~Brock~Dani~Timmy~

YW Ice Skating Activity

2012-01-19T23:02:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts about being a YW leader is getting to do all the fun activities. We got to go ice skating with the stake at a stake park around Omaha last night. It was COLD since it's an outdoor rink, but it was lots of fun. We had two new girls with us, and were only missing one of our girls for the night. Quite the turnout for our little branch! I'm getting to love this calling, and am very grateful that I get the chance to be in YW again!

My cute president, Marlene, and Courtney.

Hap-Gu, Courtney, Audrey, and Talia (who wishes she was still a young woman! haha)

Audrey almost fell....not really....just pretended

Our branch Young Women (minus Niawech)

Our entire branch Young Men and Young Women. We are losing two of our boys next month, so there will only be one left! Sad day!

Playing at the Park

2012-01-19T22:57:00.000-08:00

We were so grateful to get a call on our way to Utah to do some wedding pictures for the brother of a friend of mine. We were literally in the car driving, and it was such a blessing to us for me to get a wedding that paid almost exactly how much our gas was! We knew it would work out somehow to get home! Anyway, in between the wedding and reception, we took Tim to my favorite park at the Whittier Center in Logan. The whole vacation was freakishly warm, so we really enjoyed our time outside! (Come to find out it got to over 60 degrees here in Omaha!) I love my little adventurer!

Slime's Surprise 13th!

2012-01-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

Emmaline turned 13 this year, so it was kinda a big deal! She came home from the cabin with us because we were going to take her "shopping." Well, conveniently on the way to the mall we had to stop at the gym she was going to have her birthday at in a week to sign a form. Well, SURPRISE! (kinda, she figured it out). It was so much fun being free at a gym. I tried to do giants on the bar, but realized that I'm literally like 85 pounds more then I was as a gymnast. Unfortunately I realized that after I tried to do LOTS of stuff that I used to be able to do. I couldn't walk for four days....haha. But it was still so much fun. Tim had a great time, too, and I think Brock was a little nervous of making a fool of himself :) We will definitely have to put Tim into a tots class soon!

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, AUNTIE SLIME!

SERIOUSLY?! This kid is so freaking strong!

Cabin Crazies

2012-01-19T22:47:00.000-08:00

We got to go do the anual Frampton family Cabin get away after Christmas again this year. This is my most favorite thing we do as a family. Our family is so big and busy, that having us all locked up in a cabin where no one can go anywhere is the best thing for us. We missed Brenton and Evan, but we still had a great time together! We played lots of video games, went sledding, made lots of good food, played games (our favorite being Wits and Wagers), and had great chats. The Geertsens came over again (which is also part of the tradition), and they brought the crab legs this time! We also had our sushi night. This truly is my most favorite thing we do as a family, and I hope it's a tradition that lasts for a long time!

Christmas 2012

2012-01-19T22:42:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun over Christmas. We spent Christmas morning at Grandma Melanie's, and had a very low key quiet morning. Tim was sick for the first part of our trip, and he was just getting over it by Christmas. It was enjoyable nonetheless! Tim got SPOILED this year. I think every new parent may go through the "um, maybe we should tell Santa to take it down a notch next year" stage. I will say, Santa looked for incredible deals and didn't spend much, but it was still too much stuff to bring home! He got from us and Santa his shopping cart, play food, a microwave, Toy Story 3 potato head set, a cleaning broom set, a vacuum cleaner, a fridge magnet set, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting! Grandma and Grandpa Christensen got him a play farm, a bowling set, and some toys. Grandma and Grandpa Frampton got him some play dough stuff and a number game. Auntie Mo and Ila got him a broom and a really cute robot. One of his cousins (can't remember who had him, so we'll say Aunt Holly) got him an old school Fisher Price register. I'm pretty sure that's his favorite toy still! So, clearly it was a lot to pack home on top of the stuff we got, too! It was a great Christmas!

After Christmas morning, we headed down to Grandma and Grandpa Frampton's to celebrate with them. We opened family presents and their house and then headed over to Great Grandma & Grandpa's house for the Christmas night celebration.

We were so blessed this year to be able to go home and enjoy Christmas with our families. We had such a great 3 1/2 weeks being home and getting rejuvenated to come back to Omaha. I can't wait to see our families again!

Tim had lots of fun during the time was stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's house. Grandma likes to pretty much give us whatever our little hearts desire while we are there, so Tim really enjoyed his time watching movies and eating lots of popcorn. I love this little set up she had for him one day. This kid has it made! Toy Story 3 is his most favorite movie. He LOVES it.

The Last of Last Year!

2012-01-19T22:31:00.000-08:00

Before we left on vacation to Utah, we had a little more fun around the house. After making Tim's Halloween costume, I realized it would be great for when he plays with his castle tent. I really didn't plan it out for it, but it worked out perfectly! So here is King Tim and his noble steed, Bullseye. It was a happy day in the kingdom!

HA - This kid gets into everything. Including getting himself stuck in lots of places. This is him getting stuck in the drawer of the oven. About 5 minutes ago, I pulled his face out of a bowl of broccoli. The kid is into everything!

Tim and one of his buddies hanging out

We got to go to the branch Christmas party before we left for Utah. This was the only time Tim had to see Santa this year. Maybe next year he won't be afraid? He absolutely LOVED the bag of goodies he got as his gift. It was just lots of dollar store party favor type things, but he was in heaven. Too cute!

Apparently he likes to get into bowls. If I remember right, I think this was after he dumped out the popcorn.

YW Handouts

2012-01-15T16:14:00.000-08:00

I am in my branch Young Women presidency, and it has been the greatest blessing to me. The few months I have been in YW, I have learned more about my eternal nature as a daughter of God and felt a confirmation of His love for me more than any other time in my life. I'm so excited for all I get to do in the next few years while we are in this awesome branch! These are just a few handouts from lessons I have done. We print our blog as our "Family Journal" and there is nothing more than I want for my children and grandchildren than to follow the words of the prophets, and these are all great ways to do so!

Finding Balance In Our Lives

Manly Man Dinner

2011-11-27T20:47:00.001-08:00

The branch we are in has a tradition of the "Manly Man" dinner put on by the Elder's Quorum. Essentially the guys are supposed to cook "manly" foods and put on the dinner for the whole branch. I didn't know about it until a few days before, even though Brock is in the EQ presidency.... I guess that's part of it though. It's men....not women putting it on....haha. It was really fun though and we had some great food.

Here's Tim and Joe playing. Jo is a few months younger than Tim, but he's bigger than Tim and a little smarter, too :) Tim usually enjoys playing with Joe, but he pushed him down at church today. Not my proudest moment as a mom. It was actually hard to know how to handle it because I can't tell Tim to say "sorry" since he doesn't talk. So I told him to blow Joe kisses (which he didn't do), and then told him that I was very disappointed in him. I don't think he got it. Hopefully he learns to say "sorry" soon if he's gonna be a big bully!

Tim and Elise - a primary friend

I took some pictures the other day of a friend from Utah who moved to Omaha before us. I got Tim ready so we could take some of his "18 month" pictures (nevermind that he's almost 20 months...). But clearly, he didn't cooperate. So we'll have to go out again...

Clearly the quality of this picture stinks, but the face is priceless! Tim makes this face often while watching TV.

So a funny story from today....

We have started to let Tim take the sacrament if he's being good. So today he ate the bread good and watched the young men pass it the whole time. When the water came, I handed him a cup, and Brock and I took our own. Well, instead of drinking it, he quickly turned it upside down and dumped it all on Brock. And of course it dumped right on his pants so he looked like he peed. Really funny, and hard not to laugh. Especially since on the missionaries up on the stand saw the whole thing, and was trying so hard not to laugh. Classic Tim story.

Peek-a-Boo

2011-11-27T20:24:00.001-08:00

We were having fun tonight playing as a family. Tim loves hiding in closets and shutting doors right now. Pretty funny when he shuts himself in his room and then bangs on the door to get out - only to turn around and slam the door again! So tonight we were playing hide and seek in one of our hall closets. He was so happy when we would open the door.

He was also running through daddy's legs up and down the hallway. I LOVE this picture because this is our life right now. Brock paces the hallway at least two hours a day, studying his flash cards for school, and Tim plays with him. This truly is a peak into our life!

We also figured out the perfect time out spot. In the basket. Brock figured out that if we put him in it, close the lid, and position the handles just right, he can't get out. HA Or we can just dump duplos on him and enjoy his giggles.

Lots of Cousins

2011-11-13T09:17:00.001-08:00

Tim is blessed to have lots of cousins on his daddy's side. It was so fun to get everyone together for a family dinner while we were out there. We really miss everyone, and Tim misses playing with all his cousins! I can't wait to go home this Christmas and see everyone again!

Vala's Pumpkin Patch, Omaha

2011-11-12T21:36:00.001-08:00

Once we got back from Utah, we went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch with our friends Talia and Robert. Tim especially loved feeding the goats that were throughout the park. We enjoyed a hay ride and picking out Tim's first pumpkin. Tim wasn't a huge fan of these giant trampoline like bubble things you jump on. He didn't love the corn pit either. I really enjoyed the turkey leg. I thought you could only get them at Disneyland, so I was stoked to get one at Vala's. I love my little monkey, and have so much fun doing all these fun things with him.

Nothing is safe!

2011-11-12T21:12:00.001-08:00

I swear Tim is reaching the "Terrible Two's" TOO QUICKLY! He gets in to EVERYTHING around the house. Here are a few of his recent escapades.

He put his hat on like this. So freaking funny. But then he got into the popcorn. I may have left it out...

He was upset that his hat fell off.

It's more fun to wear spaghetti than it is to eat it!

And then wear the bowl...

Brock and I were eating chips and queso. Apparently Tim wanted some, too, because we weren't watching him and we came into the kitchen to find him like this.

And last, BUT NOT LEAST, Tim found the salt one day...and the powdered sugar the next...

Fun in Utah

2011-11-12T21:09:00.001-08:00

We had fun hanging out with all of Tim's Aunties and Uncles in Utah. We got to spend lots of time with cousin Ila, too! We love Grandma and Grandpa! And of course Bebe, the Chihuahua who has made it onto the blog multiple times now.

Utah Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-12T20:59:00.001-08:00

We had the chance to go back home to Utah over fall break. Creighton gives us an entire week off in the fall and spring, so it was a good chance to go back home. Not to mention I really needed a break from Omaha! The real reason we went home was to celebrate Melanie's birthday. It was a BIG one!

One of the nights we were there, Tim and I headed down to Syracuse to the pumpkin patch with my family. Brock had to stay back in Logan and study. Unfortunately he had LOTS of homework while we were gone. The pumpkin patch was so fun though! It's really nice when my family finds something to do that we can all enjoy. It's pretty hard since us siblings range in age from 9 to 26, and with the little ones....well, we just don't all agree on what is fun! But this was so much fun, and I definitely hope it's something we start doing every year.

Tim and his "cheese" face. I don't tell him to smile. He just does this when he sees a camera now.

My adorable nice, Ila, and Mo. Look how she's looking at Tim! Melt my heart!

