A Father's Day Tribute to my Daddy

I am the luckiest woman in the world! I have the most wonderful Daddy in the entire world! I have always loved him so much. I was lucky enough to have him at home most of the time when I was little, something that many kids don't get. He is the one who did my hair for church and went on school field trips with me. When I got older he was the one who always got so angry when I didn't get the boy I wanted or played 'Eponine' with my guy friends. He was willing to call my teacher's less that polite names when they were being jerks, and hold me to a higher standard when it was my fault for slacking off. Some of my favorite memories from high school are coming home for stake dances to find him waiting up, and then while the whole house was asleep we would stay up and talk till 2 or 3 in the morning about everything and anything and nothing. He was the first person to give me flowers. He made coming to BYU possible even when I didn't always deserve it. He's the person I called at 5 am UT time (4 am CA time) because my car wouldn't start. He always takes the time to talk when I call. Perhaps one of my favorite things about him is how much he has loved David as his own son from the very begining. I am so excited (even if he is quite so sure about it) that my kids get to call him Grandpa. He has always been the Priesthood holder and I am so grateful that he was able to bless, baptize, and confirm me, as well as being a witness at our sealing. Thanks for teaching me to cook without directions and try to fix a car. I love you Daddy!

Oh really quick David got his first Father's Day card... I love you honey!

Late night hanging with old friends... equals missing church... opps

So for some reason David and I have gone from being total home bodies who never see anybody to being really social and having plans all over the place! and the turn around happened over less than a week! I'm not kidding... a week ago when i wrote up the calender we had 4 events (one of them being Father's Day which we didn't really have any plans for. This week ended up having 3 events and this next week is full except for Tuesday! Both of us are enjoying the crazyness but are definatly tired at the end of the day... man we are getting old!

Oh before I get into the craziness of the week I'll give a quick update on my finger. It was not broken thank goodness! After a call to my mom (it is such a blessing to have an RN in the family!!) David was able to pop my finger. Can I tell you that hurt like pickle juice in your eye! However it seemed that was all my finger needed, within a few hours the swelling was way down and other than a nasty bruise it is now completly back to normal! Yeah! David does want me to make it clear that no daughter of his will be 22 years old and still unable to catch a football! He's pretty disgusted with me about that. LOL.

Thursday morning was super productive! I ended up doing the laundry and decided that it was probably time to put all the winter quilts away, which of course meant i had to wash them first. For all those who live in Wymount and use laundry mat 3 I'm sorry if you tried to do laundry that morning and all the washing machines were taken, 7 of them were mine and I am sorry. But when I walked in and saw that all the machines were empty I couldn't help it! While the laundry was going I did dishes and cleaned out the fridge! After all that I was pretty tired and David let me take a very nice afternoon nap. Thank you baby!

Thursday night we got a fun suprise call from our friend C.J. inviting us over for dinner at his place that night. We actually had thought he was in New Mexico selling stuff, but nope he's been here all spring. We felt silly. But we went over and had an amazing fettichini alfrado dinner. C.J. is a really good cook and as always his food hit the spot. He had also invited his Uncle and cousins over. His Uncle has a 3 month old little girl who is just adorable! And when everyone went swimming I got to hold her so her mom could play in the water with the other little kids. I have always loved holding babies but now I'm gonna have one it is even cooler. As much fun as catching up with C.J. was, and as good as the food was holding that little girl for 20 min was the highlight for me! She was just so cute!

Friday was pretty quiet just some basic cleaning and a grocery run.

Saturday was deep cleaning day! I (finally) got caught up on dishes (which David will tell you is a minor miracle in and of its self). I moved furniture, vacuumed (my least favorite chore ever!), and bleached the heck out of the bathroom! I wish I could claim self motivation for this burst of cleaning, but alas, I had realized that I had invited my dear friends Sarah and Jeff Clark over for dinner and games that night. There was no way they were coming over unless my house was perfect! Oh well, at least now its back to where it was before morning sickness killed me, hopefulling I can keep my house this way. It is so true that keeping a house clean is much easier than getting it clean! Sarah and Jeff came over and we had spagettie night! Yeah!! I realized when it took me 5 min to find my olive oil (it was hiding behind the Cheese-itz) that it had been a long time since I made pasta for dinner, which is sad since spagetti is one of my favorite foods hands down. Happy day baby likes it too!!! Happy Dance!! After dinner we played a (long) game of Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights. For those who have never played Catan you are missing out! The basic run down is that you build cities and settlement that give you access to recourses, which you then roll to earn. The goal is to get to certian number of Victory Points first buy building the most things. Any way, poor Jeff got his butt completly kicked almost from the very begining! He was a pretty good sport about it though. I ended up winning (thats right! whose the Queen of Catan) and Jeff and Sarah introduced us to a card game called Bang. Its an Italian game based on the Wild West. Kind of like Mafia the goal is for the Sheriff to kill the outlaws first, and the outlaws are trying to kill the Sheriff first. Jeff completly dominated the first round, and then I came back and kicked his butt in the second! We were having so much fun goofing off together that before we realized it was past 11pm and time to go to bed. I fell asleep soon after they left and did not move until 1 pm. I completly slept through my alarm and all three hours of church, oops! I guess I'm getting too old and boring to stay up that late on a Saturday night, but Sarah and Jeff are deffinatly worth the sleepies.

