One Month!

I can't believe Lincoln is already a month old! Time is flying!

Lincoln at One Month:

Gets the hiccups when he's frustrated or excited

Loves Duck Dynasty

Walks a thin line between being happy and frustrated

Usually has a grumpy face

Squirms all over the place

Eats all the time

Hospital

Just a lot of pictures of all our visitors at the hospital.

Lincoln Thomas Angel

Lincoln Thomas Angel born November 27th at 2:48am, after 33 hours of labor and almost 3 hours of pushing. 

8 pounds 3 ounces

21 inches long

Prepping for baby

I cannot believe that I am due in just over 6 weeks!

I honestly thought pregnancy would drag out but it definitely has not and now I find myself nervous that I won't be ready before baby is here. But my own reservations aside, I am so excited to finally meet my little boy and hold him. I love guessing what his personality is (he already has so much) and I love picturing what he will look like. Anyone who has talked to me recently probably knows that I love talking about my baby and can find a way of fitting him into any conversation because I AM SO EXCITED.

I was so blessed to be able to have a baby shower here in Provo and one back home. People were so generous and our baby was soooooo spoiled. He is definitely going to have the cutest wardrobe. I love just looking at his little outfits and setting up all his little gadgets.

Since we are fortunately moving to a bigger apartment November 1, I haven't been able to do too much to set up for him and it's driving my nesting self nuts. We have so much stuff now that we definitely need the bigger apartment and it will be so nice for baby to have his own room.

Well I could go on but I'll leave it at that. We will for sure keep everyone updated as D-Day approaches:]

September

I really don't know what happened to September. It was here and then it was gone.

We kicked off September with Labor day weekend at the lake with my family. Despite a horrific boat malfunction, it was so fun to camp, boat, and just be with the family. It is so fun to have all of us together and it makes me sad that it is becoming rarer to have us all there. I forgot  how much I love camping, it was the first and only time we went this year and I'm sad that we didn't get to go more. However, it just makes me so excited for next summer and that we will be able to take our little baby on his first camping trip.

Right after labor day, school started. It definitely keeps me busy and I feel like I always have something to do but this is perhaps my favorite semester so far at BYU. I love my graphic design classes and pushing myself to always make my designs better. I love when I have a feeling about some element of design and my teachers agree with me. I definitely know that I am in the right major and feel so blessed that I was given this talent.

One of the best things about this semester has been watching how happy my husband is as he prepares to apply for the animation program. He is so talented and I am amazed at how quickly he picks up on things. I cannot wait to see what he creates in the future.

Family

This summer has been a little bit weird for me.

I'm used to summers at the lake and in a tent with my family.

This summer has been a lot of work, a lot of loneliness, and a lot of change. I haven't seen my family since my sister's wedding in June and I seriously miss them so much. They are some of my best friends and it's so lonely not having them around. Matt has been so wonderful this summer working so hard to earn money for our growing family. Besides the change in my usual summer routine, pregnancy has been weird this summer with my body changing and realizing how much is going to change in just a few short months. 

Now I'm not hear to throw a pity party, I just wanted to emphasize how much it meant this past week to have my grandparents out here. They came out for their yearly tradition of going to education week but I was so grateful that they put so much effort into spending time with us. They took such good care of us and it was so nice to have a little bit of home and family out here.

I am so grateful for the close relationship that I have with my grandmother and the good conversations we were able to have this past week and throughout my life. She is always so understanding and her opinion is so valuable for me.

Thankfully, I get to see the rest of my family this weekend for a labor day boating and camping trip. I am so excited to see them again and have a little taste of my usual (and favorite) summer activity. 

Crazy Month

Well July basically just flew by for us! One minute I was thinking how weird of a fourth of July it was not being on the lake and with my family and then the next thing I know we are rushing around running our end of the month errands before August 1st hits.

Highlights of the month include going back to California for Evan and Carmen's wedding. It was such a special experience to be their for their sealing in the San Diego temple and being able to see their daughter, Tiffany, sealed to them. I am continually grateful to have such amazing in-laws who are so good to me.

I was also blessed to be able to start working at Smith's this month and I am grateful that I can help with some of the baby costs.

This month was also a little emotionally rough. We went in for our routine four-week Doctor's appointment and my heart dropped as the Doctor discussed the results of our anatomy scan early this month. He told us that they found Choroid Plexus Cysts on the baby's brain and while this usually means nothing, it can sometimes be an indicator of Down Syndrome. He told us that we weren't high risk for DS and that they saw no other indicators but I couldn't help but worry. They had me take a blood test to screen for DS and I finally heard back today that everything came back normal! I cannot describe to you the sense of relief hearing that gave me.

This month also brought a change to our family's future plans. Originally the plan was for Matt to finish up his degree in Psychology in December and for me to start online school and finish my degree that way. We have since though, with a lot of thought and prayer, decided that Matt is going to change his degree to animation and that I will push through and finish my Graphic Design degree at BYU. This plan has brought so much comfort to me and I know for sure that it is what is best for our family.