Bad picture on my part, but adorable of everyone in it! We love Grandma and Grandpa!

Lala and Mo

Lala again

Tim going through the hay maze. He's so stinkin cute!

Timmy and Uncle Evan

Uncle Evan and Uncle Bud (Brenton) were jumping over Tim on the haystacks. He got quite the kick out of it!

There were these awesome hay bail slides. They were so much fun for the whole family!

Timmy climbing up the hay bails with Grandma

Emmaline and Kate

Great-Grandma and Ila

Did I mention Morgan is pregnant?!

Auntie Han and Tim. He wasn't too happy to be in the Tractor Train

This picture cracks me up. Way to be, Alice!

Help! I've fallen and I'm sliding down!

Evan, Kate, and Timmy

Happy Halloween From King Tim

2011-10-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We were going to forgo Halloween this year since there isn't a safe place really close to go trick-or-treating. But I decided around 3 pm today that I would at least make him a crown. And then I made the sword. Then the belt. Then the "dress"....and then the trick-or-treat bag attached to the belt. Haha So we went and surprised one of Brock's good friends from his mission. It was fun to see Pam and her family and to be able to let Tim trick-or-treat at at least one house! He got candy at the grocery store, too.

A Place Where Adults AND Kids Can Be Kids

2011-10-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

We have been having a lot of fun with Tim lately. After Brock studies for a while, he likes to do something fun with Tim to make up for the time he spends studying. The other day we went to the Omaha Children's Museum. I've been with Tim, but Brock hadn't seen him there yet. Tim still loved the ball area where you play with plastic balls and tubes that suck the balls up and do different things. Tim just points and says "Ball! Ball!" the whole time while playing with them. It's so cute to see how quick he picks up on how to play with different things.

There is a little Haunted House set up for one of the exhibits right now. These were mummy caskets, but Tim really didn't have any idea what was going on in the house.

There was a robotic tiny dinosaur out. He opens his mouth and blinks his eyes. Tim was pretty afraid at first, so he kept his distance like in this picture. But in the end, he got up close to it and was laughing and smiling.

Tonight we had A LOT of fun going to Chuck-E-Cheese. We had a coupon for lots of tokens for cheap, so we go them. But it was hard to use that many tokens doing fun stuff with Tim! We were there for a couple hours and all really had a good time. Brock and I worked together to beat a football game, we competed each other in ski ball, and we watched a motion picture movie. Tim had fun with a hungry hippo type toy, a bowling game, and ski ball, too.

The bowling ball in the bowling game had a "ball return" underneath the game part. Tim especially liked watching the ball come out, but he got really close to getting a ball in the head a few times when he put his head right by the hole. But watching him "bowl" was so cute.

The soccer ball he got with all his tickets!

We ended our family date night with salad and pasta at Olive Garden. It was the best Tim has ever been in a restaurant (since being a newborn).

Tim has been coming to work with me and Brock, too. We coach 3-6 year old soccer so we have practice twice a week and games on Saturdays. Tim LOVES playing soccer. Even his baseballs are soccer balls to him now. He actually dribbles as good as some of the three year olds. And today at the games, he was kicking the ball in to the goal and clapping for himself. He's never kicked it into the goal before, so it's really cute to see how he picks up on what he sees. We didn't teach him that! But he really does kick balls all around the house. He is always looking around saying "ball?" when he can't find one to play with. He started saying "more" this week, too. It sounds more like "mo," but it's so cute. I'm glad he's finally starting to say some new words. He's growing up so fast!

Boys Will Be Boys!

2011-10-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, let's be honest. I'm supposed to put Tim into timeout when he plays with Brock's Xbox or behind the TV with all the cords. But secretly I don't care if the Xbox gets broken. But it is definitely sending him mixed signals when he gets to play with the Xbox when mom is watching him, but he gets sent to timeout when dad is around. And it works, because he looks at Brock and tests him by putting his finger right next to the button. And then he walks away. So funny! My little bad boy!

I put Tim to bed tonight. And then I heard laughing and that is not the usual crying and door banging that I usually hear. So I walked in to check on him. And this is what was going on. Brock and Tim were playing on the floor, laughing and having a great time. So I put Tim back to bed and kicked Brock out of the room. Then the next thing I know, me and Brock are talking in our room and in walks Tim. Someone had opened the door for him, and it wasn't me! And then I heard the rest of the story. Tim sticks his hands under the door when he's shut in a room, so Brock was feeding him M&Ms under the door. These two are so bad together! So finally I told Brock to put him to bed for the 10th time tonight. And he did. And Tim loved it. He loves his "Ba!"

Tim's Birth Story ~ 17 Months Later

2011-10-04T18:31:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about writing down Tim's birth story for 17 months now, and for some reason just never got around to it. I'm sad knowing that there are definitely things I have forgotten, but I still want to write what I do remember.

Monday, April 19, 2011 - one of the most beautiful days of my life!

But let's start a few days before that. Thursday night, I stopped at Jamba Juice for a smoothie. Chocolate peanut butter in fact. I drank my smoothie while rocking in the chair. As I rocked, I thought about how close the time was to rocking my baby boy in my arms in that very chair. I sat in the nursery often before Tim was born, dreaming of holding him in my arms. Well, soon after I started rocking, I had to stop because a wave of nausea came over me. I wasn't sick from the pregnancy anymore, so I didn't know why I was nauseous. But soon, the sickness started. I pretty much threw up the whole night, and ended up literally making a bed on the floor in the bathroom. I was supposed to work at 7 am on Friday, but I thought I would "get it out of my system" before work. So I never took one of the anti-nausea pills I still had from the beginning of my pregnancy. I knew it would knock me out and there would be no way of waking up for work. Around 4:30 or 5, I finally gave in. I asked Brock to call his brother, Cody (who we could hear was up and getting ready since he lived above us) so they could give me a blessing. I was so worried about the baby because of how much I had been throwing up. And let me tell you something, I never want to be 37 weeks pregnant with the flu again! After getting my blessing, I took what I thought was one of my anti-nausea pills and was out. Once I woke up, everything was better. Until I looked at the pill bottle and realized I had taken one of Brock's anti-nausea pills from when he had his brain surgeries. I was so scared. That whole day I just waited to feel Tim kick, but I think the medicine made him sleepy too. That night while taking a bath, I laid so still for probably 20 minutes, and then I felt him moving like normal. Such a relief!

Over the next few days, I would wake up with some pains. Being a first time mom, I didn't know that the pain I was feeling was contractions. On Sunday morning, I woke up and started having the pains pretty close together - anywhere from three to ten minutes apart. I called my mom and told her I may be going into labor, but the pain wasn't to severe yet. So I started cleaning the house and packing my bag. I was only 37 weeks, and at my appointment six days before, I wasn't dilated or effaced at all. My doctor told me at that appointment that I should read up on c-sections just in case the baby "didn't fit." That threw me for a loop, but I really didn't worry about it too much. Back to Sunday - I really didn't think it was time yet, but the pain was definitely there.

Around noon, I decided to take a nap. Once I woke up, the pain was gone. I figured it was just my body starting to dilate a little, so it made me happy that I would find out at my appointment on Monday at 3:00 how much progress I had made. Brock left for his shift at work that went from 4 - 11pm that night.

I cleaned up a little more, and at some point while cleaning, I started having the pains again. But his time they were hurting a little more. Luckily we had an exercise ball that really relieved the pain when I sat on it. I totally will make sure I have one of those handy every pregnancy I have! By the time Brock got home, the pain was pretty regular, between three to eight minutes in between. Neither of us really knew what to do because we didn't think that our baby would come three weeks early.

Around midnight, I called the hospital and asked at what point I should come in. They told me once my contractions were regularly three minutes apart. So I waited. Brock went to bed. I stayed up and packed more into my hospital bag. I was starting to think that maybe this was it? But I thought I would wait and go to my appointment at 3:00 the next day and find out there. I definitely didn't want to go to the hospital and be sent home.

I tried to go to bed, but it was getting worse. So I got in the bath. And they got worse in the bath. No one told me before I had Tim that if you take a bath and the contractions get worse, then you are definitely in labor. Wish I would have known that then! The bath didn't last very long because of how much it was hurting. I went in and told Brock that I was hurting pretty bad. He told me just get in bed and it would go away. For some reason, probably because we were both in denial, I thought that would work. So I got in to bed and tried to go to sleep. That lasted about twenty minutes. I got up and went and sat on the exercise ball to relieve some of the pain, but at this point I was crying and pretty much hyperventilating through every "contraction," if that's even what it was! I still really wasn't sure. I thought contractions would feel much different then they did.

Finally, around 2:00 am, I went in and told Brock that I wanted to go to the hospital just to see where I was at. I didn't want to admit that I thought I was in labor. For some reason, I was really embarrassed about not really knowing if I was or not. Brock really didn't want to go, but as he watched me cry through another contraction, he reluctantly got up. I can't blame him. He knows I don't have much of a pain tolerance so I'm sure he thought I just couldn't handle a little pain. (I'm sure lots of women have been able to labor at home much longer than I did!) So we packed our bags, grabbed the car seat just in case, and left for the hospital.

There is something so peaceful about being on the roads in the middle of the night. There were no other cars around, and I'm very grateful for that. Going over bumps while pregnant and laboring is not so fun! I was starting to get really nervous, and was really hoping I wasn't going to make a fool of myself for going into Labor and Delivery. Once we got there, walking into the hospital was really hurting. We got into the elevator and it was such a mix of nervousness, excitement, and of course, pain.

Once we got checked in, they led us into the L&D room. The nurse gave me a gown to change into. I proceeded to apologize in advance because I probably wasn't in labor. The nurse agreed with me and told me that most first time moms don't know and they send us home multiple times before it's the real thing. She was actually really snooty when she told me this, so it didn't make my nervousness any better! I called my mom just to tell her we were there but not to come until I knew if I was staying or not.

Once I was all changed into the loveliness of a hospital gown, the nurse came into check me. WORST PAIN EVER. I think I could go labor and delivery with no epidural if I didn't have to get checked. But.... I was at a 4 and 90 percent effaced! I couldn't believe it. But she still didn't know if they were going to keep me. She hooked me up to the monitors and started to ask me the questions. Once she got to the pain scale and I told her an "8," she looked surprised and made the comment that they probably won't send me home if I'm in that much pain. Looking back, I don't really think I was at an 8, but if it keeps me there, I'll say 8 with every baby! About an hour after the monitoring, she came back in and said I was staying to have a baby! I couldn't believe it. I had an instant relief of anxiousness of knowing that I knew my body well enough to know when it was time. I still don't know why I was so anxious about being sent home. I called my mom thinking I would be waking her up....again....to tell her that I was going to be having a baby. It turns out, after my first call, she had the feeling that it was time. So she got in the shower, got dressed, and waited for the call. She lived an hour away and wanted to be ready to leave. It was her first grand baby after all!

