Lacey laughing her head off

I had to share this video, it is too funny - I have been watching it over and over!

We went over for dinner with some people in our ward yesterday, and their two little boys immediately started trying to entertain Lacey.  She was acting kind of agitated at first (probably because she's not used to other kids), but then she started laughing SO hard! It was so unexpected - she has never laughed that hard in her life! Literally!

We love this little girl!

The Crown on Your Head

I had a special moment with Lacey this afternoon. 

I was reading her some stories to help her wind down for nap time, and I decided to read one of my favorite books to her - "The Crown on Your Head" by Nancy Tillman. 

It is such a good book! It has the most beautiful words - "On the day that we met and I put you to bed, I noticed a crown on the top of your head...I always knew just what your crown meant, it said that you were magnificent.  That means you are grand from your toes to your chin!"  The book is all about the value that you have simply because of who you are. 

I read it to Lacey almost every day, but for some reason, today, the words just sunk in. Today, I read to her, feeling like I was saying the words from my heart, and as I did so, I had this powerful feeling that Lacey is such a special person, and that she has infinite worth.  I just know it's true! Words just can't describe the feeling I have. This little person is so...amazing. 

Love

I don't know if it is like this for every parent, but for me, I have gradually loved Lacey more and more.  I loved her so much when she was first born, but I wasn't sure if I felt it in the way that so many parents talk about, where they would do anything for their child, and just feel this automatic, intense love with "every fiber" of their being.  I almost feel guilty about that, except that I know that oftentimes, love is learned - its a choice!  I know that love deepens and grows when you serve or make sacrifices for that person.  That kind of love becomes very strong.

I have been feeling this "deepening of love" for Lacey as I have started to embrace my role as a full-time mom more lately.  For awhile, I felt a little sad that I had ended a chapter in my life - the chapter where I had the freedom to do anything I wanted whenever I wanted, I had career goals and enjoyed my job, had a social life, etc.  It is a huge adjustment (just like everyone says) to be a mom, and you give up a lot of your old life, and your old self.  BUT. As I have started to let go of that old life, and accepted the fact that things will never be the same, I have had a paradigm shift.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'll be honest. For awhile, I felt that it was unfair that I had to stay home all day, doing menial chores and talking with a baby all day, and frankly, I felt a little resentful.  I told Richard that I felt a little jealous of him, because he "gets" to leave every day, and do work that earns money and is appreciated and validated.  (Mind you, Richard is amazing at showing appreciation and validation for my work).  While I was telling him this, I realized how completely  selfish and ungrateful I sounded - I immediately wished I hadn't said that.  I am SO grateful that Richard can work, and has a great job that provides for our family's needs without me having to go to work! Because of that, I am able to spend time bonding with Lacey all day long! I know there are so many moms out there who would LOVE to be in my position.  I don't want to take this blessing for granted.  It truly is a blessing.

As I have kept this in mind, and really made an effort to enjoy this time with Lacey, knowing that I am doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do, I have been able to truly feel the joy of motherhood.  I love spending time with Lacey and getting to know her sweet, funny little personality. My love for Lacey is growing exponentially.  

Our Latest Goings-on

Well, a TON of stuff has happened since my last post, and, while I'd like to think that I'm going to go back and be able to detail all the major events, I know that probably won't happen and I'll just get overwhelmed by the thought of all that writing and remembering.  SO, instead, I'm gonna do the classic "list of the major high points" of the past 6 months.

- Richard had lots of job interviews each month of his last semester of college, he got a good number of job offers, and ultimately decided to take a marketing position at a company called Precoa in Portland, Oregon (which just so happens to be where my parents/family live).

Richard and I got Cafe Rio to celebrate him officially accepting his job at Precoa!

- I had Lacey (her birth story is in progress, but I'm a little overwhelmed with all the details I want to remember, so it may be a while...)

- My 5k event (which I planned for the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program at the UCHD), the "Cold Turkey Fun Run" happened the week Lacey was born - it represented months of planning and effort, and I have to say, I was very proud of and happy with how it turned out! My co-workers completely took over for me in making it all come together, and we had a great turnout! Here is a link to an article about it. My sweet family did the run - very validating for me!

- We had our families and Max and Rebecca (who are like family!) come out to Lacey's baby blessing just one week after her birth (amazing./wonderful and overwhelming at the same time!)

- I quit my health educator job (in tobacco prevention and control) at the Utah County Health Department

- Richard graduated in December (and is walking this month)!!!!!!

