Fabulous Five

We were married in the Bountiful Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on August 18th, 2006. Making this year our 5th anniversary! I've been thinking lately, about how little I really knew about marriage going into it (but does anyone, REALLY???) When you're lovestruck kids, do you really think about having hard times throughout life with that person? Jeff and I have "only" been married 5 years, and have had it pretty good, but looking back we've certainly had our share of challenges that I couldn't have predicted.

Anyway, I really love Jeff and still know he's the perfect one for me, because I feel like our challenges have only made our marriage stronger. From the stresses of school, jobs, moving, purchasing a home, remodeling projects, finances, crisis situations, church callings, and being new parents, we've made it through a better couple, and that makes me feel better about the challenges that undoubtedly lay ahead. I love that he trusts me, calms my worries, supports me in things I want to do, helps me around the house, and lets me have my way, but not all of the time =)

Jeff is planning something for our anniversary. All I know is, I had to block out tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday. He is taking those days off. That's really all I know. I'm excited for the surprise and to have some down time with him before the baby is here!

Oh yeah, I'm having a baby!

I feel like I haven't given this baby her time in the spotlight on this blog, and I don't want to give the impression that it's not a big deal or a huge source of excitement for us. It's hard to believe that when I started the "pregnancy ticker" to the right I had 97 days to go, and that seemed like just a couple weeks ago. Truthfully, I don't know where the time has gone, and my due date is just over 7 weeks from now.

I've been feeling good but really noticing my energy starting to decrease the last couple weeks. I'm so beat by the end of the day, and my back is tired. I'm measuring on time and am feeling comfortable with the group of doctors I see. I'm not planning on being induced unless circumstances call for it, like they did with Alayna. So I've made sure to get to know each doctor (more importantly, that they know me) since we don't know which will deliver our baby.

I feel very blessed at this opportunity to be a mother to another one of God's special spirits. I'm excited for the sweetness a new baby will bring into our home, and for Alayna to have a sibling.

The million dollar question: no, we do not have a name picked out yet. Nor will we until she arrives. Don't worry, we do have ideas (which we have mostly kept to ourselves) but want to see her before we really hash it out and decide.

Enjoy a few bump progression pics....I did take one at 18 weeks and can't find it, but there wasn't much there anyway!
25 weeks

28 weeks
32 weeks: a fun photoshoot taken w/ my friend, I will post more of these later!

Just for fun: a repost of some of my 20 week ultrasound pics. The top one is the spine, the middle is her hand, and the bottom is her face (looking toward us...you can't see the whole face)

July Craziness

July was SO busy! It was a lot of fun, but we had a lot packed into the month, and it seemed like every day we had fun things going on! Here's what we were up to:

Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a. The things I'll do for free food! Thanks Megan and co. for coming with us!

Mom-n-me swimming lessons

We had 3 of Alayna's Yoho cousins over for 2 days while their moms attended teacher meetings. Alayna totally loved it! We went to the Splash Pad, played in the sprinklers and on our slip-n-slide. Alayna loves her cousins and they made great house guests!
I could watch them play in the sprinklers all day...sigh...Summer, please don't ever end!
We spent a few days at the beginning of the month at the cabin. Activities included Stadium of Fire, Coke/Mentos experiments, and a birthday party for Lizzie and my mother-in-law.
On the 4th we watched fireworks at our usual location in Pleasant Grove with my bro and his family. I'm so glad Alayna loves fireworks and hope our next kid does too!
Alayna loves to do exercises with me. Here she is being my little trainer and having me do squats
Don't forget your stretches too!
She likes to "help" dad mow the lawn =)
Lizzie's birthday cake at the cabin
This has been the summer of fixing broken things. Broken fridge, broken swamp cooler, and broken lawn mower. Thankfully we have a good helper!



Me at 28 weeks...taken early in July
The apples on our tree are getting bigger!
One of our first garden harvests (note to self: grow onions again!)

. The garden in July. Plenty of peas, beans, lettuce, onions, and jalapenos. Once the tomatoes finally ripen, we are going to have TONS.
Other undocumented happenings: Jeff went to scout camp. My parents came up from St. George for the 24th weekend. We BBQ'd, went to the Bountiful parade/fireworks, and had a reunion with members of my beloved Wellington Ward. We also had the annual Kohler reunion weekend this past weekend at the Kohler Dairy Farm in Midway.