The nurse told me to let them know when I needed the epidural. Once I got to the hospital though, my contractions weren't hurting as bad. I think taking the guessing game out settled me down enough to be able to breathe better through them. I did ask for the phentynol though. This is horrible, but if I was a drug addict, that would be my DOC. It literally made the room spin. Pretty fun! But the pain started to pick up again so I asked for my epidural. I got it around 8 am. The epidural worked great the first time, so I was really happy about that. While I was getting it though, I had my arms around Brock's shoulders. He looked over my back and went, "Oh my gosh, that needle is huge." Not the best thing to say to a laboring wife who is TERRIFIED of needles. Luckily the nurse had given me another dose of the phentynol before my epidural so I was pretty loopy anyway. But all the nurses laughed when I yelled at him...while laughing myself.

My mom got there and could tell I had my epidural because I was sitting there chilled and relaxed eating a popsicle. From there, I really don't remember much! The doctor came in shortly after my epidural to break my water (which Brock watched of course with another "Oh my gosh" inserted somewhere in there). After that, I progressed to a 5. After a few hours and no progress, I was given pitocin. That must have been around 2 pm because at 3 pm, I was at a 10. Because he was my first baby, the doctor had me wait an hour for the baby to descend on his own. I'm glad she did this because when I started to push around 3:45, I didn't have too much work to do! I pushed through one contraction and the nurse went and called the doctor. I heard something about a vacum and thought "Let me try more than one push!" It never occured to me that something may be going wrong with the baby, but my mom told me later that the look on the nurses face was kind of panicked. It turns out, Tim's heart rate went extremely low while I pushed. The nurse turned me onto my side and gave put the oxygen mask on me. I still didn't know anything was wrong, and I was glad she turned me anyway because I was having EXTREME pain in my lower back. My epidural was working great, but I could feel that pain and it was horrible. I have a really bad tailbone, so it doesn't surprise me that it hurt so bad. Anyway, I pushed through a few more contractions until I was ready for the doctor to come in.

Once all the birthing stuff came out - the trays, the incubator, the lights, I got a major rush of adrenalin. No one prepared me for teeth chattering like that, but it was pretty funny. I was so excited to meet him, and I couldn't believe the time was almost here! I had set my camera settings so my mom could take pictures. Brock just stood watching with a lot of anxiousness. He was in his own world, but so excited to meet his boy. I pushed a few more times, and he was here!

Nothing in this world can compare to the first moments of becoming a mother, meeting a child, and holding him in my arms. It was the most amazing feeling, and one that I can't wait to experience again. The nurse (who I hated because of her onion breath and insistence that I was a bad mom because I didn't want to give my brand new infant a Hepatitis vaccine), took him and cleaned him. She proceeded to cut him in the face (after she had hit me in the head) with some surgical scissors. Anyway, she cleaned him off while brand new Grandma took some more great pictures. And then he was brought back to me to nurse.

That whole day was just a whirlwind. Watching him get his first bath once we were in recovery and knowing that he was MY SON. I just couldn't believe it. Holding him and touching his little red hair head. I loved him more than I even knew was possible!

They took him to the nursery for whatever reason they needed to, but when they brought him back, they said that they had to give him 6 ounces of formula because his blood sugar was so low. I was SO MAD. No only did I not want him to have any formula, but I was so upset at how much they gave him. Giving him 6 ounces of formula when his little stomach is the size of TWO TABLESPOONS doesn't fix the problem of low blood sugar - it just masks it for a while. So OBVIOUSLY he was up spitting up the whole night. And his blood sugar was still low. I had to keep track of it the whole time were there, but luckily he never got low enough to have to go to the NICU.

As I sat holding him that night and saying my first prayer with him, the spirit was so strong. I was so grateful to my Heavenly Father for trusting me with this little baby. I still couldn't believe he was mine.

I love my Timothy Willis. My life has been blessed since he came into it. Brock's life has been blessed. He is the perfect father to our little boy. I love our little family, and Tim makes us whole. I will never forget the moment he came into our lives and changed us forever for the better.

Pictures from the hospital

A Little of Life

2011-09-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

We haven't done anything out of the ordinary this week, so here are just a few things we've done around the house. We found Tim like this the other night after he had been in bed for a few hours. He was sleeping on a pile of books, and totally content with it. It looked so uncomfortable, so we moved him back into bed. And then a few hours later, we moved him again into bed with us. We are not used to sleeping without him even though he is fine sleeping in his own bed. We are such first time parents!

This boy needed a haircut so bad!

He was playing the other day by dragging around Brock's lab coat. What he was really trying to do was get us to pull him around on it. He loves being pulled around while riding on blankets. Funny kid.

He has developed a major shoe fetish. Really weird.

So weird that we couldn't find matches to half of our shoes. Apparently we didn't use the microwave for a few days because this is where they were. Tim likes to cook our shoes. Luckily he hasn't figured out how to turn on the microwave! Oh, and we got his hair cut this week. It was at one of those kid places, so he did so good. He got to sit in a car and watch "Tangled." My boy loves "Tangled" so he sat there the whole time and got his cute haircut. I think I'm going to go buy some clippers and try it out myself next time though. It's not worth $20 every few weeks, and I love his hair shorter.

A Year in Pictures

2011-09-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

This picture is the original reason this post started. I haven't dumped my iPhone pictures on my computer since Tim was born, so once I got this picture off, I had to get the rest!

This is how I found Tim the other day. And the best part is that he constantly is trying to get in the toilet now. And yes, he had pants on and a very soggy diaper.

Now we are starting at little baby Tim! I can't believe how babyish he looks here!

Eating an orange at Grandma and Grandpa Frampton's house

Happy hair day!

Little swinging Russian

And another happy hair day!

Hiding his bed head :) I love him in his hat!

His first "Kid's Meal." It was at some diner restaurant in Anaheim.

At the Lego Store at Downtown Disney

Thor - haha Kinda wanna dress him up as this for halloween now....but we already have another idea

At Auntie Em's lacrosse game last spring

At the USU Bookstore last spring

This is exactly why we haven't set up the train table yet. He NEVER plays with it - just on it...

Having fun with Ben & Jerry

That's my boy! My future musician

Ok, so Tim really likes things in his hair, especially when I tell him he's so "pretty." We decided I should stop doing it, so when he puts things in his hair, he is handsome. And this is a crown....not a headband....

Uncle Benji puts everyone to sleep :)

My kid knows how to enjoy a softball game!

Um, ouch. Brock's black eye from taking a "Mendon hop" to the face

Tim's first Burger King crown. Don't we all remember wearing them when we were younger?!

Enjoying East Coast Custard in Mentor, Ohio. YUM!

"Helping" daddy organize his anatomy flash cards

This is how Tim sat while I did laundry at the laundromat the first time....

This is how he sat the third time after a failed attempt the second time. Once we took the bottle away, we don't get a quiet content Tim! He's W-I-L-D!!!! So Brock has to come. He was going to study, but we ended up using his laptop as entertainment for Tim instead.

This post has made me want to carry around my point and shoot! Much easier than getting pics off the phone, but I am glad I have these. The poor quality makes me cringe though!

Official Nebraskans

2011-09-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

It's official - we are Nebraskans. And what made this official is that we purchased our first red t-shirts and attended our first Nebraksa Huskers game in Lincoln at Memorial Stadium. Let me tell you - I've never seen so much red in one place! Being a Huskers fan is a culture here. We literally have three clothing stores in our mall dedicated to Huskers gear. And on game day, the whole state is wearing red regardless of going to the stadium to watch the game or not. So we were really excited when our Branch President offered us his tickets to the game since he couldn't make it. It was pretty chilly out, and we were already cold from coaching soccer this morning. But we still had so much fun! We paid $25 for parking about 3/4 of a mile away from the stadium....crazy. But it was quite the experience. Tim really got into the pre-game and was clapping and cheering with everyone with a big smile on his face. He really likes clapping, so he was very entertained with that. He also loved the balloons that were hanging everywhere. We figured out later they were hung up so they could be released when the Huskers scored. Pretty fun! It started getting pretty rainy by the end of the third quarter, so we decided we better head because Tim woke up it was getting colder. We had so much fun, and really wish we could go to the Ohio State / Huskers game in a few weeks, but the tickets are WAY too much!

All these pics are taken with our ancient point and shoot camera. It's days like these I wish my nice camera wasn't such a pain to lug around!

Before we hit the road!

Momma and Timmy enjoying the pre-game

This is just part of the stadium. I found out it holds over 80,000 and the are building on to it!

Really enjoying the show with "Ba." Tim has a new name for dad. He says dad sometimes still, but most of the time he calls him "Ba." It's actually more like a mix between "Pa" and "Ba" but we are pretty sure he's trying to call him "Brock" since he hears me yelling "Brock" all the time. haha It's so stinkin cute though that he has an alternate name for Brock. He loves him more than me. When he gets home from school, Tim runs to the door and sucks air in and makes a really funny noise while smiling from ear to ear. He loves his daddy!

Tim was in amazement when all the balloons were let off. I can only compare it to the floating lanterns in Tangled. It really was cool!

He fell asleep at half time!

This picture is from a dinner we had at the house of one of the branch members. They had a bunch of families over, and it was really great to get to know some people in our branch. We really feel so welcomed!

Godzilla

2011-09-16T22:28:00.000-07:00

We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow because we are going to the HUSKERS GAME! I'll write more about that after we go, but I wanted to get these up so I wasn't overwhelmed with blog posts on Sunday. Side note: I'm really proud of myself for keeping up on our blog. Now if only I can keep doing it!

These were just from Tim climbing up on his fire station play house. He never plays with it - just on it.

Remember when he went flying over the front of his rocking horse? He's doing much better now!

I looked over the other day and this is what Tim was doing in his chair when I thought he was eating. BONUS! Except for it was 8 pm and he doesn't go to bed til 10:30. So yes, he woke up and was up for a long time. Not so bonus...

This is how we see Brock most days now. Studying for something. That's our future Dr. Brock!

I made the joke before I left that I knew Melanie would send us popcorn and M&Ms at some point. She makes them together every Sunday dinner at her house. It's definitely a Christensen family tradition and it's yummy! The best part is she also sent the movie "17 Miracles," so I'm really excited to watch it. I especially love the package of tissues for when it makes us cry. haha

Tim also got a cow Pillow Pal. One of the only words he says right now is "Moo," so needless to say, he loves cows.

Tim Jr. - literally. My dad was a MAJOR TV watcher. Well Timmy Jr is taking after Grandpa. He LOVES tv. I don't like him watching it all the time, but it's SO NICE when I need to get something done to be able to turn on some "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" and know that Tim is entertained for 20 minutes. Thank you DVR!

We got Tim this T-Ball set the other day. He's SO CUTE with it. He actually will hit the ball off it and go get it, put it back on, and hit it again. LOVE it! But I found it very funny today that I turned around in the kitchen and there was the T with a bottle of Glucosamine teed up on it. haha That's my guy.

Tim's favorite book lately is "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." He "reads" it all the time, and will actually sit still to let us read it to him. That RARELY happens. So hopefully this lasts a while!