Well thats all for the basic run down of our life. I'm going to do a seperate Father's Day post.

Over and out!

Late Nights watching Shakespeare movies... lends to being better at blogging!

So its been an interesting week so far. Monday was pretty chill, the only thing of note was that I got an email from my father telling me that my Great Aunt Debbie Keele Blair had suffered a massive heart attack and was showing no brain activity. I was sad to hear it and even sadder to hear the next morning that she had passed. She was only 54 and I wish I had known her better. I was talking to my Dad about her today and trying to remember her better. It was really cool to hear him talk about her and what a sweet and kind woman she was. Neither of us can remember whether the memory I'm about to share was her or her sister Becky but Dad says it would have been in total character of Debbie to do this. When I was about six my Great Grandma Keele (Debbie's mother) passed away. She had lived in Hawaii and I hadn't had the chance to spend much time with her but was still devastated by her loss. After the funeral the family all gathered at the family home in Spanish Fork where a table had been spread with various pieces of jewelry, handkerchiefs, and other small belongings of Grandma's for people to look through and pick a few of their own. Picture if you can a six year old girl having just come from her first funeral and absolutely devastated by losing a grandparent. Then, my aunt Debbie (or it might have been Becky) came and led me to the table and helped me pick a pair of earings and some cloth doilies to make into a shadow box. Afterwards she took me to the corner and tried to teach me to crochet. It is one of my most treasured childhood memories and shows the kind of person my Aunt was. Not many women, or people, would be aware enough at their own mother's funeral to comfort a small child that wasn't their own. I hope that someday I am that aware and caring of others. Debbie will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

Tuesday morning David and I were invited to the temple by a couple in our ward. I have had a difficult time getting myself to go to the temple on a regular basis because I do not yet feel comfortable going without another woman with me. I am always grateful for the opportunity to go with others and am grateful that Greg and Erin Treasure thought to ask us. I did have a rather unpleasant moment while I was there. I had a "your mother was right moment." Those are always bitter experiences. Here is the story. When I was preparing to get married I went shopping for a temple dress with my mother and Grandmother. I wanted one of the more modern, fitted, and stylish dresses. My mother however insisted I get one that zipped up the front and had plenty of room in the waist for a baby belly, since Grandma was buying she and my mother won the argument and I got a nice but very simple and 'older' looking dress that fit all of their requirements. So... back to the present day. I got into the changing room at the temple and suddenly realized that I might have to rent a dress because I would not fit in mine. I put on my slip (barley squeezing my new 'ba booms' into it) then the moment of truth came and on went the temple dress with no problems whatsoever. So I am here to say, yes mom you were right, yet again I bow to your greater wisdom and am glad I took it.

Besides that unpleasantness going to the temple was a wonderful and blessed experienced. I am so grateful to live so near to a temple and especially so near to one that is large enough that you don't have to call ahead to make sure there is room int eh session. The temple is a place of such peace, beauty, and love that I always leave feeling so rejuvenated in my faith and my love of the gospel. I also always feel a renewed conviction to be a worthy wife and mother so that I enjoy the blessings and promises that can be ours if I am faithful. I am so blessed to have a temple marriage.

Tuesday night David and I went to dinner at our friends home. Laralynn and Rodney are friends from our first married ward and we love hanging out with them and their daughter Kaylee. Kaylee usually is tolerant but not excited about visitors but for some reason she really liked David. We had brought dominoes to play and he opened the box and set them up and knocked them over with her for a good half hour. Then she had to take him back and show him her toy kitchen and how she can fill her spoons with 'water' from the tap and make treats. It was really cute to watch him play with her. He is going to be such a good Daddy I am really excited to watch him play with our baby.

