.belated birthday surprise.

.i worked today for 11 hours.

.11 hours people, at a daycare.

.i had all 3 babies from 7:15-5:30 today.

.all 3 babies, all day.

.you getting the picture.

i drove home today, tired, and lack of energy.

.also knowing andrew wasn't going to be home when i got home kinda made it worse too.

.but he knew what he was up to.

.i walked into the apartment.

.shut the door, turned on the light.

.to see this.

.my jogging stroller/car seat combo!.

.yahoo. i did want a different color, but it was ALOT more because the cars eat and jogging stroller doesn't come together.

.but guess what, i got this one, and i LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

.my long day just instantly went to amazing.

.and andrew came home earlier than expected....double amazing.

.blessings.

.last post was about change. change individually, change as a couple, change as a family. just change.

.we have worked hard at our "changes", and we have really seen the blessings.

.we have been saying prayer as a couple every night. we have been sitting at the table together for dinner, and talking about our day/concerns/future. we have been paying our tithing every week (so we don't get behind), we have accepted new callings in church, we have attended the temple, we have made time for each other.

.and the blessing come.

.we have grown closer together. we have less contention. andrew got a job where he creates HIS schedule, and how many hours he wants to work. i got asked to work a longer shift at work (better paycheck), i am healthy enough to work longer hours at work. i got a raise. my boss is begging for me to come back with baby free. we are 10 weeks (or less) anyway from being parents, baby is healthy and right on track.

.i am just so thankful for the knowledge i have, that when we do OUR part first, the Lord will acknowledge.

....now to show what we have been up to....

.so i turned 22 years young. okay. i feel old because i am going to be a mom. i know lame excuse. but thats okay. my mom-in-law spoiled me with so much baby stuff. my mom paid for the baby bedding to be made for baby girls room. my sister is slaving over making it. my other sister sent me my traditional gift card to subway to get sugar cookies when craving them. and my very very good friend megan stopped by to wish me a happy birthday with gift cards to go out with my hubby. i was spoiled.

.i had a 4 hour class i had to attend for work on my birthday so i did that, and walked in to see this.

the baby swing i have been wanting for a long long long time, along with my candle warmer i have been eyeing over, lit, and smelling delicious (carmel scent), laundry done, apartment clean, dishes done, lunch being made. thanks andrew. your awesome :)

two days later was valentines day.... we celebrated it using one of my gift cards from megan to go out to dinner, costing us 5 dollar (yea, us!), and came home to ice cream cake from daddy. my dad has a tradition where every year he would buy an ice cream cake for valentines day. it would say to all my girls. . . well we were spoiled and he bought every one of his girls one this year. . . ours was from cold stone and it was a rich dark chocolate center ice cream with red velvet cake..... can you say YUM!

(ignore cheesy smiles and fat prego body)

i also walked in from work to this; sweet boy :) oh how i love him :)

 

.can you tell he knows me... single rose and SOUR PUNCH BITES... yummy. 

(yes, he ate some...haha i love us)

.thats us. i will get a "belly picture" soon. we are approaching 31 weeks on friday (YAHOO!)  :)

.changes.

.church today was.... moving.

.it seriously was a GREAT 3 hour session, that didn't seem like 3 hours at all, like it normally does.

.we had several speakers that spoke, and taught us. the main message i took from today is...

.change. change for the better. change now. change now, so that when kids come along, its not so hard to change.

.i guess i personally needed to hear this message, even though its taught to us a hundred times. for some reason, today was a day i listened with an opened mind/heart, and needed to hear this message. 

.i have loved the time i get right now to have Andrew all to myself. its what i have wanted, and its definitely been a prayer to the Lord. to be able to spend time with my hubby, to grow closer together, to grow stronger together. 

.but now after today, it makes me think, the time we have spent together (which has been wonderful).... can it be spent together in a better way. reading scriptures together, studying the lesson for the next week together, temple attendance together, praying not only in the evening, but in the morning together...since i don't leave for work until 9:30.