Tim has been getting into A LOT of trouble lately. Today, he got into the bathroom and closed the door so I didn't know he was in there. I had my flat iron on and the sink was full and plugged because I had a stained shirt of Tim's in there. Well, I found him in there with the scalding hot water on and filled to the rim and a bunch of stuff thrown in. I cannot express my fear when I realized what could have happened if he would have gotten a hold of the flat iron and thrown it in. My mom had a good idea and told me to get a gate for the bathroom door because it's his favorite place to play. It was so scary! I cannot even imagine what I would do if something bad happened to him. So there's my scary story of the day. I have another picture on my phone that I will put up in a bit to show what else Tim "gets into" in the bathroom. F-U-N-N-Y

Creighton Professional Ceremony

2011-09-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

Brock had his white coat professionalism ceremony at the Creighton chapel this last week. It was for the whole School of Pharmacy and Health Professions new class, but I had no idea it would be such a big thing. We got there 30 minutes early and had a seat in the very back row of chairs. LOTS of people! (I don't know why they don't hold it somewhere like the really nice soccer field or something since the space clearly was not big enough!) Anyway, I really didn't catch most of it since I had a "happy" baby boy with me, but we did see Brock walk to receive his lab coat. It was a fun day to celebrate him and his achievement in getting this far in his professional career. We are so proud to have him as a husband and dad, and very grateful to him for all the studying and hard work he's going to put in to his career for our family!

Tim being oh so happy to be at the ceremony before it started...

Brock getting ready to go get his coat

Shaking some guy's hand (I'm assuming the Dean's?)

Getting his coat!

OTD Class of 2014

Why smile when you can do this?

On top of school, Brock was also called today to serve as the second counselor in the Elder's Quorum presidency in our branch. He said his blessing was really neat. (I couldn't go because I was playing the piano in primary). But he was told that if he fulfilled his calling and read his scriptures and prayed daily, that he would have great success in his school work and would have the time to put into it to succeed. I believe that with all my heart! I also had the chance to play a piano solo in sacrament meeting today. I chose to play "God Be With You Till We Meet Again/I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go." It's a medley by Jason Tonioli. I love the song because of the meaning it has to me. It reminds me that although I lost my dad, I know it must have been hard for him to leave us. But he knew he had to because Heavenly Father needed him. This son makes me have peace about that. But I also thought it was appropriate for today since it is the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I couldn't help but think of all those who lost their lives, and all the soldiers who go overseas to fight for others to enjoy the same freedoms I enjoy. I know it wasn't much, but I am deeply grateful that I was able to play something today and feel like I did something to honor those men and and women.

We have truly felt the spirit much stronger in our lives since being here. We love our little branch and the members of it. And our Branch President is great! When Brock went in for a temple recommend interview tonight, I guess they got talking about sports. Well, it came out that our President has season tickets to the Nebraska Cornhuskers (AKA the Church of Nebraska), but he can't go this week. So he's giving them to us! I'm so stoked, and I may even go buy me a Cornhuskers t-shirt since the rest of the state wears red every game day! I'm not even kidding....

I'm struggling a bit right now with feeling like I'm stuck in an educational rut. I'm so happy Brock is going to school, but seeing all these young girls in his program make me realize that living the young wife and mom "Utah" life is so untypical to the rest of the world! I don't regret it at all, and I know I'm where I'm supposed to be doing what I'm supposed to be doing, but I definitely feel like the girls in his class look at me as "just the wife." I know it's a really petty thing to think, but we ran into this girl in his program and she didn't even acknowledge I was standing right there. It was so blatant that I must not be smart or something since I'm not in a doctoral program like them. I just wanted to look at her and ask her if she thinks that it didn't take our whole family to get here. And I realize being a stay at home mom may not be the career that a lot of girls aspire to, but I am happy to be at home with Tim most of the time. I'm working as a freelance photographer for a company here while I try and get mine going again, so it's a nice little break away for a bit. But I really truly love being a mom and wife. It's just weird being the "exception" here to other girls my age instead of the "rule" like I was in Utah. Just my thoughts!

And a little afterthought, I'm so excited to become an Auntie again to another baby coming in April 2012! Congrats, Mo, Chantz, and Ila Fay!!

Little Boys Love Their Toys

2011-09-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Tim is a very typical boy. He loves to play with his toys, and he loves to walk around like this any time we let him. This first picture cracks me up though. He was trying to get the bucket with his baseball stuff (which also had his quiet book in it). Well, he tipped the bucket over on top of himself and the quiet book landed there. haha Love it. I just thought these other pics were too cute not to add in since we print this off as our family journal. Don't wanna lose those pics!

Family Pictures July 2011

2011-09-04T23:57:00.000-07:00

We got our family pictures done the day before we moved. Mistake cause Tim was over stimulated by everything going on and didn't cooperate! We only got one picture of him smiling. Talk about frustrating! haha This is probably one of my favorite pictures of me and Brock though so I'll call it a success! Thanks, Chelsea for taking them!!

Sunday Park Outing

2011-09-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today was the most beautiful day we've had here in Omaha. There was no humidity and it was around 72 degrees. It felt great! We go to church from 1:30 to 4:30, so after eating lunch, we decided to take advantage of the day and head to the park for a bit. Tim is getting so autonomous. He went down all the slides, even the big ones, by himself. He turns around and goes down on his belly, but I like that he does that cause it slows him down a little bit. He's so funny! He likes being around other kids, but he doesn't really interact with them yet. He just watches them.

This picture is VERY out of focus, but it is just too cute to not put up!

There's "The Face" again (read below post)

I love this picture! He loves his daddy!

Tuckered out and ready to head home. Did I mention he didn't go to sleep last night til 12:30... Poor kid got his bottle taken away this week and he doesn't know how to put himself to sleep without it. That's our fault as parents. I was so tired that I finally gave him 1 Tbs of milk in a bottle and he was out. We're going to try getting more into a routine this week and not lay down with him until he falls asleep. I think we are in for a big fight!

Day to Day Life in Omaha

2011-09-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

Tim is getting so big, I can't believe it. And by big, I mean he is doing "big boy" things. He's not really growing...haha. Brock taught him to dunk his cookies one day. It was so stinkin cute!

My cross country medal makes the perfect toy now!

His most favorite place to play is on top of anything. We've learned that Tim is "a climber." Literally, nothing is safe. He climbs on the piano, the furniture, stools, the kitchen table, and obviously his toys. I guess he's playing gargoyle or Big Foot or something?

He likes playing in the fridge. Yesterday he went in and grabbed the Chili's leftover box from when we went to lunch with Grandpa Tony the other day. He opened it up, grabbed a piece of chicken, and walked around eating it for about half an hour. Funny kid.

Since Tim is a climber, we didn't want to set up the crib just to take it down in a few months when he learned to get out of it. So we have him sleeping in a toddler bed. Well, the other morning I woke up, and Tim hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night so I went to check on him. (Usually he wakes up and one of use go and get him and bring him back to bed with us.) This is how I found him. Half underneath his bed with both his arms stretched over his head. So stinkin cute, but it made me feel bad he slept like that all night! There are hardwood floors under the carpet and no padding, so the carpet isn't soft! The last couple nights he has learned just to come into our room and climb into our bed. I like him sleeping with us, so it doesn't bother me. We love our little dude!

Tim has started making this face ALL THE TIME. We went to dinner at a branch family's house yesterday and this is how he said hello...except he wasn't smiling. It was very scary looking!

Tim and Brock had fun for a few days having pillow fights. Tim would just carry the pillow around eating it and then throw it at Brock when he found him. It was even funnier when he didn't have any thing on...haha

The only time he's ever been happy having his diaper changed. Glad we got it on camera...

Did I mention he climbs on the toilet? Yeah, not my most favorite place for him to be!

He fell, and instead of helping him up, I found the camera.

He used to look like Jack-Jack from the Incredibles....he's downgraded to Toothless haha

Visiting Grandpa Tim

2011-09-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

While Tim and I were in Ohio, we went to my dad's grave to clean it up and put some mulch down. My dad is buried in Kent, so I always cherish the moments I can spend at his grave thinking about his life and my memories with him. I'm glad Heather and I went and decorated our dad's graves together one of the days I was there. (My Uncle David died in a car crash when I was little). I've never shared the story of my dad on here, and since it's my family journal, I want to write a little bit about my dad since we named Tim after him.

My dad and I had a very good relationship - a relationship I will always cherish. When I was in 5th grade, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After chemo and radiation, the tumor stopped growing for a while. But when it started growing again, it became very aggressive. This was when I was going into 8th grade. The doctors gave him a 6 month life expectancy, and they were right on. I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with my dad before he died. My dad and I were very close. Some of my most cherished memories with him are of us playing catch on our front lawn. We could carry on a conversation without talking. We just understood each other. We enjoyed spending time together playing sports, and he was always very supportive of all my sports endeavors. I feel like I made my dad proud of me when he was alive, but I know he is more proud of me being a mom to my little Tim now, too.

After my dad died, I realized what a respected man he was within his work community. He worked at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. After his death, his colleagues dedicated a conference room in his honor in the Training Center where he worked. So many people told us what a great teacher he was, too. I wish I could have sat in one of his Gospel Doctrine classes and understood how well he was able to teach the gospel.

I miss my dad more than anything. Truly a day does not go by that I don't think about him. But that's why I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. Without my Savior and His Plan of Salvation, I would not have the comfort of knowing that I will see my dad again. There have been many times in my life I have felt his presence, and I know he loves me and watches over me still. I love that my Timmy has a namesake to look to during his life, and I hope he can get to know his Grandpa because I know his Grandpa is watching over him, too. I love my dad, and can't wait to see him again!

I think this picture represents what my dad probably told Tim right before he was born. I can just see him saying, "I love you buddy. Give em hell!"

Family Matters Most!

2011-09-02T00:04:00.000-07:00

Tim and I just got back from a trip to Ohio. I advertise for photography out there so I can go back and see family. I had this wedding booked long before I knew we would be moving to Omaha, so it was kind of overwhelming to move across the country and then turn around and go on a week long trip. I'm really glad we went though! We stayed with Grandpa and Kathy at their house in Kent. After getting in, I did the bridal session I needed to do so we could spend the next couple of days with family. I really enjoyed my time with Grandpa and his girlfriend Kathy. They were so great with Tim, and I really feel like I got to know both of them, especially Kathy, much better than I did before. I think being in a blended family has made me realize that being family isn't about sharing common DNA - it's about who loves you and cares about you. I am embarrassed that it took me so long to treat Kathy that way! She was a great grandma to Tim the whole trip, and I really appreciate getting to spend time with her! And bless Grandpa's heart, despite the fact that he had his knee replaced not too long ago, he chased after Tim as much as the rest of us!

Grandpa, Kathy, and Uncle Todd and his family all go down the the river in Loudenville every weekend. They have RVs parked there and a whole campsite set up on the river. Grandpa has been telling us about it for a year, and I wanted to go check it out since it's such an important place to him. Even though we didn't get home from the wedding and picking Tim up after until 1 am, we got up the next morning to meet Grandpa and Kathy down at the river. It's a really fun place to go kayaking and canoeing, but I have to say, as fun as it would be without a toddler, being there with an 16 month old is not what I would define as a "relaxing gettaway." I was ready to leave after 24 hours.... But I would love to go back with my whole family so I can hand Tim off! Here are a few pictures from the River.

