture him and make him put it on again so I just took pictures of the lovely shirts! The first is of them side by side. The second is one on top of the other to show a difference just for humorous purposes. He must have been SUPER uncomfortable!

Picture #2!! Yes there are two shirts and one is for me and one is for Justin! Poor guy. But as always he never ceases to make me laugh! After finding out Justin had a shirt of his own that would fit he put it on and has worn it many times since. And every time he says, "This fits SO much better!"

This is a "lovely" picture of me at 28 weeks! Justin and I can't believe how fast time really does go by. Pregnancy is great--now don't get me wrong, not all of it is great but it is best not to think about those moments. I love it when our little angel moves. She is always on the move actually so I can only imagine what she will be like when she is here with us. A name still hasn't been picked, but that is always on our mind. I am sure when she arrives we will just know which one is right for her. Only a couple more months and most days I don't feel ready yet so I am glad we have time.

Because my husband is adorable I have to add a picture of him as well! This is his first day of school for the semester! He loves school, though I think he might be rethinking it some days with all the homework he has to do and the little amount of time he has to do it. He is such a trooper!

It's a...GIRL!

2010-11-24T10:33:00.003-07:00

The baby's first outfit! After the doctor's appointment we went straight to Walmart to buy the first outfit. Of course I was super excited and Justin thought I was a little crazy buying it so soon. We searched everywhere for a onsie or something that said "It's a girl." No such luck, so we searched for something cute and not pink. Not much could be found, especially what we liked. I found a white onsie and thought it would be perfect to show everyone and make them guess. But than this outfit was hunted down and it did exactly what we wanted. People got confused, which was our plan, makes things more fun. The first person we showed was my mom! And boy did she react JUST like we wanted :) We are mean and showed her the back first so all she saw was blue and so she thought it was a boy but as soon as she said that I turned it around to the front and she said well that's pink...WHAT IS IT!!! We loved it.

As you can see we are having a GIRL!!!!! Yay! :) She is perfect already, and not just according to Justin and I but to the doctor too. She is very healthy and in the 49th percentile for size, so average, and the doctor says that is perfect.

No official name is picked out yet, but we do have some time. I have already been online to a few different sites looking for clothes. Justin says I can't buy anything yet, but it is still SO fun to look. Family has gone crazy with excitement. Girls are rare on my side and this is the first grandchild on Justin's! We are happy everyone is excited with us, it makes it that much more fun.

Is that the baby?

2010-11-23T17:56:00.003-07:00

So much has happened in the last few weeks. Justin was of course gone for 3 LONG weeks but we made it through and he is home now. At week 17 I started feeling the baby move! It was a very exciting moment. A couple of days before I realized it I thought there was just something wrong with my tummy. Gas or something I guess. But than I kept feeling it and it felt like just a little poke. So I talked to mom and told her what I was feeling and what I was thinking it was. Because of the expert she is she was able to verify for me that it really was the baby!! I couldn't wait to tell Justin when he got done with training for the day. He got so excited and wanted to be home right away so he could feel too. I had to tell him that it was ok because it would be at least a couple more weeks before he would be able to feel the baby too.

After 3 long weeks Justin arrived home Friday! He kept trying to feel the baby, but no such luck. Sunday morning I felt a stronger kick so I put my hand on my belly and I felt it! I tried to get Justin so he could feel it too, but sadly he was in the bathroom and he missed it. So I had to break the news to him, what a sad face he made :( So for the rest of the day long he kept trying to feel the baby but it was not cooperating. So he went to bed with another day of not feeling our baby. As usual we climbed in bed late and in a matter of just a few short minutes Justin was snoring. I of course could not sleep yet so I just laid there trying to think of all the things I needed and could do the next day. AND much to my surprise and slightly to my dismay(seeing as it was so late and I was tired) the baby was moving lots. At first just little movements and than the bigger ones came. AHHH I was so excited. I sat there debating whether or not to wake up Justin since he had a VERY early morning because of work. But being the GREAT wife I am I woke him up. It took a few nudges and not just the light nice ones, but pretty big shoves :) he finally woke up. And yes you guessed it Justin got to feel our baby for the first time. The baby was finally ready to say hello to daddy! And not just once, but twice and than at least 3 more times. Justin was SO excited. But the poor guy was really struggling to stay awake so he said goodnight again and rolled over and back to snoring:)

So as you see the belly is growing and mommy and daddy are growing with greater excitement everyday!

