Sunday, December 14, 2014

Homemade lotion

I already did my 'review' of the homemade baby shampoo/soap I made, and now it's time to spotlight the baby lotion I made. I was really excited about this because guess what - I use it too! It was easy, cheap, and we love using it on Ian - he smells DELICIOUS afterwards. As if we don't want to eat him up enough already!

Here's the recipe, taken from Frugal Farm Wife:

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup aloe vera gel
Essential oil – several drops (optional)

Gently heat coconut oil until just melted – but not hot. Pout into a blender or food processer (or use a cup and stick blender for easy clean up!) with aloe vera gel and essential oil, and blend until creamy and well emulsified. 

Scrape into a container with a tight fitting lid, and store either at room temperature, or in the refrigerator – whichever you prefer.

I didn't spend enough time blending mine together, so there are some chunks of coconut oil in our containers, but they melt almost immediately upon application to Ian's skin, so it's not a huge deal to me. We store ours under the bathroom sink, but like the recipe said you can keep it in the fridge. We just figure that Ian would prefer room temperature lotion to freezing lotion. Here's a picture (it's not very pretty):


The containers are rather small and we haven't even finished one yet - a little goes a long way!

I'm sort of coo-coo for this homemade lotion because I have dry skin, and we live in Idaho, which doesn't help anyone's dry skin case! What I love about non-store bought lotion is that there's NO WATER. If you look on your lotion bottles, one of if not the first ingredients is water, which will only temporarily hydrate your skin, but it quenches your skin leaving you just as dry, so then you have to apply more, and then you're hooked on lotion and they get the big bucks. When your skin is dry, it needs a replenishing of your skin's oils, not water. (Although staying hydrated will definitely help your skin cause) That's why the coconut oil and aloe vera gel are so great, they really hydrate your skin with what your body needs. The lavender smells heavenly, and even though I'm not a huge fan of coconut, I really love the smell of this lotion!

I don't know if Ian has naturally great skin or if it's because of the homemade products that we use, but he has had no "baby acne", and his dry skin, which every baby experiences, went away very quickly, even in this dry winter weather. Maybe it's just coincidence, but I'm a believer.

If you try it out, let me know how it goes!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Homemade Baby Soap

Before Ian was born, we got a LOT of baby products - soap, lotion, shampoo, diaper cream, etc. Also during this time, I had been looking on Pinterest and noticing a lot of "DIY beauty products". My sister Steph is studying to become a holistic nutritionist and uses a lot of natural products besides eating whole, natural foods. I asked her about where to begin in my quest to use better products and she encouraged me to start with my baby, get him set on a less chemically influenced path of life, if you will. I took a look around and found TONS of recipes for all things baby product.

I want to make a note here. At this point, I didn't feel super strongly about using natural products, I didn't "have a testimony" of it, if you know what I mean. Some people go "crunchy" because it's a money saving technique (and yes, it is much cheaper!), while others, like my sister, are more concerned about what kinds of things we're exposing our bodies to by using run-of-the-mill products. I did some research and talked a lot about it with my husband. Ultimately, my attitude was this: maybe it won't make a huge difference either to our bodies or to our budget. But if we can get one step closer to living the holistic lifestyle that we want to live (one day when we can afford the type of food we want!), then let's do it! And let me tell you, I probably would have been just as fine if we had used Johnson and Johnson baby products. I don't look down on anyone for using them, I don't know enough about the big debate to really care. At the end of the day, I had the time to make the products, and I feel good about using more natural products.

Also, I know that every family has their priorities. You know how it is - some families are all about music or sports or playing games or tv or being outdoors or travelling...you catch my drift? To some moms, the most important thing is reading to their kids, to others it's having a clean house. I haven't quite found my main focus (I think there will be more than one too), but after trying this out, I have enjoyed the experience enough that making these natural products, and hopefully more in the near future, will be a priority for me and my family.

Now, where were we?

After spending a lot of time deciding which ones I wanted to try, I settled with this recipe for Homemade Baby Soap:

1/4c Dr Bronners Unscented Baby Mild Soap
1/4c Coconut Oil (or vitamin E oil, avocado oil, etc)
1/4c Water, warm/hot
Essential Oils (preferably lavender)

Taken from a greener mama

All of these things are super easy to find. With Coconut oil, you can buy it at a grocery store - don't be fooled into thinking you need to buy the expensive kind at the natural food store that is meant specifically for making beauty products - it's the same stuff as the kind at Wal-Mart. Also, Amazon is great for finding lower prices on these kinds of products.

This is how it came out:


It is VERY foamy, and the recipe doesn't make a ton because the shelf life isn't super duper long. The next day (after taking the picture), the solution was reduced enough that I combined the two containers into one.

We have loved using this at bath time with Ian. I love love love the smell of lavender and I like to think it helps calm him down before going to bed. You do have to shake up the solution when you're about to use it, and you don't need very much so it will last a while. I love knowing that all these ingredients are gentle and even nourishing to Ian's skin. And I like knowing that I can do this! Homemade soap for the win!


Friday, December 12, 2014

Pictures from the first month


After our first night in the hospital, which went splendidly well. Ian is an angel baby!