- We went to Pennsylvania for Christmas with Richard's family, which I was originally stressed about with a new baby and being right in the middle of us packing to move, but turned out to be really nice and just what we needed.

 Our crazy packing/post baby mess

- We got back from Pennsylvania, and less than 24 hours later, we were driving away from Lacey's first home with bittersweet emotions and a packed-up Uhaul truck (thanks to everyone who helped - we couldn't have done it without the help from our amazing family and friends).  We were sad to leave our apartment (which we had lived in the longest out of all our other apartments - a year and a half), but also SO glad to be out of it - it was also the tiniest apartment we'd lived in out of all of our dwellings (not including Uganda). 

- We moved in with my parents in order to save up some money and look for/buy a house.  We have loved being with my family, and are going to be sad in a lot of ways, when it's time to move out.

- Richard started his job in January, and loves it and his co-workers - it is an awesome company! He is enjoying the environment and starting to get into some projects he really enjoys.

 - I have been adjusting to/loving life as a stay-at-home mommy. It has been wonderful and exhausting to be able to be with Lacey all day every day. We are currently working on her sleep habits/schedule... any recommendations for good books to read on getting baby to stay asleep for longer than 2 hours at a time through the night?

- We found an awesome townhouse in Tigard that we immediately fell in love with - it is pretty much everything we wanted (the location isn't my favorite, but other than that, it's perfect), and we are so excited to have our own place! And to have SPACE! and places to put EVERYTHING! This is a big deal.  We are supposed to close on our house this week or next, and are SO excited!!! Pictures to come!

34 Weeks...and I'm huge

I'm just 6 weeks away from my due date! So crazy! Its always weird to look back at previous pregnancy profile pictures and to realize that my tummy really is growing! I never feel like I am getting bigger until I see pictures, or until I realize that my clothes aren't as comfortable as I remember them being...

 

Baby is soooo active! I can't help but wonder if this is normal... of course, I'm sure its nothing to worry about, but I just wonder if this is how most babies are!  She is seriously allllll over the place.  In the evenings (lately), she is the most active, and when she's really busy, you can see her - it looks like I have popcorn popping in my stomach.  Or just a crazy baby doing internal TaeBo....can I count that as my daily exercise?

In other news, we are enjoying our hypnobabies class - we've finished 3 of the 6 weeks of class, and I feel like I am really gaining some useful tools for my "birthing time." It is such a cool experience to go into hypnosis (which sounds really kooky, but its just deep relaxation and visualization).  I can totally see how it will be effective for me!  I tried using some relaxation techniques earlier this week before I gave a presentation at a Board of Health meeting (because I was starting to get butterflies), and it totally worked! Once I let myself relax, I was able to let go of my nervous feelings and give my presentation confidently.  So cool!

Work has been kind of crazy this past month! At the beginning of September, I planned a PTA"Health and Safety Summit" for all Utah County PTA members, and it was a lot of work!  It turned out really well though - everything went smoothly, and we had a good turnout, so I was pretty happy with it!  I kind of like event planning, I'm finding out...

Speaking of which, I am planning a 5k for November!  I'm really excited about it - it has been really fun to get creative and just put it all together.  I am feeling so lucky to have a job that allows me to be creative in the ways I accomplish my assigned tasks.  Its been a cool experience to realize that I can think outside the box, and to have the funds needed to carry out my ideas.  So fun! I'm just hoping that I can plan everything out really well so that everything goes smoothly (I will have just had the baby, and so I probably won't be able to do much in the way of helping get ready for the run). Wish me luck!

Oh, and if you are interested, there are still some spots open in the race if you want to register (Its free)! www.coldturkeyrun.pbworks.com.

31 weeks and Happy 4th Anniversary!

 

I'm 31 weeks now, and am only 2 months away from my due date! I can hardly believe it!  Baby has been soo busy lately.  I would LOVE to see what she is doing all day, it seems like she is constantly moving! 

I posted this on my facebook, but this week, I was sitting in a training, and baby was all over the place! I tried to cover up all the movement by putting my hands on top of my stomach, but afterwards, this lady was like, "Is that baby just going crazy inside of you?" and then she told me that she had seen my stomach moving a ton during the training!  Hahaha.... kind of embarrassing, and sooo weird!  But I love it, I love knowing that she is an active baby, and somehow the constant movement is comforting to me. 

I'm starting to bump into things more with my tummy, and realizing that I can't get through narrow spaces anymore..   Oh, and also... I have started growing out of my early maternity clothes! Now THAT is weird!  and I'm able to wear things that I thought I'd never be big enough to fit in.  Pretty crazy.  