WEEK 20!!

WEEK 15

1st Ultrasound

2010-10-18T16:17:00.003-06:00

Here are some pictures from our first ultrasound. This one is a picture of the baby's arm and head.
This one shows the baby's heartbeat but we're not quite sure what part of the baby is in the picture. lol
This is a picture of the baby's little tiny hand. So cute!!!

The Magic Stick

2010-10-08T17:46:00.001-06:00

Yes it is true! We are pregnant!! YAY!! I don't know how well you can see that second line, but trust me it is there. We thought no the first time, but it's yes!

Canada, oh Canada...

2010-04-28T16:57:00.003-06:00

The adventures or our travel to Canada. Where to begin? Lets just say the start to the trip was a bit rocky. Packing and cleaning the apartment took MUCH longer than planned and hoped for. But we did make it through, thanks to our faithful packers--Justin, Dad, and Cory. I had tried packing all week long and even before than so that it would be so much faster and easier, so really i don't know why it took so long. Owell such is life. I officially hate moving and especially cleaning.

Our trip began with a stop at Aunt Deanne's in Salmon, ID. It was so good to see Deanne and the family. Nice time to relax and just catch up. I remember the days when I would go there all the time, but haven't been there in forever so it was good. Justin went golfing with Brian, Tyler and Tucker. I must brag for a moment and say my husband won!! and not just by a little. LOL. But moving right along. We both of course tortured Deanne and had her give us haircuts. But we were beautiful and ready for our Canada adventure.

I shared a recipe with Deanne and so we made it while we were there and I must say, it turned out fantastic! So delicious, I am actually hungry while I am typing so it is sounding REALLY good about now. We even went fishing. Deanne and I sat and talked while the boys tried catching the fish, and when I say try I really mean that. We saw a bunch jumping but only one was biting and Tyler caught it. He released it but no one else seemed to be able to catch one. The sun was nice, but when the wind started blowing it wasn't so nice. But I survived!

We left the next day and headed for Seattle! About half way through the trip of course I was ready for it to be over, but that was only the beginning. It was a really nice drive and only a few close calls. :)