Tim and Riley - Uncle Todd's granddaughter

Timmy and Great-Grandpa Tim

Timmers enjoyed Riley's little 4-Wheeler, but he couldn't figure out why it didn't move when he pushed the buttons. He has a power-wheel 4-Wheeler that's pretty much the same as this one. Riley just pushed him around instead. The big scrape on his cheek is from him deciding he was done riding it and dive-bombing to the ground. The kid go BEAT UP this vacation! The bumps on his forehead are from standing behind the door when grandpa was opening it. He fell back onto a vase. He also bonked his chin on the coffee table at Aunt Lyn and Uncle Ted's house, so by the time we got back, he looked very abused.

I would say Tim spent 75% of his time at the river pushing this play lawn mower...towards the river.... Thus me having to chase him the whole time.

One of my favorite days in Ohio was the day we spent with my cousin Heather, her husband Jeremy, and her daughter Emma. Emma has the cutest hair! I love it! And she's got quite the cute spunky personality to go with it. She's such a doll, and really enjoyed being around Tim. If this trip did anything for me, it made me realize that I need to keep in better touch with Heather and Emma. We spend so much time trying to explain who we are and having Emma warm up to us. If we kept in touch, we could just all get together knowing who we are with! Love you all!!

Tim's last bottle picture. We are officially DONE with the bottle! I waited til after our trip so my family wouldn't have to deal with an inconsolable baby.

Another highlight of the trip was going to dinner with my best friend from middle school, Lindsey. Lindsey is one of those girls who I always want to be friends with. She is the sweetest, most selfless girl. I'm so happy for her and her new guy. She's so happy, and I can't wait to take pics at their wedding :) haha Lindsey and her family were really there for me when my dad was sick. It's not a bond that most people can understand I don't think, but her friendship will be something I will cherish forever!

The wedding went great. It was fun to photograph a traditional wedding instead of a sealing. They are two very different events to take pictures at, so it was fun getting a different side of the wedding festivities :) The best part was shooting with my new Nikon D700. I am in LOVE! I got a job here in Omaha as a photographer for a local photographer around here. I'm shooting my first wedding with him tomorrow, and then hopefully will get some solo ones soon. Can't wait to use my new baby again!

This trip to Ohio I think is one of my most memorable ones. I've spent so many trips taking time for things or people that don't really matter in the long run. This time, I think I did better at spending time with the people who love me and I love! I can't wait to see them all again!

The BIG MOVE

2011-08-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

I know I've been writing about living in Omaha, but I never really wrote about how we ended up being here. So I figure I better write out the whole story since I print out my blog as our family journal. And I will say, I'm pretty sure that moving 1,000 miles away is kind of a big important detail of our family history!

Brock graduated in Psychology from Utah State this last semester. Unfortunately, both Brock and I chose majors that really are kinda useless without continuing on to a higher degree. So for a lot of our marriage, we have talked about what Brock would pursue as a career. We talked about secondary education, getting a Masters degree in Social Work and becoming a therapist, and other careers. As he would take pre-requisite courses and talk with his advisor, nothing really ever "clicked." Well, one day at work at Logan River Academy, he was talking with a co-worker about a career in Occupational Therapy. I guess they talked for a bit, and Brock's interest was sparked. He came home and did a little more research on it, and then decided to throw it out there for consideration. Of course I asked what it was. I've learned that it pretty much is a very big umbrella of therapy for a wide variety of issues. An occupational therapist differs from a physical therapist in a couple ways. An OT essentially is working to teach the brain something that doesn't come natural. So OTs work with babies born without an arm to teach them to live in a way that is fully functioning while going against "nature." Or they work with kids with Autism and teach them to be able to communicate in large settings, but do it by conditioning them to mentally make the decision to talk. Or they work in geriatrics to teach a patient how to take care of themselves after losing function in a limb or something. Anyways, there are SOOO many things OTs do. So there is also a HUGE job market for them. In our economy, it was important to us to find a career path that would end in a job. We've heard of so many people earning professional degrees and being stuck in $10 an hour jobs. And that's not something we wanted. So, after discussing it and looking in to it more, we decided OT was the right direction for Brock and our family.

After making that decision, the interview process began. Brock applied to schools everywhere. He applied in Las Vegas, Arizona, Ohio, and one in Alaska. The school in Alaska was a distance education from Creighton University in Omaha. Well, after reading a little more, we discovered the school in Alaska is only for Alaska residents. So we called Creighton and asked to have the application transfered to the school in Omaha since we had already paid the app fee. We really didn't think Creighton was a legit option since it's COLD here, and the program is a Doctoral program compared to the others he applied to which were just masters. We were so excited when Brock was accepted for interviews at all the schools he applied to. We were pretty set on either going to Arizona if we got in, but we would be ok with Las Vegas, too. Seriously, after coming out to Creighton in February when it was FREEZING cold, I really had no intention of moving to Omaha! Well, we were shocked when Brock received denial or wait list letters from Las Vegas and Arizona. He felt the interviews had gone so well there, and we were starting to get worried about what the next step would be if he didn't get in anywhere. Since he didn't get in to those two schools, we really didn't think Creighton would accept them into their prestigious program. Thankfully, we were WRONG! We were so excited when he got his acceptance letter, but we still weren't positive he was going to go. Since it's a doctoral program, it's 3 1/2 years compared to 18 months-2 years for a Masters degree. Not to mention Creighton is a private school, so it costs a pretty (ugly) penny! After prayer and A LOT of discussion, we both felt it was right to accept the invitation to attend Creighton. Brock was excited to be coming back to where he served his mission. Me....I was just excited to have a plan. I wasn't thrilled about the move to Nebraska...

So we waited....looked for apartments....and waited some more until finally the time to move came. Packing was NOT FUN, and neither was moving across the country. Saying goodbye to our families was the worst, but we knew it's not permanent, and we'll be home often. Thankfully, Brock's brothers drove our moving van out so we could take our car with Tim. After looking at over 200 apartments online (I'm seriously not exaggerating), we finally found one right by the school that felt right. I can't explain to you the amount of stress it was trying to find a place looking only at internet postings and reviews, and just never feeling that it was where we were supposed to be. We even lost a deposit on one place that we just didn't think was right after all. Finally, I found a place close to campus that seemed perfect for us. Immediately after reading the craigslist post, I knew it was the place. I'll have to put pictures up soon. It's a cute little apartment (about half the size of our apartment in Nibley), but it's got some cute, old charm to it. So far, it's been great for us.

I knew we had chosen the right place the Sunday before we left Utah. I was sitting in Sacrament meeting, and although I can't recall exactly what the speakers were saying, I had a very strong feeling that we were moving to Omaha for more than just school. I knew I couldn't find the right place because I wasn't looking in the right place. The apartment we are in put us in the boundaries of a very small branch here in Omaha. Despite the fact that there are much larger, stronger wards in our area, our little branch is being nurtured and prepared for growth. Despite never being to the branch yet, I knew that Sunday that we were moving to where we were supposed to be so we could be a part of something at this branch. It was one of those times in my life that the Lord was teaching me the lesson....again....that His plan for me is better than my plan for me. I wanted to live in some townhomes that essentially are a "little Utah" - lots of young student families just like us. But no matter how many ways we tried to get into them, it just wasn't working out. I appreciate now seeing that Heavenly Father needed us somewhere else, and He led us to it. After being to this branch here in Omaha a couple of Sundays, Brock and I both feel VERY strongly that school was a way to get us here to be in this branch. We were given the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting today, something we haven't done since being married, and it was such a good feeling to be standing exactly where I was supposed to be. So many members have told us we were "prayed" here, and we've been told that we will be put to work with multiple callings. And the thing is, although that's something I wouldn't have been to happy about in Utah, I can't wait to see what the Lord needs me to do here. I'm so excited for this chance not only to serve, but to learn so much from the people here that rely on each other and the Lord. I'm so excited to see what's in store for us in this branch! We have already made friends here, too. One cute family invited us for dinner the day after we got in. And we meet new people each time we go to church. A member of the branch presidency stopped by to ask us to speak, and we got to chat with him for a while, too. People here are so friendly. The church just has a different feeling here than in Utah. We both love feeling needed as part of a branch family.

We love having missionaries here, too. Brock is having a lot of memories from his days on his mission here. We've had the missionaries over for dinner already, and we are having them again tomorrow. I love having them in our home and the spirit they bring into it. I hope we can be one of the families they rely on. They asked us today to take an older, deaf gentleman in our branch home from church today. It feels so good to be welcomed so quickly and already be trusted to help others in need!

We went to a welcome picnic for the Health Profession students at Creighton tonight. We of course tried to spot all the LDS students so we could make some new friends. We met a few couples, and I'm excited there are some LDS guys in Brock's OT class. I wasn't too excited at the thought of him being in a study group with a bunch of other girls since guys are DEFINITELY the minority in his class. So I'm happy he'll have some good study partners....more so hopefully I can meet their wives and make some friends to hang out with while our husbands are in school all day! He starts Welcome Week tomorrow (which really should be called Hell Week because it looks REALLY boring). Hopefully he can get that over with without too much boredom and get started in school next week.

We are so happy to be here in Omaha. It's been quite the journey getting here, but we know this is exactly where we are supposed to be. I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the guidance He gives us in our lives. I know my little family has a mission to accomplish here, and I can't wait to get started!

First Trip to the Zoo

2011-08-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

One of our first big adventures in Omaha has been going to the Henry Doorly Zoo. It's one of the biggest zoos in the country complete with an IMAX theater. We decided since we are so close to the zoo to get a family pass to allow us unlimited access to the zoo and movie theater for the rest of the season. I'm so excited. Almost all of the exhibits are indoors, and a lot of the women in my ward take their kids year round. So I'm excited to have something fun to do in the winter with Tim while Brock is in school.

This trip was really fun. We've been working hard to settle in to our new place, so it was nice to go out and make a day for ourselves. I wasn't sure how Tim would react to it, but he really enjoyed it. He's recently learned to look where we are pointing, so that definitely helped him to see animals that were hiding in trees or something. He "moo'd" at most of the animals since the cow sound is the only sound he makes. But he was just having a blast. He would take off from us to go look at something he was interested in. He really liked the penguins at the aquarium because he could get up right next to the glass and see them while they were swimming. He liked the hippo for the same reason, too. I like the aquarium because they have it the exhibits blocked off in the front so the kids can get up really close without any adults in the way. He would try and touch the animals. But mostly he just tried to talk to the other kids by him. We tried to time it so we could go to the IMAX while he was sleeping, but the show we planned that around was sold out. So Brock and I ended up walking around and looking at a few things while Tim slept. We went at saw "Amazing Caves" at the end of our day to get out of the heat. It was really cute because Tim was really amazed at the big 6 story high screen. It kinda freaked him out at first, but then he just sat through the whole movie with big eyes. It was neat, and I really hope he always likes the movies because it's something we will be doing often with our pass!

Our favorite exhibit is the rainforest. The animals are necessarily "caged," although they are far enough away that they can't get to you. There are huge trees, and even a little rainforest floor you can walk on. There's some cool vines to swing from, too. While we were walking on one of the paths though, Brock pointed out a half dead mouse that was kinda flopping around. It freaked me out - not cool. It definitely was not supposed to be a part of the exhibit!!