Daddy made these posters for us :)


During said first bath


I didn't flip these, but gosh Ian makes the best faces when he's milk drunk or half asleep


Cute gassy/half awake smiles


Gosh, can he get any cuter?!


My boys having some snuggle time



Dressed up for the sabbath, though we haven't been to church yet!







1 month

Ian is (over) 1 month old! It has been for sure the hardest, most incredible month of my life. I didn't know that I had the capacity to do what I've been doing - being a mom is hard! The first two weeks were difficult because I was supposed to be recovering but didn't really take it as easy as I should have, so I was in a lot of pain when I didn't need to be. Stupid! Lesson learned.

Also, I didn't know I could function so well when I'm so tired. (I guess that's up for debate, I haven't ventured to ask anyone if I'm up to my own par) I also didn't know I could be so tired. But my body is adapting to this new life of not sleeping as much as I used to, and I'm happy to change.

Things about Ian this first month:

Breastfeeding has been a challenge. It's just been this last week/week and a half that I feel like we're doing this how we need to do it. I'm getting to know Ian better and reading him better, which is a good thing for everyone. We do have to give him formula in addition to breast feeding but he takes a bottle very well, and doesn't seem to have a preference to formula or breast milk necessarily. This is nice because Tom can feed him and have some bonding time too, which he enjoys.


This is the bather we use (it's upside down, sorry!). If you'll notice, there's a nasty big yellow blob up at the top (which is actually the bottom). Ian loves the tub, he finds it very relaxing. TOO relaxing - almost every night he pees and twice now he has pooped in the tub! This was last night's clean up, thanks little dude. Actually more like thanks DADDY who took care of it when I forgot.


Ian really liked his binky for the first two weeks but now he doesn't take it so well. That's okay with me - he will very rarely take it if he gets really desperate. He sucks on that thing HARD, it's hilarious!


He likes to have his hands up on his face as much as possible, and likes to suck on his hands/fingers from time to time, which I find adorable.


I'm not sure who loves this more, Ian or Tom!


This was after his first bath, he just kept his mouth open as if saying "WOW! This tub time stuff is awesome!"


Not very often, but sometimes Ian will let me take a nap with him all snuggled up to me like this. Not for very long, but it's been some of my favorite quiet moments with my son.


Ian has issues with being gassy a lot, though it's getting a lot better. We have to get creative sometimes when he's so worked up about the gas, which means trying different methods of burping. We call this burping technique "The Sloth Hold", and Ian doesn't mind it a bit!


Sometimes he will sit in his boppy and just be so calm and quiet, allowing me to get things done. Win win!


This was taken after a very long night. I was really tired and evidently so was Ian! I don't remember thinking that he would necessarily enjoy this position, but I was out of it. He fell asleep, giving me a bit of time for a nap too, and I guess Tom snapped this picture before he left for class.


We are flying to Texas in 8 days (!!!!) and I'm a little bit super scared to fly with a 5, almost 6 week old. We've been practicing using our Moby wrap (it's actually just jersey cloth given to me by my MIL, cut the same as a Moby wrap but a fraction of the cost - score!). Ian wasn't too sure about it at first but we're working on it. There isn't really another option, so it has to work haha! Actually, he is currently in the wrap sleeping against me as I write this. So I'd say things are getting better.





Ian has mostly grown out of newborn clothes (except the pants, those fit him much better), which I have mixed feelings about. He only stayed in newborn diapers for about two and a half weeks, and as of late has been displaying some nice rolls, a double chin, and hefty "jowls" as my Dad would call his big, kissable cheeks.

He has had two blowouts, and they weren't bad at all. Knock on wood!

We already had our first out-of-state experience with Ian when we went to Utah for Thanksgiving with Tom's family. He did well in the car, but adjusting to a different place seemed to throw him off. Thankfully he's back in a groove - just in time to leave again, oh joy.

As for me, I'm adjusting. I have started walking on the indoor track with him in the jogging stroller this week, trying to very slowly ease back into an active lifestyle and begin prep for half marathon training! (My goal is to complete a half marathon in 2015). I may or may not have gone 5 days without showering, I guess you'll just have to assume I didn't. The first two weeks consisted of a LOT of tears and some breakdowns, thank goodness for Tom. I can count on one hand the number of times I've gotten dressed completely with hair and makeup done. I can't eat chocolate (sad) but Ian seems to be pretty tolerable of most everything else I eat, and I hope that when I get brave enough to slowly introduce chocolate back into my life, he'll be okay with it - fingers crossed!

But, I have never been happier. I have a new found confidence that I didn't know existed, and I feel like my head is on totally straight and that being Ian's mom is coming naturally to me as I prayed it would. I have felt God's love for me, His guiding hand, so often. I know that my new job of Mom is the most important one I could have, and that my success as a mother is important to Heavenly Father. He loves Ian as much as He loves me, and He wants us both to be happy - He won't let me fail! I am so grateful for that, and for the sacred moments I have had over the last month that confirm to me that God and His son Jesus Christ live and love me! What a powerful thing to know.