To our suprise when we arrived at Ryan and Karen's Ryder was still awake. This truly made my day. We were able to play with him for awhile. He was so adorable. After Ryder went to bed we had a nice visit with Karen and Barb and ate some delicious red chili enchiladas! Thank you Barb! Enchiladas are always a wonderful dinner to have--no matter the time or where you are.
I believe that Justin and I slept fantastic that night. After a long day of driving and filling like I could day from exhaustion. After the wonderful rest we had a day filled full of Ryder. The little guy likes to move lots and lots. He laughed so much and smiled, which of course made his Tia Kelli so happy. Honestly it is great to spend time with kids, no matter the age, they always make you feel like the funniest person in the whole world! Ryder was being very stubborn and would not lay down for a nap, it seemed as though he thought he might miss something with the three of us there and him sleeping. Barb had to go home so we took her to the airport and guess what?! Ryder fell asleep instantly in the car. So adorable even when he is sleeping. We were able to see the campus that Karen attends school. Justin saw the golf course of his dreams as we drove to pick Karen. As soon as we got back to the house he of course had to look it up to see the prices and see if it was a public golf course. And of course none of that information was online. When Ryan got in they talked about it and both got very excited and decided to call. Much to their dismay it was a private golf course and they had no chance of going. I think there were tears, but Justin would never admit it. :)
Karen took us to a delicious cupcake shop, which i have to admit had the most amazing cupcakes of my life! So many flavors; lemon (which tasted like the delicious pie), smores, snickerdoodle...Yum Yum!! Ryder and I did a little wondering around and giggled. He loves me, I have got to be his favorite aunt no matter what anyone else thinks! Oh it was so funny. Anytime Justin would say Ryder's name he would turn and stick out his tongue. What a character! It was great. Seattle is a great place and we loved our visit.
When we left Ryan and K's house we honestly had no idea what we were going to do. We had tried calling a friend of ours from our mission, Laurel, but when we left we hadn't heard from her yet. But off we went to enjoy our vacation. Before we even got out of Seattle though Laurel called and offered us her house to stay at that night in Vancouver and to take us out site seeing. Vancouver is beautiful!! Seriously, when we were there we were so excited to be in Canada, I mean who wouldn't be right? Much to our sadness we were informed Alberta is not as pretty as British Colombia, and oh boy were they right. Don't get me wrong, it is still pretty but not nearly as pretty as Vancouver.
We had a wonderful time with Laurel and her husband. They took us all around Vancouver. She is a great tour guide. And that next morning we were on the road again to Calgary to see some other friends--that drive was death. SO pretty but SO long. I honestly never thought it would end. I kept falling asleep hoping it would make the time go by fast, but it didn't. I have no idea how Justin made it through. We don't have a working radio right now so it was so quiet when I was sleeping. We even watch a movie and that didn't even help. Oh goodness after 13 LONG hours we were in Calgary. And much to my dismay the next morning was to bring more driving.
So that night Justin and I snuggled up on a twin mattress and the Ninja Turtle sheets and slept soundly.
Edmonton here we come. Even those 3 hours seemed to last a lifetime, but we made it. Our apartment is great. We only got lost a couple of times trying to find groceries and food. We almsot cried at the grocery store because of the costs, but we made it through and I hope I never feel like that again. It is a horrible idea to go grocery shopping in a new country that is more expensive and you are hungry and exhausted. Just doesn't work for me I guess. Lol but again we made it through and now we are ready for the real adventrue of living in a new country! Go Canada

Happy Birthday!!

2010-03-23T16:38:00.001-06:00

Justin is definitely getting older! We are waiting on the wiser part, but i am sure that will come--right?? lol JUST KIDDING! As you see these lovely pictures are from Justin's birthday party! We truly had a blast. Our friends came and there was lots of chatting, laughter, and fun! We even imagined to keep it a secret and really did surprise him!

I guess we were too loud because about 8:30pm our neighbors below us started pounding on their ceiling. Sad, but we tried to keep it to a minimum and then by 9:30pm we kinda gave up.

Justin's dad, sister-Melanie, and Mac came as a surprise too! Justin just loved it. He danced around and laughed and just was a really big dork! lol, yes i know he is that way all the time anyways but it was MORE! Can you believe that. Anyways no super good stories from the party, just that we had lots of fun. Some dorky games were played--The greatest game ever, Pin the Tail on the Donkey and some crazy paper clip race game!

Justin is now 24 and as goofy as ever. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

HURRAY!!

2010-02-24T16:52:00.002-07:00

So just a quick update--We both have jobs! YAY!! Justin is now working for Jimmy Johns and he absolutely loves it. Lots of changes may be coming our way. Justin is thinking of taking a job in Canada for the summer and than thinking of transferring to Boise State. So we shall see. But new things! Oh boy, we are nervous-and scared-and excited!