.i see change coming around the corner. we both know it, we both want it, now we both need to work together to achieve it. the blessing will come, our prayers will be answers, but we need to do all of our part, before we expect the Lord to do His. 

.now to sit down, figure a plan/schedule that fits us, and what we want to achieve... before baby comes... because we know times will get tougher/hectic when she comes, but we need to make our schedule/goals concrete now... so its not so hard when she comes. 

.i am super excited for this. i have LOVED the time i have been able to have ALL TO MYSELF with Andrew... but this, will not only be more beneficial with our time, but we will grow even stronger together from it. i am so excited.

.2010 highlights.

thanks to toni town, i am going to highlight our year a simple way...plus everyone wants to see pictures anyways...highlights of our 2010 year.

January- We still had money in our savings account, was living with my parents, and working...
maybe it was "slave driving" work for Andrew...but i sure enjoyed watching it, from the window. (my dad wore sweat pants, with high socks and his dress shoes... i LAUGHED OUT LOUD when i saw this outside my window... and just HAD to get a picture.)

  

February- I sent the hubby to Medford for a ski trip, and enjoyed quality time with my sister. We also partook of the DELICIOUS traditional valentines cake my dad gets "For All My Girls" from Baskin Robbins.

March- I decided to give skiiing one more shot, and went up to the mountain for a day with Andrew. It ended up being a BEAUTIFUL day, and I loved it. 
 

April- We had to say goodbye to our family/friends...I cried my eyes out as we drove away, and moved in Rexburg. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning with new inches of snow, I still want to cry my eyes out. 
 

May- We were able to attend the Sealing of Heather and Kevin Smith. And celebrate their love for one another...on that same day, we also celebrated being married for 6 months!

June- We were boring... and took NO pictures.

July- We enjoyed the sun, however, it was still windy in Rexburg. I convinced Andrew to take bridals for a memory sake before I sold my dress. We also celebrated getting engaged one year ago.
 


 

August- We took a trip to Medford, and enjoyed time with cousin Derek and the Judd family. We enjoyed tubing/water skiing for three days straight. We also traveled to my home to visit... and thats when we found out I was pregnant :)
 

September- We celebrated Andrew's 23rd Birthday.

October- Andrew was in mid-terms... no pictures/ fun times occurred during this time.

November- We drove the miles to Arizona to celebrate thanksgiving...meanwhile, I just loved on these two boys...We also celebrated our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! One year ago i married the love of my life... I also was baking in the wonderful Hawaiian weather, on our honeymoon. (if you cant tell, Andrew said he needed to go to the grocery store...and ended up writing
"Happy Anniversary I Love You"    in the snow ) 
 
 
 
 
    

December- My sister got me a christmas tree (i was SO stoked)...Andrew finished his semester of school, and we got spoiled ROTTEN by both families... and enjoyed gaining weight and celebrating Christmas with the Westensee family. 
 
 

We had a WONDERFUL year... as wonderful as it was, we are VERY anxious for this upcoming year. We are ready for our little girl to be here. Andrew said tonight, "cant she just come out now, so we can play with her?"... can you say Daddy's Little Girl. Thank you everyone who made our year so amazing...we love you, and hope this year we keep our blog updated more often. Goodbye 2010 we LOVED the memories, hello 2011 we are excited to make new ones :)

.thanksgiving.

.i loved spending thanksgiving with my family. 

.it had been 7 months since i last saw my mom and dad.

.over a year since i last saw my sister/bro in law/nieces.

.it had been over a year since my family was all together.

.we played basketball, laughed, teased, shopped, watched football, stayed up late, and so forth.

.but to sum up this post, and show what i mostly did..... here you go.

.i cuddled/snuggled/loved this little guy almost the ENTIRE time. 

 .this picture melts my heart, and makes me SO excited for april.