Tom and I have this moment several times a day where we're both looking at him and we look at each other and say "Is that really our baby?" I was just getting used to the reality that yes, Tom and I really are married to each other and I'm not dreaming, and now we have this angel baby with us! It's all very surreal. We think our baby is the most handsome sweet boy in the world. We love his sleepy smiles and funny faces that he often pulls, we love his cute little noises, and most especially how close to heaven he is. We love our Ian boy!


Monday, December 8, 2014

Ian: A Birth Story

Tomorrow my baby is a month old, so I find myself in this awkward place where I should have written my son's birth story a long time ago. I have written it down already in his journal (more on that another day), but I wanted to share it here because it's a beautiful story, really. Plus, there are some people who I love and blogs are unfortunately the only way we stay connected, and I want you all to be on the in with how Ian Timothy Cook came into this world.

My due date was Thursday, November 6. Leading up to the day I kept thinking that every contraction (probably just Braxton Hicks) was the beginning of labor. When my due date came and went with no change I was really disappointed. Everyone told me first babies are always late, that I should plan for an extra week at least. Tom and I had started talking about having an induced labor because it would be so much more convenient what with his school schedule, my mom already being out west, and family not having to take off any work to come meet our boy. I called my doctor and they scheduled an appointment for Friday, November 7 to see if I was far enough along to be induced. When I went in, nothing had changed: for three weeks now I had been dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced. The appointment overall was a terrible experience and Tom wasn't with me and I did NOT like the doctor and they kept me there forever and I was already really emotional and my phone died so I couldn't complain to Tom or update him on what they were doing and, and, and. It was not a very good day. Tom showed up at the doctor's office in time for them to do an ultrasound to make sure baby was okay (this doctor was convinced every time I saw him that there must be something wrong with the baby since I was so small my whole pregnancy). I wasn't expecting him, and it was such a relief to see him there. He drove me home after and surprised me with TACO BELL. Bless you, Tommy Ray. Long story short, I was not in a place to be induced unless I wanted to run a high risk of c-section. We scheduled an appointment for Monday, November 10 and would reevaluate then.

We decided to (try) not worry about it, to just take this whole experience as it comes. We made plans to go to the temple that night, something that was long overdue I'm ashamed to say. We bought ingredients to make homemade pretzels, complete with salsa con queso to dip them in.

At 5 we were walking into the temple and I felt pain, a different kind of pain. Not just a tightening of my stomach, but like a menstrual cramp kind of thing. I told Tom that this was a different kind of feeling and we thought "hey that's cool". While we did sealings, I had 2 more of those. Then we went to the store, and I had a few more as we walked around. By the time we got home to make pizza and pretzels, I had talked to my mom and confirmed that these probably weren't Braxton Hicks anymore, downloaded a contraction timer app, and began timing every one. It was awfully exciting, but we were trying not to get too excited, I was still feeling a little fragile, ya know? By the time we finished watching Stardust, my contractions were coming consistently 5-7 minutes apart. I didn't want to go to bed, I wanted to walk to China and back to help keep this going! But we did go to bed, and I didn't sleep much since I was waking up to time the contractions. Somewhere around 3 am they died down, and by the time we got up at 7 they were so few and far between I stopped keeping track. Again, I was disappointed. We went to the Biggest Winner Team Challenge, which was really fun! It was a good distraction.

Later that day we decided to go to the gym and I was determined to have contractions again. My Mom decided to not fly home that day (Saturday, Nov 8) but to come to Idaho, just in case. At the gym, I wasn't necessarily trying to be careful, but I was still smart. And the whole time I walked/biked/ellipticalled (is that a word?!) I was praying for contractions to come back. They did, boy they came back! They weren't super consistent, but they were more intense. We made plans to meet Mom in Idaho Falls to do some grocery shopping, and as I got ready to go I was getting more excited because gosh these hurt, and this seemed more like the real thing.

Side note here: being in labor is NOTHING like the movies. I mean, it would be really nice if the contractions just all of a sudden hit and your water gushes out 1 minute later and 20 minutes you're at the hospital screaming "GIVE ME THE JUICE" and 5 minutes after you're pushing and after 3 good pushes boom you've got yourself a baby. If only, if only.

So we drove to Idaho Falls, timing contractions and having to remind myself to breathe through some of them. It was SO good to see my Mom, I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see my Mom in my life! I think it was just knowing that she's what I would consider an expert laborer/deliverer/mother, and it was nice to have her there even though I didn't realize completely what was going on. We shopped at Sam's club, then Winco. When we got back to Rexburg, the woman we live with had her family over (we're talking 45/50 people here) so we decided to go out to eat and catch a movie. We ate at Ramires', which I wouldn't recommend to anyone, We went to see "The Giver", which I would recommend to everyone. We came home and talked for a while, then went to bed. Read: not sleep. My contractions were coming stronger and stronger, though not consistently. At 3:30 am Tom and I turned on the light and gave up on trying to get sleep - I was audibly breathing through my contractions and it was keeping Tom up, so we turned on an episode of Biggest Loser.