In other news, Richard and I had our 4 year anniversary on August 22! I can hardly believe we've been married that long!  It has been the most wonderful and happy 4 years of my life.  I love that man so much!  We have really grown a lot together, and I love looking back at how we have changed since we were first married.  We have been through so many great experiences together already, and I am so grateful to know that I will always have him by my side through future experiences.

Richard totally surprised me this year with our anniversary date.  I had absolutely NO idea what his plans were, other than we were going to go somewhere overnight.  We ended up going to Vegas!  I still have to laugh when I think about that - it was so unexpected!  Richard was really proud of himself though, for surprising me to the extent that he did. And I was super impressed!

He picked me up after work, and had packed my suitcase, brought me dinner, and everything.  He told me to prepare myself for a drive anywhere between 2 and 12 hours.  He really wasn't going to tell me where we were going until it was obvious we weren't going anywhere I had been expecting. He finally told me where we were going around the time we were passing through Cedar City! I could not stop laughing because I was so surprised and excited.  

Richard got a great deal on a nice hotel room, and we stayed there for 2 nights.  Sadly, it rained all day on our anniversary, so we weren't able to walk around the strip as much as we would have liked, but we did get to see the Venetian, Palazzo, and the Bellagio. It was kind of fun to walk around all the ritzy shops and imagine what it would be like to spend $3,000 on a single pair of shoes (that's more than we spent on our car!) 

Our hotel had a nice theater inside, and so we got to see the new Batman movie.  Oh, and of course, we tried out the buffet at our hotel, which had really good food!  You know what they say... when you go to Vegas, you gotta try out the buffet!

 

 We played a game where we tried to find the two worst looking foods, and the two best looking foods, and then try them all.  We did pretty well at finding some nasty-looking and tasting foods...  

Richard's gross foods

One of my gross foods

The view from our room

Gondola rides inside the Venetian hotel!

                            These sandals were cute... but kinda pricey!

Really interesting suit outfit in a high-end store...

Fountains at the Bellagio

30 weeks

Here's the latest tummy picture! I'm still feeling pretty good, just getting a little cramped!  Oh, and my feet are swollen and hurting all the time.  Other than that (which still isn't much to complain about) I feel great.  We've (still) been loving feeling baby move all the time, it is exciting every time.  Apparently, she is as big as a head of lettuce, is 18 inches long, and weighs 3.2 pounds (according to my "What to Expect" App).  She's growing up so fast! 

The past couple weeks have been crazy and fun!  We went to Oregon for a week, and while we were there, we did a family backpacking trip.  It was a blast!  Summer backpacking trips have been a tradition in our family, and they have always been looked forward to.  We haven't done a trip since the summer I got married (4 years ago!), and so we were excited to be able to go on this one.  I was a little nervous about going, being pregnant and all, but the hike was easy, and Richard was so kind to pack in our nice big air mattress so I could sleep comfortably.  We camped for 2 nights and it was perfect! I loved having that time with the family without any distractions or anything to do but just be together.

After we got back from our trip, the next day my sisters and mom threw me a baby shower.  It was so awesome to see so many of the people I love so much!  One thing I really loved about the baby shower was something that Rochelle decided to do - she invited people to write a blessing or wish that they had for me, and to find a special bead or charm to go with it, so that I could put them onto a bracelet that I could wear for positive energy and encouragement leading up to the birth, and as I step into motherhood.

We also did a girls' day with my mom and sisters - we went to the Pittock Mansion in Portland, and imagined what it must have been like to live in such luxury. It is a beautiful building! 

Then we came home and had a tea party with my Aunt Sandy and Cousins Birgitte and Kirsten.  We all felt sooo refined.  The tea was delicious, as were the finger sandwiches and scones and other little desserts.  We had so much fun making and eating that food!  And of course, we had to finish out the ultimate girl experience with a chick flick - Pride and Prejudice (the one with Kiera Knightly).   So much fun!

Rochelle took pictures of both the baby shower and tea party set up - look at her craft blog to see them!

Oh, and we got to see some of our best friends while we were there - I went out to breakfast with my best friend from high school, Michelle (love her!), and the next day, we got to see our friends Max and Rebecca and their ADORABLE baby Charlie (future husband of our daughter).  We went to the Original Pancake house in Portland (sooo good!) and had fun catching up with them. 

We had such a blast being in Oregon with the whole family! We were definitely sad to go back to normal life, but I feel like we really lived it up while we were there!