What life has turned into

2010-02-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

Who knew that life after graduation could be...well so, how do i put it... enjoyable, relaxing, boring, fantastic, dull, super duper, lonely, feelings full of the need to get out of here... yeah i think all that about covers it. When I was in school I was ALWAYS doing HW. I felt bad for Justin cause he didn't have nearly as much as I did so he would always play on the computer or watch TV or something. I have to admit I got pretty jealous sometimes! But all in all we made it through, but because life is great, the tables have turned. Now Justin has HW and I have absolutely none. Which by the way I am most definitely not complaining about, but it does get pretty lonely. I can't watch TV because than it distracts him and than he takes longer to get it done. I can't talk to him much because once i start i can't shut up and he can never get anything done. So I have read books faster than ever in my life and have played on the computer almost as much, if not more than i did while i was in school but now it is doing things I like and not figuring out amortization schedules or creating databases or writing the programs for it.

So as I am writing Justin is of course doing his HW and I have lazily played on the computer when now I wish I would have taken a nap, but now it is too late and time to make dinner but I really don't want to. I wish it just magically got made. :) that would be SO great, as I am sure that is every wife's dream.

No new news for us. We do the same ol' things all the time. Work, school, tv, reading, hw, cleaning, laundry, and occasionally hang out with some friends. Last week we did 4 activities with other people, certainly a record for us. Justin loved it! He thrives off of interacting with other people so it was really fun.

Just started his training at Jimmy John's this week! He really likes it and looks forward to the store opening up here in Rexburg next week!

Well that is all the exciting news to share on this lovely blog we never update! Maybe I will get better since I have more time, but somehow I doubt it! But the thought counts at least...right?!

Blah Blah Blah

2009-10-07T17:36:00.000-06:00

Does a day go by that you don't laugh? Not me, I laugh every day. My husband is a little weird!!
Justin and I are still doing very well. Just enjoying school and hanging out! :)
Justin has had a few more appointments for selling his Cutco knives so that's good, but some are not so helpful. We went and picked up some more cards yesterday so now I can continue doing our thank you cards! Which PS I tell ya those things really aren't as fun as you would think after awhile.
It has started to get cold so we turned on the heater the other night. I was still sitting under a blanket and Justin couldn't sit next to me because he was sweating--we obviously don't have the same body temperature. lol. I agreed not to have the heater on while we sleep so that he doesn't die so I go to sleep with socks, sweats, and a hoodie! Such fun, but I think I'm used to it :) I think our downstairs neighbors have turned on their heater now because yesterday it was warm in our apartment and we didn't even have the heater on so that is really nice! saves us money!!! Going along with why we don't sleep with the heater on I have a story! Justin said we could if he could sleep naked I laughed and said he could try because a few weeks ago Justin was so hot cause we don't have air conditioning, that he decided to just sleep in his underwear and not have the extra heat of the extra layers. By the time we woke up in the morning he had his clothes back on. I asked him why and he said he had no idea--apparently he can't sleep in just underwear so I'm guessing he can't sleep naked!
So as you see, he is WEIRD!! lol but who would want to sleep naked anyways--certainly no one, i'm SURE of it!
So the days and weeks have gotten much colder. We wake up every morning with the temperature in the negatives, yes that's right-the negatives! I hate this, but in all reality it is a great place to be. The semester is coming to a close and I'm almost done. In approximately 10 days I will be a college graduate!! Can you believe it, yeah well neither can we :) But I'm excited.
So next week family is coming to town to celebrate! My wonderful parents, my husband, and auntie Mommies and my uncle!! What a time it will be. PARTY!!!!!!
We got some of our wedding pictures from our photographer the other day, we were ecstatic! they look so great, but anyways no one wants to know that.
We are both feeling a little lonely with the semester coming to an end and Cory is leaving to go back home to work and save money. What are we going to do? No one to spend Sunday afternoons with. Sad days. But than again I have a feeling I will be seeing a lot less of Justin next semester. His best friend will be back up here and so will his cousin! So fun for them, but kinda sad for me, I need to make new friends.lol! Maybe I will travel the world--lol the world of Salmon, ID, Los Alamos, and Kingman, AZ! That sounds like a FANTASTIC plan to me, but more of a dream than a reality.
Well as much as I love to write on this it isn't that interesting. I am still waiting for Justin to take his turn and tell some great story. If you agree let us know. He needs a little encouragement! Well there is our update. Christmas is coming soon!