I'm hoping to go there with the missionaries one day because they were showing us the funniest video the other day. One of the missionaries learned from one of the zoo keeper a trick with the apes. The missionaries stand with their backs to the glass of the ape exhibit, and the alpha male freaks out. He kinda walks towards the glass, and then takes off charging - running into the glass where the missionaries are standing trying to attack them. At one point, he even started beating his chest while kicking the glass. Apparently it has something to do with the missionaries being males in white shirts... I dunno, but the video was HILARIOUS!

I can't wait to take Tim back and let him explore even more. I'm sure we'll learn a lot from our trips to the zoo!

Of course, Tim tried to go swimming in the desert exhibit. Luckily Brock was there to keep him out of the little ponds!

Tim enjoyed pointing at things he liked to see. It was neat to see him being interactive with his environment.

He got pretty tired towards the end of the day though!

This little chimp was pretty funny. He "hung" out there for a while.

Remember in Tarzan when he puts his hand on the apes' hand? I thought this was pretty cute.

Seriously need a better camera! I'm so sick of pics in low light looking like this!! 400 ISO should not look like this with the lens I have!!

Crossing the rainforest bridge. It was actually pretty wobbly so he did really good!

My little vine swinging Tarzan!

Leaving Tim's First Home

2011-08-10T22:52:00.001-07:00

A little over ten years ago, I walked out my front door on Bathgate Drive in Ohio to catch my ride for school, knowing it would be the last time I walked out the door of my childhood home. My family was moving to Utah and leaving our hometown. The feeling of walking away is something I'll never forget. It was a place of many of my childhood memories, including most of the memories I have of my dad. It was the place my family was defined and was mine. Leaving our home in Nibley, walking out the door after checking to make sure everything was in order, I had that same feeling I had ten years ago. But it's the only other time I've had that feeling, despite moving around 10 times in the last 10 years. Our home in Nibley was the first time in 10 years that I felt I had a home, and that is a feeling that I hope to find here in Omaha.

Our basement apartment we rented from Brock's brother was truly a home and safe haven for our family. It's a place filled with some of the best memories of my life, even though we only lived there for two years. We had such a hard time getting pregnant, but shortly after moving in there, we were able to finally get pregnant with Tim. I strongly feel one reason because I was able to settle down and relax enough knowing that I had a place to call home again. Going through pregnancy, it was a place of relaxation and relief. Bringing home our first born there and watching him grow from newborn to infant. And from infant to toddler... it is a time of my life I will always cherish. We had great times with friends and family there. I cooked my first Thanksgiving turkey and hosted my first holiday with my family. We had both of our entire families there to celebrate the birth of Tim and his blessing and later his one year birthday. Brock had countless "Guy's Nights" that were "entertaining" and memorable to say the least! I enjoyed learning to craft and sew there - something I had never taken up and something I will now never give up! And one of the best parts of our home was getting closer to my brother-in-law and his family. We will all miss this home, but I'm glad it's in the family so we can revisit it later!

Moving was such a freaking pain. I NEVER wanna move again. I didn't realize how much we had accumulated over the last two years since we finally had space. PLUS, babies have SO MUCH STUFF! I didn't realize how much we had til we started packing it all. It's so funny cause I thought packing wouldn't take long. Just go into a room with a few boxes and pack it all, right? Not so much. I think I turned bi-polar during my packing because I would go through a memory box and be crying one minute and cracking up hysterically the next. It was definitely nice to get rid of a lot of stuff though since we massively downsized in square footage in our new place in Omaha. Thankfully, we had family that was willing to help with packing because I honestly couldn't have done it by myself. Thank you to all of you who helped pack boxes, load the truck, and babysit! And to Cody and Benji - we could not have made this move without you! My awesome bro-in-laws drove our moving truck for us so we could drive our car. And then they unloaded everything, too. Seriously, that alone would have taken me and Brock DAYS because Tim was having a pretty hard time. The poor kid went through a week of not being home at all so we could pack. Then he would come home at night and look around the house with a very curious face since everything was turned upside down and missing. Then we drove across the country. Then we lived in a pile of boxes for 5 days while I unpacked. He's finally settling down....but I'll write about that in a different post. Anyway, thank you to everyone who helped in any way! We owe you all and love you for everything you've done for us!

Here are some pictures of Tim with his cousin. They are so cute together, and he misses her very much!

Tim playing in the playhouse with Livy in the backyard

Opera singer?

Tim would sit in that sandbox all day if we let him. He absolutely loved playing in it, especially with his cousins!

She's a precious little girl...and he...well, he's just chillin with his tongue hanging out...

I loved how these two played together. They are both kind of observers and quiet, and they just had their own way of playing. It was so cute!

I LOVE this picture - so funny!! "Hey mom - Livy pushed me over the edge....wanna help me...like, NOW?!"

KISSES! (Tim gives open mouth kisses still, so if you look close, his mouth is open to give her a kiss)

They are already swapping secrets to keep from their parents!

Uncle Cody was mowing the lawn with Livy and let Tim get on the riding lawn mower with them. That only lasted about 2 seconds cause wimpy Tim had a meltdown.

Going Away Party with Brock's Family

2011-08-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

Brock's family was so sweet to have a little going away dinner. It was great to see everyone there, and fun to get Tim with some of his cousins he doesn't see as often. Sunday dinner at Tony and Melanie's home is definitely one of the things we will miss most while in Omaha. At least we'll get to have the missionaries over for dinner since they know what it's like to be away from family, too! We love you all, and can't wait to sit down for a Sunday dinner with you again!

I'm scared for when this child turns two...

Timmy & Branson - These two are gonna be great friends (assuming their fathers don't make them super competitive against each other...haha) cause all the other cousins close to their age are girls.

Tim doing the toddler sit....with a camera on his head.... And yes, his 12 month shorts are WAY too big on his 15 month body....

Don't have much to say about this one....

Melt my heart! If Tim could talk, I think he would say that one of the people he misses most is cousin Livy. I loved watching these two play because Tim was noticeably happier around her. He just loves her, and it truly made me sad that we won't be there for him to grow up by her because I know how much he liked playing with her. Timmy loves you, Livy!!

These two loved playing in the sandbox. And Tim especially loved playing in the sandbox with Livy!

Captain Timmy in grandma's play ship

He likes going up better than going down...

Tim with cousin Branson and our cute neice/cousin Kambry

Grandma Melanie - We will miss you and Grandpa most!

Camping With the Whole Fam Damily

2011-08-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

I was busy getting everything ready for our big move to Omaha when my lovely mom called and asked if we wanted to go camping with the whole family (8 siblings, bro-in-law, niece, mom and dad, and grandma...). So of course, since we knew we wouldn't see everyone for a while, we said yes despite the fact that we had to pack, well, the whole house.... But it was so worth it! We went to Rock Port State Park and had a great time. We had the boat, too, so despite the lake being cold, I had a great time wakeboarding and swimming. Brock had fun for the first few hours before he got FRYED! No one understands how he got so burnt because we were putting 60 SPF on about every 30 minutes. It seriously didn't make sense. Anyway, Tim had LOTS of fun jumping on the water trampolines and hanging out with everyone. It was bitter sweet being with the family again, knowing that we won't be together like that for sure until Christmas.

Since we had some pretty abnoxious drunks in the campsite next to us, we ended up sleeping in the big tent with Hannah and Emmaline. We had our bed all made in the Yurt, but Brock didn't feel comfortable with the teenage girls being in a tent by themselves. I thought it was very cute that he was so concerned about them, and I'm glad he was. It was so fun sleeping with Timmy in the tent under the stars. After we shut off his cow flashlight (yes, it moos every time you turn the light on and it opens the mouth...and yes it's our only flashlight...), we all looked at the stars out of the top of the tent. It was so cute cause Tim was looking at them, too. I love seeing him really experience things for the first time.

I had a great time with my family, and I'm so grateful we had one last memorable experience with them before we moved! I love you all, and miss you SO MUCH!

Timmy and Auntie Hannah - aka, one of Tim's favorite people. Hannah has always been a great babysitter and friend to have around! Seriously, we were always supposed to be sisters. I think we have so much in common and we have a lot of the same character traits. It's funny!

Timmy in the field while we were all sittin around the fire.

Timmy and Uncle Bud

Alice sat on her smore...HAHA

Tim and Bebe, Grandma Mommy's dog. I really want to get him a dog for Christmas. We'll have to see what our landlord says though!

Ok, this picture only makes sense to people who know Tim. He walks around pulling his shirt up all the time so he can play with his belly button. He even does it in his sleep and it's almost always one of the first things he does when he wakes up. It's so funny!

Timmy, Great-Grandma Mommy (Kathy), and Bebe

BWA-HAHA - Tim played in the coals and then rubbed his eyes.

Happy First Birthday, Timmy!

2011-05-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Timmy's first birthday was a happy and sad day for me. When Brock mentioned the night before his birthday that I was in labor at that time last year, it made me extremely sad that my little boy is growing up. It's so exciting to see all the new things he learns every day, but I'm still extremely anxious about not being able to get pregnant again and never experiencing the little newborn stage. Tim is definitely not a newborn anymore, and his well on his way to being a toddler. That said, it's been so fun with him lately. Here's pictures from his shoot on his birthday.

We had a party for both sides of the family at our house on his birthday. We had a "vintage baseball" theme with popcorn, cracker jacks, peanuts, and hot dogs. Thanks to all who came! It was a blast! Tim was pretty tired the whole time, but he seemed to enjoy it anyway. When it came time to eat his cake, all he was interested in was feeding it to everyone else! It was really cute. He got it all over everyone before he decided to dig in and get it on himself, too.

Cupcake stand made from styrofoam cake rounds and formula cans! And a little bit of paper and ribbons :) Cake toppers made in photoshop and cut using the silhouette - even though it made me very made multiple times! And sadly, my idea of light blue and Macey's idea of light blue is very different - the cupcakes were aqua....sad day.... But they tasted great!

The invite. It was really cute wrapped in a small piece of paper, tag, and rafia ribbon (The address is where the random light blue box is...). I'm sure we'll use it again next year, too, since I saved on the decorations for his party next year. We'll be in Omaha so no one will know we already used them! haha

Here's some fun little things about our boy:

- He loves to wave hello and goodbye - and whenever else he sees fit. But he understands when we are leaving and coming back now so he'll do it on his own.

-Says mom and dad on purpose - LOVE THIS!

-When he's done eating, he'll take whatever food he's eating and throw it over his high chair... one piece at a time.... until we stop him.

-Loves when his daddy chases him around the ottomans - He'll try and run while holding on, but when he gets going to fast, he falls over while laughing...then gets up and falls over again. His little laugh is so freaking cute!

-LOVES to push things around while walking - walker toys, strollers, PEOPLE...whatever he can push (I'll have to put some pics of him on the beach in California up - all he did was push the stroller around)

-Still is a horrible sleeper, but I take full responsibility for that.

-Lives off bananas and bottles/nursing. We're workin' on that....