When we got up for the day, we went for a walk. It was a beautiful morning! We came home and I still wasn't having consistent contractions, so we decided to go to church. That didn't last long, we took the sacrament and made it through one talk before I asked if we could leave, my contractions were really hurting me and I was having a hard time keeping quiet about it! So we went home and tried to take a nap (Tom slept in the other room so I wouldn't keep him up again haha). That wasn't very successful on my part. I talked with my mom and we decided to call the nurse to see if I should go in. At this point I still didn't think I was in "labor", per se. I didn't think I was going to have a baby that day. As far as I knew, I was still dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced, like I had been for three weeks. The nurse was hesitant to say I should go in because my contractions were inconsistent and I could still "walk" through my contractions (it was really more of a slow waddle). In fact, she only said to go in once I told her about some brighter blood I had experienced that morning, and she said getting checked wouldn't hurt. I asked Tom for a blessing, which was very special. I am so grateful for the strength that Tom was throughout this whole thing! I couldn't have done it without him. The delivery of our son was such a sacred, bonding experience for us.

Tom and I walked to the hospital because that had been a goal of mine from the very beginning - to walk to the hospital to have the baby. I still didn't think I was going to have him, but it was a beautiful day so we though "why not?". Mom drove over with our stuff, and when we got there, it was almost completely vacant, so I got right in. They hooked me up and asked me a bunch of questions, and then checked me. Lo and behold, I was dilated to a 7 and nearly completely effaced! That was such a relief to hear, that the pain I had been going through wasn't for nothing!

Everything happened so fast...they called the doctor out of church (I LOVED my doctor!) and he broke my water, which was an interesting experience. Not what I was expecting. Then the contractions started coming quicker and stronger. After a while I requested an epidural, which took a long time to get. The anesthesiologist also was called out of church to help me, but I guess he didn't get the page for a while. I was delirious with pain at this point, but it was such a joyful thing to go through! Nonetheless, when the anesthesiologist came in and told me he hadn't gotten the page for a while, everyone else said something along the lines of "oh that's okay!" but I said "Don't say that, don't say those kinds of things to me!" Yeah, I was not exactly myself at the time. The epidural was fantastic, and soon I was numb and happy as a clam. A birthing clam.

All of a sudden, it was time to push. They could already see baby's hair, which I thought meant he was practically here. Baby was posterior, meaning his body was turned so his head was looking to the side, not down as is ideal for delivery. They tried to turn him, but he kept turning back, so we decided to just roll with it. Unfortunately, baby wasn't recovering between contractions as well as they would have wanted, so they put an oxygen mask on me. I didn't realize all that was going on, which I'm grateful for. The doctor never told me that the baby was in a bit of danger, but at one point the doctor said "I need you to listen to me", and I knew I had better tune in good. He told me it was all up to me, that we needed to get the baby out now. I prayed for extra strength, because honestly, I couldn't feel anything down there and as far as I knew, I was pushing the best that I could! But the next few pushes did feel different, and they worked very well.

Within a few more pushes, they helped my baby out and laid him on my stomach. That was an indescribable moment that I replay in my head every day. He was the most beautiful thing, even purple and covered in goop as he was. Tom cut the umbilical cord, and they took him away to clean him up. Listening to him cry was so surreal, I couldn't believe he was finally here! The doctor stitched me up (they had to do a small epesiotomy (sp??) and I had a couple of other tears) and they brought me dinner - chicken tenders and tater tots, oh yeah! Soon Ian, as we officially decided to call him, was back in my arms. We had some skin to skin time and he immediately ate very well.

The whole time, that whole evening, was so surreal. I felt like I was in heaven, I had my sweet Ian, and my incredible husband with me. I could not have asked for a better delivery. Ian was perfectly healthy, and except for the biggest cone head known to mankind and a nasty hematoma from being stuck in the birth canal, there was nothing wrong. My dreams had come true, I was a mother.









7 lbs 10 ozs, 21 inches long, my beautiful baby arrived at 5:41 pm on Sunday, November 9th. I couldn't be happier.

I was so grateful to have my mom there for the whole thing. I love my mom so much! Tom's mom and sister came up that night to meet Ian and left the next morning, we have the greatest support from the best family!

If you made it this far, I congratulate you! This was quite the novel. I'll keep trying to play catch up because the last month has been quite the whirlwind!


Thursday, October 9, 2014

Thoughts on having baby boy

I'm pretty pregnant these days...36 weeks and 1 day, to be exact. I've been thinking about it a lot, the whole being pregnant thing, and I have so many emotions going through my head and heart! Of course, this probably is in large part due to pregnancy hormones.

First of all, WOW. There is so much to do, is anyone ever really ready? The answer is NO. I could pack, re-pack, arrange and re-arrange, plan and re-do those plans until I'd been pregnant for 4 years and STILL not feel ready. At least, that's what I think...I'll never know thank goodness.

We have a crib, complete with bedding and 2 little stuffed animal friends waiting for their buddy to arrive. I may or may not have cried putting those little animals in the corner of the crib, thinking of how one day very soon he'll be holding them and drooling on them and throwing them on the ground over and over again. I can't wait.

We have clothes. We have diapers. We have wipes.