Around the World (Kinda)

This month has been fantastic, mostly because we got to spend two weeks in California and Colorado. It is always so fun to see and spend time with family members, especially since we got to celebrate Evan getting home from his mission to Italy and Amanda and Kyle getting married.

After waiting all day on Wednesday, June 12th, the evening came and we drove to the airport to meet Tyler and Shelley. After a quick and easy flight, we made it to Long Beach where Matt's parents were waiting to greet us with Jack n' the Box (Matt's favorite). 

Thursday, we went to the beach (My favorite) and I finally got to meet Christina and her adorable 7 kids. Matt had so much fun with all of his nephews and really showed off his California Heritage.

Friday, was another long day of waiting until Evan came through customs and I finally got to meet Matt's last sibling. It was such a cool experience to see Evan reunited with his family again.

On Saturday, we had a big pizza party to celebrate Evan and Tyler's belated birthdays. And there was cake.

Sunday, we went to the Spanish ward and even though I didn't understand it, everyone was so friendly and nice that it was easy to feel the Spirit. Seeing as it was also Father's Day, we had a big BBQ with lots of family and it was delicious! I love food.

Monday we went to the pier and even though some of the boards looked a little rotten and unstable, we managed to make it to the end with out any problems. And Matt and I saw an octopus so no complaints.

Tuesday was pretty much our last day there and that night we went on a date to Coldstone and to walk on the beach at night. Our goal was to see the sunset but it was a little cloudy. Nevertheless, it was a still a great time and I was sad to say goodbye to California so soon.

So Wednesday we headed to the airport to make our way to Colorado. Now, I'm usually not afraid of flying but I promise you that our pilot had never flown an airplane before. Taking off we were swerving back and forth all over the run way (no there was no wind that day) and landing for our layover was traumatizing. Just imagine 30 minutes of drops, shaking and a lot of turbulence (I may have even cried). The thought of getting back on a plane seemed unbearable but luckily we got a different pilot and from Las Vegas to Denver was smooth sailing (or flying).

Even though thursday and friday were filled with the craziness of getting things ready for the wedding, I was so glad that I was able to spend the time with my family. I miss them so much and I loved being able to see them again.

Saturday made the hectic couple of days all worth it because I was able to see my sister so happy as she married the love of her life. I am so grateful for Kyle and how good he is to my sister and I am so glad to have him in the family. Their reception turned out beautiful and it was the perfect day.

Sunday, we went to a BBQ at my grandmas so that we could spend time with Tim and Nate, who were visiting from out of town. 

Monday, we took Matt to his first Qdoba experience, which was good enough to get him to spend a little while shopping with us. That night my mom, Matt, and I met my grandma and grandpa for dinner at Outback and then we saw Man of Steel.

That night (our last night) something went terribly wrong, probably from the food, and I woke up puking, it was awful and made me feel awful and was not fun at all. But my mom and Matt were so sweet to be by my side through the worst of it. I love them.

And Tuesday, we said goodbye and it was back to Utah for us.

As rough as it was going back, it was so great to spend the month seeing so much family and in just a few short weeks its back to California for Evan's wedding.

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful family and I definitely got so lucky marrying Matt. I love every chance I get to see them and spend time with them and I cannot wait to go back to Colordao.

Just thought I'd share my favorite poem today:]

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice--

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tub

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do--

determined to save

the only life you could save.

"The Journey"

Mary Oliver

Memorial Day in Colorado

Last weekend my sweet husband let us join my sister for a road trip down to Colorado. It was so much fun not having to send Matt off to work for a few days and it was awesome being able to see my family again! 

I can't say our weekend was the most relaxing because my parents were moving but I was so glad that I was able to help them. I am so amazed at how much my parents have done for me and continually do for me and I am so sad when I look back that I wasn't a bigger help to them. But on the bright side, I have an eternity to make it up to them and I definitely plan to do that.

Besides moving though, Matt and I were able to take Trevor to the pool, which really made it feel like summer. 

I was also able to go to Amanda's bridal shower. It was so fun to see some of the ladies I haven't seen in a while and to celebrate Amanda. Their wedding is getting so close now and I am so excited to have Kyle in our family, I couldn't be happier for them.

Sunday night, we got to go down to Jamin's land and go shooting and have a bonfire. Matt was in heaven with all of the guns and the guys had fun blowing things up with Tannerite. I loved sitting around the fire, campfire is one of my favorite smells and it was fun just to be with everyone.

You can kinda see the baby bump here (it doesn't just look like a food baby)

Monday was my favorite because we got to go BOATING!!! Being on the boat in the summer with my family is definitely my all time favorite thing. The weather was so nice, even if it was a little windy. Unfortunately the day ended with my dad running over a submerged log so that was a definite bummer.

After a fun weekend it was hard to go back to Provo... I'm excited to get out of Utah, hopefully in the near future but we will se what is in store for us. After such a fun weekend we are so excited to go to California and Colorado in just a few weeks!