I LOVE my little man. This has been the best year of my life, and I can't wait to watch him continue to learn and grow. Words cannot describe my love for him, and how much he has changed me for the better in one short year. LOVE YOU, TIMMY!

Hey Mister D.J.

2011-03-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

Since we are going to be on the road a lot traveling back and forth to OMAHA! (yes, Omaha, I'll tell that story in another post).... I wanted to get Tim these little kids' headphones since I'm getting PRETTY tired of the Baby Einsteins music! They came in the mail today and I'm very happy with them. They have an adapter so the music can't go too loud, and they are great quality with a nice fit for Tim. When I put them on him, he didn't touch them at all. He just looked at me and smiled. So hopefully when we try them out on our roadtrip to California tomorrow, he'll like them even with sound coming out of them! He looked too cute - like a big boy - when I put them on, so naturally I had to take some pics of him! I've been doing good this last week taking pictures after realizing I went over a month without getting any of him with my real camera (not my iphone....which I found while packing tonight....YES!) So here's my cute boy. Oh, and the one of him just sitting there is to show how much he loves this particular baby einsteins DVD. It's so funny. He NEVER sits still and watches TV, unless it's this DVD. Gotta love him, and so glad there's at least one thing to keep him entertained! I don't have to worry about long roadtrips as long as he has his Baby Einsteins and a bottle!

2011-03-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

We've been having lots of fun around our house lately!

We have:

Climbed on daddy while daddy is sleeping (or trying to anyway)

Pushed our walkers around....and around....and around....

Had MANY mini meltdowns when we get our walkers stuck in corners, against couches, or into walls. Until mommy or daddy come and rescue it anyway

Walk around with our tongues sticking out just for the fun of it

Been a train conductor....on a horse....

Looked cute ;)

Drank LOTS and LOTS of bottles (with some nursing still....but we love both still!)

Looked dapper for pictures

Had fun with cousin Ila

Tried to hide our mischievous smiles, but it doesn't work... Momma knows better....

Tried French Toast for the first time....YUM

Gotten full A LOT!

Been a little jealous of sharing attention with Ila Fay!

Thought my first swear word.... What the h*** mother?!!

Played great with cousin Ila while she visited for a few days! (After we got over our jealousy issues)

Took baths!

Played momma and baby monkey in the bathtub

Made LOTS of faces!

And pushed Ila around in lots of circles!

Just an Update

2011-03-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

I seriously haven't blogged for a LONG time! I did so well when Timmy was first born, but I've really stunk at staying up to date on pictures and blog entries! So I'll start with Tim first cause let's be honest, he's the center of our little universe!

Tim is almost 11 months old! I can't believe in another month I'm going to have a one year old. It totally BLOWS MY MIND! I'm so sad to see him grow up, but I love seeing all the cute new things he does every day. The poor little guy is getting his top two teeth in right now, so he is definitely not acting like himself. He was such a little stink in church today, but then I saw his little purple gums and I felt so bad!

So on a normal day, Tim is quite the little character. He's really discovering toys now and understanding how to play with them. His current favorite is a little elephant shape sorter. He actually puts the little shapes in and knows how to get them out. It's so adorable, and it makes me think he's smart (but mostly because he's my kid....I really don't think he's any smarter than the average 11 month old...) He also loves Baby Einsteins, but just one of the DVDs, and mostly because when we took our road trip to Nebraska, he was allowed to watch it in the car. I don't let him watch the portable DVD player too often - I want my kids to find shapes in the clouds and play the License Plate game in the car, not be addicted to TV at all time! But since we were in the car for 15 hours straight, I wanted to do anything and everything possible to keep him from melt downs. And I successfully did, but I'll get to that later.

Tim plays catch now. He has a little plush baseball and I roll to him and he picks it up and throws it back. All I can say about that is - THAT'S MY BOY!

We almost have him sleeping through the night again. He did really well when I first let him start crying it out (the first post I wrote about it). But then he got sick and got to sleep with us again. Then he got sick again. Then we went to my mom's for a few nights. Then we went to Nebraska and he got REALLY spoiled. So needless to say, this time around was much more traumatic. Moral of the story - sleep train your kid at 3 months! I will next time! Anyway, he still wakes up once, but I turn the monitor off and let him cry. Then I set my alarm clock for 6 am so I can wake up and turn the monitor back on so I can hear him when he wakes up for real in the morning. He gets up at 7 am - I HATE IT! I'm definitely a night owl, NOT a morning person, so I'm still trying to get used to it. He's still a happy guy in the morning too, but much harder to keep entertained.

He's totally into everything now. He sprint crawls, seriously. And he cruises around things standing up. He's not anywhere close to walking. He has very wobbly legs, but he does really love going outside now and pushing his walker up and down the driveway. It's cute to see him look like he can walk anyway!

He say too many words, but two that he can say are "hi" and "dad, dadda, etc." He definitely says "Dada" and "Dad," and I do think he purposely says it to Brock sometimes. When he gets really mad, he stutters and says "dddddddddd" with a really angry face. It's so funny!

So on to us! Brock has been doing lots of interviews for grad school for Occupational Thearpy. He went to Arizona, Las Vegas, and Nebraska (thus the road trip). We thought they all went well, but he didn't get into Arizona which was our first choice, and he's on the waiting list in Nevada. We haven't heard back from Nebraska which is a good thing (the longer the better), but I really don't want to move there after visiting so I really hope he gets into Nevada. When Brock called to see where he was on the waiting list, it seriously sounds like they just make a waiting list and figure out after all the interviews are over who they are accepting. Not a bad thing, but I'd LOVE to know where I'm moving ASAP! Especially since the school in Vegas starts at the beginning of July and we want to buy a house so we need some time! I know everything will work out right, but I really hate not having a plan!

Nebraska was really fun regardless of the interview at Creighton. (Me and Tim just hung out in the hotel room). We went and visited with some people from Brock's mission. He served in Omaha, so it was really fun for him to be back there. That's why me and Tim went to that interview - so we could see where Brock served. It really was a good experience and I'm glad we went. We also check out the Mormon Trail history center and went to the Winter Quarters Temple. It was real eye opener, especially since on the way there we were talking about how much we didn't want to have to make the drive back home. I think the pioneers would have gladly taken 15 hours in the car over months walking the plains! It put me in my place really quick, especially when we looked at the graves of babies that died. As a mother, I don't think I would have had the faith to make that sacrifice. I always thought I would have gone across the plains if I had to for the church, but now with Tim, I can't imagine putting him in that danger. I'm very grateful for the pioneer women because of their sacrifices!

And a funny story to end on. While we were in Nebraska, I was having some of the same symptoms I had at the beginning of my pregnancy with Tim. I got excited, but decided to wait home to take a pregnancy test. (I always have them on hand since I'm still taking fertility drugs). Anyway, I took the first one and it showed up positive right away. I got a little excited, but I kinda took it wrong, so I wanted to make sure and take another one. In the mean time, Brock was noticeably angry and obviously was not pleased. That made me mad since, HELLO, he knew what were were doing when we were doing "it." haha TMI, I know, but I think it's funny that he got angry. Anyway, I took another one once I could pee again and it was positive, too! I started crying and telling Timmy he was going to be a big brother. A big swell of relief came over me that I wasn't going to have to suffer through fertility crap again, and Brock started getting on board with the idea. All these things were going through my mind, and after about five minutes, I though to myself "Did I take a pregnancy test or an ovulation test." So I ran up and checked the packaging and sure enough.... ovulation tests ;( So I'm not pregnant again, and it actually really sucked when I first figured it out. It's not that we're set on having a baby right now, it's more of a "it'll happen when it happens attitude", but I got all excited. So it really sucked. But now it's a really funny story to us because apparently my mood was 180 degrees different when I figured it out. Oh well! Maybe next time ;)

Here's some pictures to close out this LONG post!

Before getting into everything

Getting ready to pounce

What a sad little bobble head

"Hey, Mom! Look what I found! Your camera bag! It's ok if I play with it, right?"

"Cracker, Momma?"

A baby and his momma (ugly of me, but I love it of us!)

This is my favorite!

Tim is always super happy in the mornings. It's my favorite and least favorite time of the day. Favorite cause he's so freaking cute - least favorite cause I wish he could be cute at 9 instead of 7!

The kid loves socks. I hope he doesn't have a foot fetish!

Crying it Out

2011-01-14T22:00:00.001-08:00

I'm going to preface this with saying that I know this method won't work on every kid.

So, Tim has pretty much been sleeping with Brock and me since day one. When he was a newborn, I was in my fairy tale land of pure ecstasy and delight of having a baby - FINALLY. I just couldn't stand to not be near him or holding him. In the hospital, I maybe slept a total of 8 hours of the 54 I was in there.

Well, as time went on, Tim never made the transition to sleeping in his co-sleeper let alone his crib. About two weeks ago, I started thinking about trying to have another baby. (It took us forever to get pregnant with Tim so "thinking about" it and "trying" don't really mean 10 months from now for us!) Anyway, I was excited to say the least to think about adding to our family and even went to the doctor's to get on my "magic drugs" that got me pregnant the first time. A few days after that, I started to feel very defeated (due to complete exhaustion!) Tim got into a routine of waking up literally every 45 minutes to nurse, even though he would maybe eat for 3-4 minutes before falling back asleep. So it was more just snacking. To add to it, he can't ever sleep in the middle since Brock has seizures every now and again at night, so I was constantly having to sleep with my arm up and under my pillow. I was starting to get very sore by the mornings and just not getting good sleep with it being broken up every 45 minutes. I felt defeated, and I was starting to take it out on Tim. I hate to say I even raised my voice at him a few times during the night when he would cry.

So I started looking up sleep options. He's NINE MONTHS OLD - he should be sleeping through the night easily by now. In fact, I found out over 90% of kids his age sleep through the night! Anyway, I found the Baby Wise book and the method it suggests of crying it out. I debated if I should try it since it seems pretty cruel. But in all honesty, I knew that the sleep I wasn't getting, and the sleep TIM wasn't getting was not healthy for either of us. So a few days ago I decided to try it out....

Night One

In bed at 9:30. He started crying right away. I would go in every 3-5 minutes, pat his back and bum and reassure him, and walk out. He cried for about 30 minutes. At one point Brock could tell I was pretty frustrated so he went in to take a turn. I walked in to check on him and Brock had taken him out of the crib. That made me mad needless to say.... so I put him back in the crib. He cried some more and finally fell asleep. 45 minutes later, he was up again. He went back to sleep about 5 minutes later. So pretty much every 30-45 minutes he woke up and did the same routine until about 1:30 am. After that, he slept until 6:30! That's the most sleep I had gotten strait in NINE MONTHS! I fed him at 6:30 and he slept until 8:20 after that! So it wasn't too bad for a first night.

Night Two

In bed at 9:30. Cried for about 5 minutes then went to sleep on his own! Woke up about 1:30 for another five minutes. Then slept until 7:20!

Night Three

In bed at 9:30. Cried for maybe 30 seconds....slept until 8:30 am!! Yes - he slept ELEVEN HOURS STRAIT last night. I couldn't be more happy!!