2009-10-04T20:06:00.000-06:00

Just an update

2009-10-04T20:01:00.000-06:00

This will be a short blog because there is nothing new. Justin and I are still just going to school. It has started to get really cold around here and I'm not sure that i like it, but I guess something that I am just going to have to deal with!
Justin spent last weekend in Pocatello at training for selling Cutco knives! He has had a few apointments, one starting with Luke and Rachel and as just added to the list since. He loves it and loves telling stories about these great knives! So anyone interested in a demonstration just let us know, they are really good knives.
Other than that nothing new. Our lives are just a little boring. lol but super fun for us. The laughter never stops.

FINALLY!!

2009-09-21T20:21:00.000-06:00

It finally happened--We got married!! How excited are we, seriously it has been about 6 weeks and life is wonderful. After 6 months of planning and for the misery of being apart we truly are married. We had a wonderful day! The day was perfect and really couldn't have been better. We had a great photographer and videographer and honestly we can't wait for the pictures and video so that we can have reminiscing moments again and again!
Justin is fantastic! He and I are both going to school this semester. We get to spend lots of time together. Soon that will change as he is on a golf team at school and has practice starting this week for a couple of hours. So Wednesdays will not be my favorite day, but I think we might survive--hopefully. We both are enjoying school, it is my last semester so I just tell myself everyday, "It's almost over!" I know pathetic when there are about 3 more months to go. But really I just can't help it, I have been doing this forever.
Well I just wanted to do an update and just say life is wonderful! We are so happy and love spending every day together. We will have to take more fun pictures to show our wonderful personalities! And maybe we will had some more flavor and Justin will add his two cents on life! Seriously I keep trying to get him to post so that it isn't just me, but you know boys--"I don't know what to say!" Gotta love it! I sure do.

Engagement Pictures

2009-07-26T23:04:00.000-06:00

Adventures of the visiting.