I have yet to be prepared as far as baby shampoo/lotion/wash goes, but that's by my choice...a post for another time.

We have a stroller. Granted, the tires aren't pumped up, but since he'll be born at the beginning of the cold, ice and snow, I'm not super concerned about getting those tires pumped up anytime soon. We have a carseat. I need to put that in the car...We have a carseat cover. We have blankets and burp cloths. We have pacifiers. I just ordered a changing pad and a nursing bra. Baby's hospital backpack is now packed because I found a nice diaper backpack that Tom approved and said he would happily wear around.

I found someone to take over my job for a few days while I have the baby (thanks, Kenna!!). I have selected a pediatrician for our baby boy.

I think this is about as good as it's going to get...now we just have to wait.

Other things I'd like to do:
- Wash down the walls
- Clean out the cobwebs in the corners and along the ceiling (I don't know that it's ever been done in this house, which is old...)
- Make a TON of pumpkin chocolate chip bread, zuccini bread, and pumpkin bread so that it's available for me and Tom and I don't have to bake any for a while once he's born.
- Make freezer meals
- Save the number for the testing center in case Tom is taking a mid-term when I go into labor (impeccable timing, he's due the week of mid-terms!)
- Soak up any spare time with Tom

I am so anxiously excited to have this baby! I feel such peace, which is surprising for me. I am so ready to be a mom. I have always wanted to be a mother and now here's my chance, my dreams are coming true! Is this even real?! Somebody pinch me.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

So, it's October

Okay it's officially October and yes, I realize it's been another long stretch of me not blogging. Surprisingly (more to me than anyone else) I have actually been pretty busy! Not that I couldn't have made time to blog, but just because it was one of those things that didn't get done. But lately I've been thinking about how much I love hearing about what my family is up to (seriously, why don't you all blog and post on Instagram every day?! ;) ), and I had a moment where I realized I was doing the hypocrite rock (Scripture Scouts reference!) and not posting myself.

So, here it is, a WORD POST. Yeah, no pictures, unless I get adventurous and decide it's worth it to download all the pictures from my phone.

What have the Cooks been up to? I'm more of a bullet point kind of gal, a lister, if you will:

- Tom started school! This is his second to last semester of his undergrad program, and he is so excited about it! As am I. The last few semesters have been H-A-R-D because of a combination of difficult classes+crazy schedule+big job responsibilities. While he is still busy this semester, the classes are easier (at least up to this point), so we're grateful for that.

- Tom's job started! He is working as the Lead Wellness Coach for the Biggest Winner program here at BYU-Idaho. I absolutely love watching Tom be involved with this program, it holds such a special place in his heart. Consequently, it holds a special place in my heart too. We had the opening ceremonies last weekend and it was so exciting to see all these students/faculty about to embark on a life-changing journey towards wellness. This is Tom's dream, to help people make changes in their lives for the better, and I have to say he does a very good job doing it. I'm so proud of the amazing work he and the other BW employees/interns are doing.

- My job continues! I don't know if I mentioned it, but I (THANKFULLY FINALLY GRATEFULLY) secured an incredible job working from home in July. It was perfect, I started right as my other job ended (since I graduated). Some weeks I work more than others, but the past few I've been working a lot in an attempt to get everything set up and running mostly on it's own before baby comes and I am a little bit unable to do a lot of things. I love what I do! I'm working as a...well what do I call myself? I'm supposed to come up with a title for myself, suggestions are welcome. I work for a guy in Washington D.C. who owns/co-owns several different companies. He's a brilliant man and it's a privilege to work with him and the other employees! I mostly do organizational/email/phone calls work, but recently I've been doing some H.R. and accounting work as well. I really do love this job!

- I am officially 35 weeks pregnant! And boy do I feel it. I know, I know, "you're so small!". Yes, I still am "small", comparatively speaking. But for my body, this feels very different and often times uncomfortable! Our little man is quite the mover and groover, who gets hiccups at least 2/3 times a day. I continue to be very very blessed with this pregnancy - I exercise every day still, and have had very few problems. A few days of constant heartburn isn't a joy, but I'll take it. Yes, I get up at least once a night to pee, I usually have severe Restless Leg Syndrome, and emotionally I have been allllll over the place. But I'm not throwing up, my baby is healthy and measuring right on track, so I'd say that things are pretty dang good. I'm getting more and more anxious/nervous for the delivery; I hear it hurts pretty bad. I guess we'll have to find out.

- I (and by that I mean we) have recommitted to budgeting! This is hard for me. I like being organized and making spreadsheets and stuff but keeping them up is difficult, especially when sometimes it's very discouraging to see low numbers. Or negative numbers. But this has helped me see that WE ARE NOT ALONE. I have such a strong testimony that Heavenly Father is not only aware, but really cares about my finances, of all things. Not because money is important, but because He knows how things work down here, and He is set on our success. I don't know how we have made it this far without being way further in the hole, and if that's not a testimony of His love, I don't know what is. We are oh so blessed.