Today I woke up at 2:25 having to pee, only to hear David's alarm while I was in the bathroom. I didn't really feel like going back to bed so I sat up with him while he got ready for work. Right after he left I lost the small breakfast I had eaten and remembered that I had not taken my Unisom. So I took one then (around 4:30) and went to bed. Needless to say I slept till mid afternoon and did not have a very productive day. After David went to bed I went outside into the quad where several people were throwing around a football. Despite my usual distaste for that sort of activity I joined in, and what do I get for it? I jammed my left ring and middle fingers. I was able to pop the middle one out enough so that now it doesn't hurt any more, but my ring finger is another story. Its turning blue, wont bend, and has swollen to the point my wedding is uncomfortable but I can't get it off. I really hope I didn't break it, that would be like me though. I hoping that when David gets up he'll be able to pop it like I did the middle finger. Its actually hurting bad enough I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep till he gets up for work anyway, its moments like this that makes me miss being able to take pain meds.
Oh speaking of pregnancy this baby is still craving fruit like nothing else, specifically nectaries and watermelon. I have also developed a taste for croissants. In fact I could live very happily if all I was given was a bag of nectaries, a croissant, and half a watermelon with a spoon. In fact that might be heaven in food from. Yum, writing about has made baby and I both hungry so I shall pull out the watermelon and have a feast.

Over and Out!

First Belly shots!! 16 weeks

I thought it was probably time to start documenting my belly, despite having lost weight (about 5 pound from where I was when I took the pregnancy test) my tummy has made a rather grand arrival... so here it is!

I would like to say that my dress is hiding my toes as much as my belly is... or at least that is what i tell myself

I think this kid may like attention as much as his/her mother does... "look at me everyone! I'm in here in case you hadn't heard already!"... of all my traits I don't know if thats the best one for my kids to inherit! :(

Sixteen weeks! almost halfway there!!!

So last weekend I took off and left poor David on his own:( Poor man he gets so sad when I leave him like that. I went down to Richfield with my Grandma Keele to watch my cousin Kylee compete in a Jr Miss pageant. It was tons of fun to sit and visit with my Grandma and talk about pregnancy and infants and learn from her. Also spending time with my Uncle Ric and Aunt Jen and their girls is always fun. As I get closer and closer to becoming a mother myself I pay much closer attention to the good examples of parents in my life and see what it is about their parenting style I like so much. With each it is something different and I am so lucky to have so many examples of righteous parenting in my family that I worry less about knowing what to do and more about executing it. Any way the big thing I learn every time I am with Ric and Jenn is how much each of those little girls know that their mommy and daddy love them completely. They are constantly reminded of how beautiful and talented they are and how much mom and dad love them and are willing to sacrifice to make sure they have the chance to do all the good things they want to. I hope that is something I will be able to emulate with my children by constantly reminding them beyond a doubt how wonderful and loved they are. Any who, Kylee did an amazing job in the pageant (she didn't place but pulled off a stunning and very poised performance). We were all so proud of her, I don't know if I would have been able to do what she did when I was thirteen, but she rocked! While I was there Jenn turned me on to some vitamins and meds that really helped her with morning sickness, I got them approved by my doctor and am feeling so much better its a miracle. For anyone out there struggling with morning sickness check out "Spray 4 Life: Vitamin B Complex" which you can find at most health food stores, that combined with a Unisom at night is an amazing thing (of course make sure its okay with your doctor first buy mine said it was fine and so did my Uncle the pharmacist). So now that I have been feeling better I have finally started getting caught up on all the house work that had fallen behind while I was dying. It feels so good to get up and be able to move with out throwing up every few hours. Friday we went to our 16 week appointment. David and I were both a little nervous when the doctor had a hard time finding the heartbeat but once he did it was really loud and strong (the doctor said that sometimes babies get shy and try to hide from him). He said that the heartbeat was about 150 so we are really excited. Everything is looking really good and all the blood work came back great! But the most exciting part of the day was scheduling the Ultrasound! We get to see our baby for the first time on July 13th! I still think this baby is a girl and David is convinced that its a boy, we have a dinner riding on it, but I'm going to win so he should just get over it! In other news my brother Clark is hitting the year mark on his mission this week! I am so proud of him for all he is doing and sacrificing to serve the Lord. I can't believe its already been a year since we dropped him off at the MTC... or that in only a year I'll be packing up baby to drive out for his homecoming (I informed David that I'm going out and taking our child, he's welcome to come if he wants..lol). Okay wow I have written a lot. Well over and out!