2009-07-04T22:43:00.000-06:00

So it has definitely been awhile since we updated the blog--oops. Things just get crazy busy I guess and you don't realize how fast time flies. In May I was able to go out to Colorado to see Justin! It was a great time. My mom came as well, Dad couldn't make it because he was at home helping Cory out as he had just finished another eye surgery. Mom and I were able to spend some time together, just us girls and I got Justin's ring!! It was fun and he doesn't get to see it until we are married! So mom and I had fun doing that!
Justin's mom was so sweet and put together a shower for Justin and I so I could meet some of their friends. It was just a great chance to get to know some family and friends a little better. We had a blast with eating and opening the wonderful gifts we received. It was funny as I am not one that likes to rip off wrapping paper and Justin's dad just did not like that. So I made Justin start helping me so I wouldn't be attached with marshmallow's anymore :) It really was a nice party and very enjoyable.
Justin and I also had the opportunity to take our engagement pictures, which was of course fun. I swear the weather was nice just for that time. It had rained a lot of the week before and that weekend. I think it just stopped right before we took pictures and started again right after we were done. So that was very nice! I was happy though my hair at times still went crazy because of the slight humidity after the rain but owell, it happens. We enjoyed ourselves anyways. Afterwards we were able to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Texas Roadhouse and had amazing food. The chicken was perfect and so was the steak!
It was of course a great weekend, too short as always but so nice to see him. It was nice that our parents were able to finally meet! and it went well!! :) Of course, why wouldn't it--but you never know :)
I swear I had never had as many embarrassing moments in front of Justin as I did that weekend, so that was a definite downfall, but it kept him laughing so that was good! Let's see...I tripped over my own feet a few times which is never a good thing as I nearly face planted it every time. I stalled his car in from of him and most of his family. I just wasn't paying attention and didn't think to push in the clutch when I started that dumb car--oops. I almost didn't want to ever come back to the house I was SO embarrassed, Justin still laughs about it of course. Let's see what else did I do that wasn't so bright...I don't know so hopefully that was it, but for some reason I'm doubting it. Oh and I burped and his mom and sister heard it from downstairs! Justin thought it was so funny and so did I until his mom came up and accused him of being gross and instead of being the sweet guy I know he is and taking the blame--he didn't. He 100% without a single thought blamed it on me. SO embarrassing, but life I suppose. He loved it, but still to this day I'm thinking he should have taken the blame for it.
Justin was also able to come to Rexburg to see me!! It was SO great. I loved every minute of it. It was hard to sit through classes when I just wanted to be with him, but other than that it was great. He somehow pulled it off. His boss is cranky :) and said he could never have time off but Justin braved it after a couple months of working and asked for if he could leave! I was thrilled. Justin and I had the opportunity to go and visit grandpa in Pocatello and grandma came to see us as well. So he was able to meet two of my favorite people! which of course is great since I always swore I would never marry a man that hadn't met my family, my grandparents, to two auntie mommies, and my best friend. We only made it half way there, but that is better than it looked like it would be. Grandpa was great as always and had some giggles for us.
We went to see Deanne, Brian and the boys in Salmon. What a long drive but so worth it! It really isn't that far, and for once I didn't have to drive it, Justin did! What a sweet man. We went down and had some dinner and some visiting. We couldn't stay because I had to be back for school the next morning, but we had delicious food and some good laughs. I'm so glad he was able to meet them.
Let's see what else did we do. Oh yeah! Justin got to experience for the first time my cooking! Oh lucky him. We had green chile chicken enchiladas! It didn't turn out too bad, but seriously I think that I've made them better. But he was so sweet and said they were great. He and Dustin ate the whole pan, with mine and Becca's help of course, just to make me feel good.
Justin and I finally found a place to live! I had been looking, but secretly was holding off the decision hoping he would come and visit to help me decide. Seriously it is a lot of pressure to find somewhere to live that will make both of you happy and one not having seen it before. I just didn't want to do it all alone. Yes, i'm a a spoiled girl!
It was so fun to have him here. I didn't do a ton of homework, but still had to do a lot. I can't wait to get married!!!!!! It is coming up so soon!
When Justin came something went wrong. Yes, can you believe it. It was so great though, don't tell him I said that. He had to stay an extra day because his car had to be taken to the shop! It was sad because he had to miss work and drive ALL night and barely made it in time to shower and go to work, but it was good too because I got to spend another day with him. Sadly I had to leave him to catch my plane to go home for the 4th of July and his car didn't get done til after 9:30pm. I felt terrible, I had left at 3pm. But he still loves me so thats good. :)
There is our update! We are so excited about getting married. The best thing will be that we get to see each other EVERY day! no more long distance and lame chats on Skype! lol