- Last month was National Preparedness month! I worked somewhat-diligently on updating our 72 hour kits and getting food storage started. It's a process, but I definitely need to work more on this. It was a very spiritual experience for me to work on that, to try to prepare our family for the unknown. Logic says it's a good idea, plus President Thomas S. Monson (who we get to hear from this weekend at General Conference!) addressed the topic in last month's First Presidency Message of the Ensign. Very powerful words that moved me to action. Maybe I should read them again!

- My sisters are awesome. I seriously have the greatest family (both mine and Tom's!), and am so blessed to have such great women in my life. I have been thinking about them a lot lately, about how as we get older we each have our own lives, but the busier/further apart (geographically) we get, the more I ache to be close to them! The Andersen girls are doing some really fun things that I'm way excited about to stay more connected. That's not the purpose, but it's a definite bonus. One of those things is....I'm not sure what to call it. A De-Junk fest? We're each cleaning out our wardrobes to contain 50 items and 10 pairs of shoes and seeing if we can live on that for 3 months. Simplify is the name of the game. We're also doing a book club! This month is "The Gift From The Sea", which I actually read after hearing about it from 71 Toes/Dripping With Passion (two sister bloggers who belong to another incredible family) and LOVED. This is a great book! Feel free to read along, should you feel so inclined.

- Tom and I are trying to prepare ourselves for moving. This is a big move! Of course it's not happening until April, but our situation is such that a little preparation would be in our best interest. Since it's still far away we can't exactly look for jobs yet, but we have two great cities to choose from (Dallas or San Antonio) and NO CLUE which one to pick. Our plan is to move to one of these cities and live and work there for a year so that Tom can get residency, then apply to graduate school. One is in Dallas (UTSW) and the other in San Antonio (UTSA). We may end up having to move again depending on which school he gets accepted to and which one we choose, and that's okay. It's exciting to look at what our future might look like! It's also very scary to look at the cost of renting a UHaul, I mean really?!

Well that should probably do it for now. To those who actually read this far, I applaud you. I might even reward you with a post with pictures in the next few days. I'm sure we'll have plenty after our fun-packed weekend ahead!

Monday, September 1, 2014

Summertime part 3: Utah!

After staying in Lava for a night we headed to Utah! We stopped in Salt Lake City on our way in to play tourists and have a picnic at the State Capitol. We also checked out a couple other places downtown and of course stopped by City Creek just for fun. Note to self (and anyone reading): The Church History museum is amazing and wonderful but it's huge and you could spend days in there! Don't be disappointed if your tired pregnant body doesn't want to walk around the entire thing in one day. It's free, you can always go back. But you have to hurry, they're closing the day after Conference Weekend for some big changes. You're welcome.




On Saturday, August 23rd, Tom and his sister Kenna ran the Top of Utah Half Marathon! Kenna had been training for a while and Tom decided to join her a few weeks ago. We drove up to Logan the night before and stayed with Michelle and James Day and their cute kids. They were so nice to let us stay for a few hours, we so enjoyed chatting with them. Plus, they have one of the cutest kittens known to mankind named Cinnamon. Tom was completely obsessed. Look at that face!



And by obsessed I mean that when we got up at 4:20 am Tom went and got the kitty out of bed to play with it for a few minutes before we left. Oh man, we're in trouble. Both Tom and I are huge animal people and I'm afraid that we'll have ourselves a zoo if our kids are anything like us in that regard! I know my family is totally rolling their eyes at this ;) Good thing a ranch and lots of land is in the dream/goal book! And don't worry Mom, no cats inside so you can visit your grandkids :)

Anyway, the half marathon! Tom did amazingly well for having not trained very much! He came in at 1:52:00, tired and happy as can be. He loves running so much, it makes me so happy to watch him run!



Kenna was nervous before the race (I would be too!) but as she came down the final stretch and saw us cheering she was all smiles and said "I can do this!!" Kenna is an inspiration to me!



That picture was for posterity's sake. Tom thinks it would be super cool if our son ran the Top of Utah half and then we show him this picture to prove that it began long ago when his dad ran that race! Too bad you can't see my bump very well in the picture!


Oh, there it is. Or I just look large, which is pretty accurate. So proud of Kenna and Tom!

Watching them made me super excited to run a half marathon myself! After the baby's born and I've recovered I'm going to ease back into running (given that my body will allow it) and do a half marathon when we move to Texas in April. Oh, did I mention that we're moving to Texas in April? Once Tom graduates we'll move there to start building residency since both of the grad schools he's applying to are in Texas. We're still not sure which city - either San Antonio or Dallas. Yay!


Once back in Lake Point, we soaked up a lot of time with Tyson, Kayla, Jaxson, and baby Kiah! She is the sweetest little newborn and we love her so much! It was so sweet to watch Tom interact with Kiah. I can't wait till our little guy comes and I can watch Tom adore our son!

Family tradition time! We took a trip up to Brighton (it's a ski resort, but we didn't ski obviously...) for breakfast and a hike around the lake. Brighton is such a beautiful place and it was so fun to be there all together!




One of my favorites - family selfie!