Oregon Visit

2009-04-23T16:24:00.000-06:00

Justin came to visit me in Oregon for a week! During Justin's spring break he was able to come and visit me in Oregon! I'm sure it was the longest week of his life seeing as I still had to work, but he survived. He flew into Portland and jumped on the Greyhound bus to Grants Pass so I could pick him up after I got off work. I stayed at work as long as possible, but seriously was WAY too excited he was coming so I had to leave. His bus, was of course late :( So I wandered around Walmart, went to the house I was house-sitting and watched some tv and then FINALLY he was there!! What a great day it was to see him. We stayed up late every night talking and watching movies! Not enough sleep, but certainly was worth it. We designed our announcements to how we want them so we can just insert our pictures once they are taken! We had a date night at the movies--went and saw "Mall Cop." SO funny. There was only one other couple in the theatre so of course at the funny parts being the loud laughers that we are, i'm sure it felt like there were at least 10 other people in the room to the other couple. But we had fun and enjoyed the movie. We visited a lot with the couple I lived with, Doug and Ruth. I subjected Justin to the fun torture of meeting my "boyfriends" and wrestling. These boyfriends are of course a 5 year old and a 3 year old of friends of my family's from New Mexico. They lived out there for awhile and went to church with my parents and ended up in Grants Pass. I enjoyed my visits to their house, the Ladesma's that is, because I got my wrestling time in. Owen and Davis LOVE to wrestle! They think it is the greatest thing in the world. They loved Justin because he is a boy and boy's of course are so much more fun to wrestle with. Cory had come to visit with my mom a couple weeks before and they loved him. So after two seperate visits and me bringing a boy each time, they were highly disappointed when the next time I showed up by myself :).
Justin spent his days while i was working watching movies, checking his email, going to the movies with Doug, and taking naps. What a life!
Finally on the weekend we headed up to Portland to register for our gifts for the wedding! We had it all planned out. We were gonna go and then spend the next couple of days with his aunt and uncle there. Sadly the night before they called and Justin's great aunt had died so they were leaving town to go to Utah for the funeral. OH NO! I mean thats great they were able to go, but what about me and Justin. He was flying out of Portland early Monday morning so we had to be there. So we decided to head up to Seattle! No big deal, its only 3 extra hours. So we went to Seattle to spend the weekend with my sister-in-law. We were able to visit, get some great food, and try and convince that baby to come so we could be there. Of course the baby didn't cooperate but we had fun anyways. We went to the space needle and the markets where they sell the fish and what not downtown. Lots of laughs and eating and resting.
Justin's flight was supposed to leave at 6am from Portland, so that I would have time to get back to Grants Pass for work-but since I didn't have anything to do they told me to take Monday off! Sweet! So because we were exhausted and the thought of leaving at 1:30 in the morning just seemed horrible, we changed his flight! The real reason I made him do it was so that I could spend more time with him--i'm so sneaky:)
I was SO sad to watch him leave. It was so hard, but knowing I would see him in just a couple weeks made it some what bearable. You see I promised his mom I would let him go home and I wouldn't keep him. Not a very smart thing, because the time has been stretched out for when I get to see him again. Now instead of just one month in between it is going to be two. TWO--that is just too many. but so far we are surviving. We both downloaded Skype so that we could chat online and see each other with our web cameras. It's so fun! Not quite the same, but I guess it will have to do.
So now we are just doing the wedding plans over the phone. They are plugging along little by little. More dress shopping this weekend, hopefully its the lucky weekend. We have less than four months til we get married-almost 3!!!!!!

2009-04-22T08:55:00.000-06:00

The Proposal

2009-03-20T09:59:00.000-06:00

This was a very interesting day! I had originally planned to propose to Kelli when I was going out to Oregon to see her over my spring break but the more I thought about it the sooner I wanted to do it. She planned a trip to come out and visit me Valentines day weekend. I had it all planned out, I was going to take her to a place called Boulder Falls. But that plan was shot because someone didn't show up for work, aka flight attendant for her plane! So her flight was delayed 2 hours and then it was canceled. She ended up getting on a plane to San Fransisco and was on standby for a flight from there to Denver that would put her in Denver at 5:30. When she got to San Fransisco she was able to get on a plane that got her to Denver at 3:00. I had thought and thought of a place where I could propose to her because it was too late for Boulder Falls. I had decided on a place near my house, it was a pavilion that looked over a small lake. I went and picked Kelli up from the airport and was so excited to see her I was so happy she had made it. On our way to the place where I was going to propose to her I told her I had a surprise for her. As we parked she had a very confused look on her face and I couldn't help but smile :) we got to the pavilion I gave her a hug and then.........asked her to marry me and she said YES!!! We were so excited it was a very special moment for both of us. Then we went to a Colorado Mammoth game and had a blast! So what looked like was going to be a bad Valentines Day turned out to be one of the best days we've spent together so far! Now the countdown continues until I go out to Oregon and spend a week with Kelli! 3 more days!!! :)

Wedding stuff

2009-03-14T22:04:00.001-06:00

Today was a very busy day! It was my second time out on the wedding dress hunt. The first opportunity I had was with my sister in law, Karen, who so kindly drove to Portland to meet me. It was a crazy day, but a day full of pretty dresses and trying to find what I liked. Those ideas definitely helped me with today's adventures. Karen and I searched and searched-even got lost on our drving, but still had a lot of fun. Well I did, she was probably exhausted. But she had great ideas and really helped me with some plans!
My mom and Cory flew into Medford last night and we spent the morning at a dress shop. SO many more pretty dresses. I have a few picked out and now can move forward in thinking about those and continuing to look (hoping for a great deal--like a HUGE sale) and eventually pick the right one! Cory started going crazy following us around through bridal store, floral shops, and craft stores, but it was a blast!! It is so nice to have mom around to make plans and get ideas instead of doing everything over the phone! It has been fun to discuss our ideas and find out what we are really thinking, instead of just talking about we have been showing each other. I'll be sad to have her leave.
Justin is still plugging away at school and seriously can't wait to come and visit me in a week :) LOL of course-right! It will be fun though, then we can get some more ideas and get wedding plans a little more on the move! I am SO excited he is coming. I'm super sad I have to work so much since we are approaching the end of tax season but the more time I get to spend with him the better! He will be here for a week!!

Photos and videos

2009-03-13T08:56:00.000-06:00

our dating story

2009-03-11T13:45:00.000-06:00

Where shall we begin on this great story Justin and I have? Yeah I know, really difficult because it kinda just happened:) Justin and I met on our mission in Utah and like most of my buddies we kept in touch. Justin basically stocked me and eventually I gave in. LOL-totally kidding. Really-we would do a friendly update now and again. Justin was fun to talk to and seemed to just listen when I was having difficulties with dumb boys. We decided that it would be so fun to hang out and go snowboarding when I got a break from school. We started talking on the phone in the Fall of 2008 and just laughed and made fun of each other. Eventually it seemed as though feelings of friendship had grown slightly into maybe more than that. I of course being paranoid and the dork that I am said no way! Justin was patient and just said whatever :) So we just continued to talk. I planned a trip to go to Denver to see him on my way home for Christmas. I was SUPER nervous and as it got closer really wasn't sure what to do. I hadn't seen Justin since he first got off his mission at our mission reunion. I was so unsure how I felt about him, was it really worth jeopordizing a friendship just because we had a blast talking and because we liked each other? What if it didn't work out? Oh man I was super stressed but went anyways.

My sister-in-law and I drove down together-a girl road trip! What a blast we had! She was the first to meet Justin! He didn't talk much-what is this, Justin nervous--YEAH RIGHT! He had an super early morning job and hardly had any sleep so he wasn't too chatty. The family meeting and seeing Justin was awkward and nerve wracking but as the week went on got better and better!! We then drove to New Mexico so I could be home for the holidays and he flew home a couple days before Christmas. I thought all this time together would be insane and drive us crazy and make us never want to talk again--but as usual I was wrong and it was the complete opposite. I missed him like crazy and wished he had never left. To my suprise he came back to see me after Christmas!! What a guy! He told me he wanted to marry me, I cried and said uh, i don't know. He said it was ok, and I could take my time. Well I couldn't stop thinking about it and after I moved to Oregon I was wondering what the heck. So we talked about it and decided it was the right thing to do!!! For what seemed like forever (really wasn't-only a little over a month) it was all just talk. But then I flew to Denver for a short visit because I had the weekend off of work AND thats when Justin asked me to marry him--officially with a ring and all!! We were very excited and called my family! Of course they already knew it was coming, but still were very excited. So now we continue to plan the wedding with miles and miles between us, which totally sucks-but we are surviving!