During our time in Utah, the boys helped Cory re-roof their house! One of the more challenging parts (at least it looked that way to me) was just getting those shingles up there! They had a nice system going:


Not pictured is all the help they got to actually put the shingles on. It was a two-day affair and there were so many wonderful people who came to help! And the roof looks so great, I never noticed shingles before but now I do! Mostly just because Tom is looking at all the houses and pointing out the roofs to me :)


Tom and Jaxson bonded over this trip a lot, Jaxson is at such fun age where he's super interactive and a total ham! We are still quoting him all the time with all the cute things he said/did. We miss them so much already!


Another highlight was my best friend and old roommate Tara returning from her mission! She served in New York, New York South. I'm so happy she's home! Even if she doesn't come back to Rexburg, I'm so happy she's home to chat with. We talked on the phone for nearly an hour one day and then a few days later we got to go to Provo and meet up with her! We went to the BYU Creamery and chatted for a long time. I love Tara so much and am so proud of the wonderful work she did in New York. I'm so excited to see where life takes her next!

Not pictured events that I wish I would have gotten:
- Baby shower! Tom's mom threw me a baby shower and we were spoiled rotten! The people in Lake Point are amazing. You know the saying that it takes a village to raise a child? Well whether it was necessary or not, Lake Point totally did that with Tom. They watched him grow up and love him so much. They spoiled us last year at our wedding and now this year for our baby - crazy how time flies! The shower was so much fun, and we really are so grateful for all the gifts we received for our baby.

- We found a jogging stroller! The tires need a little help and TLC but I'd say that $30 for a nice stroller is not a bad deal at all!

- We crafted a lot. I can't show the pictures or say what we did quite yet (after Christmas :) ), but we had so much fun making things. 

- We went to the Ogden Temple open house! Tom has pictures but I didn't get any on my phone. It was such a beautiful experience! That temple is GORGEOUS, if you can go everyone should! The artwork in that temple was different from what I've noticed in other temples and I loved it! Plus, I got to see one of my good friends who is serving her mission in Ogden! Holla, Sister Greene!

- We visited all of Tom's grandparents! They are the sweetest. It's so nice to have them relatively close so we can visit and make memories with them.

- Before we hung out with Tara, we got to spend a few hours with Jeff, Kerri, and Jane! I'm so glad they're back in Provo and we can see them more frequently. Jane is the cutest little thing and we had so much fun playing with her, talking with Jeff and Kerri, and we went to the BYU Farmer's Market! Of course we picked up some peaches which we promptly devoured with brown sugar and milk after Kerri's delicious dinner for us. They spoil us! We love spending time with family and only wish we were all closer together.

And now we're back! We have two weeks before school starts again and although we don't have any big plans, we're determined to soak up as much fun as we can! Kenna is coming up after she takes (AND PASSES!) her nursing exam which we're way excited for. The weather is getting cooler and more Fall-ish which I'm totally loving...oh I love Fall. But in the meantime we are thoroughly enjoying our summer break!

Consider yourself caught up. Boom.

Summertime part 2: Lava Hot Springs

After a few weeks of bumming around we were so excited to go to Utah for a while! We decided to celebrate our anniversary/babymoon on the way down by stopping at Lava Hot Springs, where we spent part of our honeymoon. (Pause: Can I just say that it's CRAZY that I've been married a year?! I could and probably should do a whole post about that, but for now suffice it to say that this has been by far the best year ever. I know everyone told me marriage would be wonderful and hard but wow I could not have imagined it being so good. I am crazy about Tom and I feel like that just grows more and more as we experience challenges and changes. I am oh so blessed to be his wife!)

Lava was so much fun! Tom and I are very simple people, we realized again. And we love it that way! We didn't do much (I'm a little bit slower and not as adventurous these days and can't exactly tube the river or get in the hot springs like I normally would!), but it was so nice to just get away. Lava is such a quaint little town! We love it so much. While we were there we walked all around the town, visited the museum, watched America Ninja Warrior (does anyone else love that show like we do?!), ate at the Thai food place that we're crazy about, got square ice cream (famous in Lava), and more. It was the perfect getaway!

If anyone goes to Lava, you have to check out the Sunken Gardens! It's a hidden treasure that we discovered on our honeymoon as we were walking home from dinner at the Thai Food place. It's beautiful!


My cute husband enjoying his ice cream cone :)

Those are the only pictures I didn't put on Instagram that I find worth emailing to myself and downloading. We stayed at the Lava Home Hotel, which was a first for us. Not that we're experts or anything but we've now stayed at three different places in our two trips there. Our favorite was the Riverside Inn, where we stayed for a night on our honeymoon, just in case you're looking for recommendations.

One of my favorite things about Tom is how simple things are with him. I know I mentioned it before, but I seriously love it. We can have just as much fun being poor as we would with a lot of money, which is pretty great cause I get the feeling we'll be on the former end of that for a while (thank you upcoming grad school!). Our honeymoon was nothing lavish but it was the best trip of my life, and this trip to Lava was a great reminder of that. For breakfast we had yogurt and granola that we brought from home and mixed it with peaches we bought at the local market and sat by the river to enjoy it. I think that the mentality that a lot of people have that everything has to be a big huge expensive deal is...well it's not for us, I guess is what I'm trying to say. And I'm really grateful for that.

Summer time part 1

This is the first time that Tom has stayed up in Rexburg for the 7 week break. It's also the first time that we have both had such wide open schedules to do whatever we want! I guess that's an upside to being unemployed and far away from family, eh?

While the semester was a breeze for me, it was actually the third super stressful semester in a row for Tom. All that stress was taking a toll on him so we feel that this summer break is a huge blessing for his health and our sanity. Plus it's just really fun to not have many plans for a bit! We'll certainly never get this chance again in our lives, so we are really trying to soak it in.

So what exactly have we been up to? Well I was blessed to find at-home employment. It seriously is such a huge answer to prayer. I love what I'm doing (secretarial and social media work for an entrepreneur in DC who owns/co-owns 5 different companies) and the flexibility with the schedule. This is a job I'll keep when our little guy makes his world debut as it only requires as little as a few minutes a day if I can't commit to more.

Tom also found a little summer work as a teacher for Education Week at BYU-Idaho. It was not exactly what he had expected, but we're grateful for the income it provided and the learning experience we found it to be.

Other than that, it's been a very relaxing summer! We've watched a lot of movies, cooked a lot of yummy food, worked on organizing our house better, and a lot of fun little things. This is the most time we've spent together in our marriage which I think is a huge blessing right before the baby comes! There always comes a point in time where you feel tired of vacation, ready to get back into a schedule and stuff, you know? For me that's already starting to happen (at least sometimes it is), but Tom says he hasn't quite hit that yet. He has another two weeks to get there before it's forced upon him ;)


We found this sewing machine at DI! There are a couple parts missing but the machine is in excellent condition and we got it for $15 - an unheard of deal for their sewing machines. Yes this may be the second non-functioning sewing machine I have, but I'm really going to get this one usable before summer ends so I can keep myself occupied and work on sewing. My mom is an incredible seamstress and I've never had the patience to learn the art, but I'm determined now!


On one of the three days of Education Week I went to campus to have lunch with Tom. We went to the Greenhouse here on campus (not an eating establishment, it's just literally a greenhouse) which was a first for me. I loved it! I will definitely be going back there if nothing else to enjoy some therapy humidity, warmth, and green lush landscaping that is non-existent during Rexburg winters.


During our first trip to Utah we went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple. I love having so many temples to choose from when we visit! I would love to make it to all the Utah temples one day. So far we've done Provo, Salt Lake City, Bountiful, Jordan River, Oquirrh Mountain. There are still quite a few left with more coming, we'd better get a move on before we leave the west!


One of our summer fun things was buying and painting our initials to hang up on our wall. Then for our anniversary we decided to buy canvas prints of two of our favorite wedding pictures. I love the result! Our room is still quite bare but it's a process, right?


You know what I love? Tom. You know what I also love? Rodeos. And when you get Tom at a FREE rodeo, I think you've got yourself a pretty great night. At least those were my thoughts! The Madison County Fair and Rodeo was going and we couldn't resist a free date! I really do love rodeos. One day I'll be the Rodeo Queen ;) I think my favorite part is the Mutton Bustin' they do for kids 5 and under - it's hilarious! Those are some brave kids, and some crazy sheep!


The pregnancy continues to go extremely well! I reached 28 weeks which means I took the glucose test. I feel blessed becuase I've heard how nasty the drink is and was really not looking forward to it. But my flavor was not bad! It tasted like a melted orange popsicle. A LOT of melted orange popsicle. But everything looks great, still! No diabetes for me. I have been so blessed this pregnancy with great health and strength and there have been absolutely no problems with our baby boy. I really can't complain! I keep telling people that I'm nervous that the delivery will be crazy or that our boy will be two big handfuls or something since my pregnancy has been just too easy! Then one of our friends said "or maybe you'll just have 12 kids and that will be your burden - a big family!" Woah, thanks for the perspective. I guess we'll just have to see...;)


Not pictured events that I could kick myself for:
- Mom, Dad, Jeff, Kerri, Jane, and my in-laws coming to town for graduation! Kenna and I both graduated so it was a fun family affair. Being away from family is hard stuff and I was so grateful that I had a few family members to celebrate graduating with. While they were here, we of course shopped for fabric for a baby quilt and car seat cover. Tom and I showed them a real good Idaho time by taking them bridge jumping! And we ate at The Mandarin - the only legitimate and delicious Chinese food place in Rexburg. It was so nice having family in town, I miss them so much!

- The Baker's came to town! Since they live in New Jersey now it was quite the treat. We LOVED spending a couple of days with them. Kim and Caleb are such great examples to us and it was so so nice to have one of my sisters here to chat with. Being with your sisters does good for the soul, I like to think. Plus being around baby Zoe who was 6 weeks old at the time (I think) was so great - she is the best baby ever! I hope before she came from heaven she taught our baby a thing or two about behaving on earth! We miss you, Bakers, come back anytime!

- Tom's cousin Ali and her two friends came to EFY up here, so they stayed with us one Sunday night and we dropped them off on campus the next day after helping them get situated. It was so fun to have some young girls in the house and remember what it was like to be a teenager anticipating a fun thing like EFY. Most of the excitement was about boys, of course :)