He's in bed right now and went to bed just as easily as last night. I couldn't be more happy and I must say surprised that it went this fast and worked this well. Maybe it's time to start thinking about baby number two again.... haha So, I wanted to write this for anyone else struggling. It took me SO LONG to decide to do this, and now I'm kicking myself for waiting. Hopefully it lasts!

Happy Holidays from Us!

2010-12-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

The Stockings Were Hung

2010-12-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited about these stockings I made for my little family! I went back and forth about whether or not I was going to take the time to make them. After looking online for some, I decided I would go ahead and give it a try because all the ones I loved were around twenty bucks and I didn't want to have to buy 5 or 6 at that price so all my future kids can have matching ones, too. So, I decided to go with these fabrics because I can always find more fabric that matches the style. I love the way they turned out (even though there are lots of little mistakes!). I'm going to go get our names emroidered on them, too, so I can't wait to see the finished products. I'm also making a little board that will say "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care" and it will have little hooks for the stockings along the bottom. We don't have a fire place or any where to hang them, so hopefully it will turn out cute. The stockings don't match my Christmas decorations at all this year since our tree is decked out in bright blue, green, pink, purple, and silver though. It looks more like a New Years tree than a Christmas tree, but I wanted Tim to have lots to look at this year. Pictures to come of the tree soon....maybe.

Yee-Haw, Cowboy!

2010-12-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

A real cowboy gets back on his horse after falling off (or being bucked off in this case...)

We may be the worst parents in the world for laughing every time we watch this. I'm sure Tim will get a kick out of it in a few years, too. Love ya, buddy!

Miss Ila's Newborn Shoot

2010-11-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Brock has lots of nieces and nephews, but I was pretty excited for someone on my side of the family to have a little one since Tim was the first! Morgan had little Ila Fay on September 9. We took some newborn pictures of her about a week later when I went up to visit. We got some of the two cousins, too. Tim was more interested in eating Ila though. It was SO FUNNY! Anway, I absolutely love taking pictures of my family. I love photography, but it's so much different to take pictures of my own family. I try my hardest at every wedding or event I photograph, but I feel like it's all just practice for when I get to take my own family's pictures. I can't wait to photograph all the weddings of my siblings. The baby blessings, baptisms, school pictures - all of it. I love that I can do this for them!

Family Pictures & Tim's 6 Month Photos

2010-10-13T17:03:00.001-07:00

We went out today and finally did some family pictures. Tim is going to be SIX MONTHS (YIKES!) in a few days so I needed to do some shots of him, too. Unfortunately, he fell asleep on the way to the place (a five minute drive), and he wasn't too happy the whole time. He didn't cry, but he wouldn't smile. And he is always smiles, so that was frustrating. Now I understand why some of my clients get frustrated when their kid doesn't cooperate!

My photography friend, Chelsea, came and took our family pictures for us. It works out perfect because she just had a baby, too, so we were able to both show up and get family pics today! She takes mine and I take hers. Her baby was a little more cooperative cause he just slept :) Tim is definitely at the age where he grabs everything, so you'll notice I have a necklace is some pictures....but we had to get rid of it half way though. HA

Gramma's Love

2010-10-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Tim, Ila, and Grandma finally all got together this last week when we went to Rock Springs so I could do a couple photoshoots. It was so cute to see them all together. I love spending time with my sister and brother-in-law....and especially my new niece. Family really is everything!

The other pictures of Tim I took today while I was waiting on a family that was coming to get their pictures taken. Tim just looked too cute. He had a great hair day today since his mohawk is looking a little more even. I love him to death and can't even imagine my life without him now!

On a side note, Tim started eating baby food this last week. WIC gives us NINETY JARS of baby food a month....seriously? We appreciate it, but I don't see Tim eating that much any time soon. He LOVES his new foods though. He got SO excited today when I fed him peaches for the first time. He was opening his mouth so wide as soon as he wanted another bite and kicking his little feet frantically until I gave it to him. He's so much fun, and I look forward to all the new things we'll get to do with him!

Update

2010-09-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

I took Tim on a swing for the first time today. He did great, and absolutely LOVED it! I love all these "firsts" that I get to enjoy with him. The other day he FINALLY turned over for the first time! It was way easy for him, so he probably could have done it a lot earlier. What can I say....the kid has parents that hold him 24/7!

Taking Tim to work ;) I did a photo shoot today for a senior girl that I know. Tim loves being outside so I decided to take him along with. We had to wait for the girl to get to the park, so that's where this pic and the swing pics were taken. Can't you just see the "Mom! What the heck is that camera doing in my face again?" look? haha

Chillin at Auntie Mo's while I took little Ila Fay's pictures (coming soon!)

Now onto the not so fun category.....TEMPER TANTRUMS! Seriously?! This kid can YELL!

And he loves TV....thanks for passing that on mom and dad and grandpa Tim!

Timmy LOVES his baths! If he gets really worked up, sometimes we use the bath to settle him down. Something else we use to settle him?.... changing his diapers! He LOVES having his diaper changed. He will instantly stop crying and start smiling and laughing. So cute and SO NICE! I hope he always likes it cause it makes it real easy!

One last picture....gotta love those eyes!

Fun With Photoshop

2010-09-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

I'm only an artist if I have photoshop. I wish I could paint or do something else cool like that though! I love how his little hair sticks up in this :)

Tim's Celebrity Look-Alike

2010-09-14T11:26:00.001-07:00

My girls at work told me the other day that Tim looks like Jack-Jack from the Incredibles...

I couldn't agree more. haha

My New Favorite Church Outfit

2010-09-12T13:15:00.001-07:00

In my opinion, it's so much more hard to find cute clothes for little boys. It seems like any store I go into, there are five racks of little girl clothes for every one rack of little boys. But, since I like to shop, I have found the places I love for Tim's clothes. My number one pick.....EBAY!! Short second is Baby Gap. They actually aren't any more expensive than Carters and other brands if you buy on sale and I can tell they don't wear nearly has bad! That's where the little oxford he's wearing is from (bought on Ebay for like 3 bucks).

Both the sweater vest and khakis are from Crazy 8 which I like, too.

I'm big into him just dressing more classic and plain than him wearing things with characters and such on it. ANYWAY, I just had to post this picture because this is my new favorite church outfit for him. The little pants are still 0-3 months (but don't worry....I have them in 3-6 months, too, cause they were less than 5 bucks and I love them!) The shirt and vest are both 3-6 months, and this is the first time he's worn him. Yes, my almost 5 month old is JUST starting to wear his 3-6 month stuff. His doctor said it best when he said

"Two Chihuahuas don't make a great dane."

Sorry, Son, you're gonna be short!

ISN'T HE SO CUTE?!!

My cute boy

2010-09-09T21:39:00.001-07:00

Even though we have had quite the rough day between no sleep for momma since my newest niece arrived early this morning and a sick baby boy, I still can't help but feel like I have the cutest kid in the world. I love my little Timmy! This is him in one of the hats I made him when I was pregnant ;)

Go Tribe!

2010-09-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

Daddy thinks I'm gonna be a Braves fan - but no way!!

GO TRIBE!

Thank you Grandma Sherry for my favorite shirt ever!

Tim & his Grandpa

2010-08-13T22:42:00.001-07:00

Most of you already know that Tim is named after my dad who passed away almost ten years ago. I've been waiting to do these pictures for a while now because of all the meaning that is behind them. First, the baseball glove in the picture was my dad's glove. He actually bought it here in Logan at The Sportsman when he served his mission here! Anyway, some of my most special memories of my dad are of him and me playing catch in our front yard in Ohio. My dad and I would throw the ball for hours, and this is the glove he used when we played. It's very dear to me - my most treasured item to remember him by. This is also the glove that Brock put my engagement ring in for me to find. It's how he proposed after he fixed the lacing for me. So it's special to us in many ways! The pictures are taken on the same baseball field that Brock and I had some of our wedding pictures taken on, too. That's why I LOVE these pictures of our little boy - there's so much more meaning behind them than meets the eye!

The Sacred Grove

2010-07-21T00:09:00.001-07:00

I tried to capture the Spirit that can be felt in this sacred place in these photos. I loved wandering the path knowing that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were there in the flesh when Joseph Smith saw them in the First Vision. The only other place I have felt that same powerful spirit is the temple. I'm so glad I could take my little Tim there and experience it with him!

Ohio 2010

2010-07-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

I made my "annual" trip to Ohio a few weeks ago. I flew out with my preggo sister, Mo, her husband Chantz, and Tim. We met the rest of the family there except for my brother, Brenton and Brock. Both of them had to work :( Anyway, we had a GREAT time! We did a lot of fun stuff and got to spend a little time with family.

When we got there we spent some time with my best friend there, Lindsey. Then we went to my most favorite restaraunt with the BEST wings EVER, Romans in Madison. I even had my elementary school crush as my waiter there! haha After that, we enjoyed some East Coast custard in Mentor. It's a MUST every time I go home!

Once we got to my Aunt and Uncle's house, we had a great big Crocker family party. I was so excited to introduce Tim to his Great-Grandpa Tim and all of my uncles, aunts, and cousins. My aunt and uncle from Germany were there with their three girls, too, so I was most excited to meet my newest cousin, Sadie Blue, for the first time.

Because my sister is pregnant, she was able to watch Tim for my when the whole family went to Cedar Point. If you love roller coasters, this place is a MUST in your lifetime! They are always competing for the tallest roller coaster in the world, so TONS of their rides are absolutely AMAZING! One of my favorite rides was made right here in Logan at S&S. It's called the Sky Hawk and it's way fun. I wish they still had the demo around to ride here! I can't believe my step grandma and grandpa went on Millenium Force and the Dragster (1st and 3rd tallest rides in the world). They are SO FUN!! It was a great day, but both Tim and I were tuckered out by the end of it!

One of the reasons we went out there as a family was to go to the Hill Cummorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York together. It was really fun despite the long drive. I've been a lot of times, but it was a great experience to be in the Sacred Grove with my little Tim and to have that spiritual experience with him. I wish Brock could have been there with us!

My step-dad, Chris and Alice at the Sacred Grove

Tim's "Q.P." doll look

Tim's "Ohio" face - he wasn't happy in most of the pictures!

The whole family at the Sacred Grove (minus Brenton and Brock)

Me and my little man at the Sacred Grove

Little Tim in Gramma's arms

The WHOLE fam damily - except my brother and husband

All the grandkids and great grandkids - except my bro and husband again ;)

I love how happy my mom looks in this picture. And I love my grandpa and Uncle Brian. I wish I lived closer to them!

Momma's Boy?

2010-07-04T13:17:00.001-07:00

What do you think? I think he's a momma's boy! I couldn't find the picture that I think we look the most alike in, but I'm going on a hunt to find it!

Tim's Blessing and Other Cute Pics, Too!

2010-07-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

Little Timmy's Stats

2010-06-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

Little Tim had his two month check up about a week ago. I can't believe my baby will be 10 WEEKS tomorrow!! Time goes by way too fast, but I am enjoying almost every second. The wailing in the car...that's the few seconds (that seem like hours) that I just can't bring myself to enjoy!! Anyway, here are his stats:

- 10 pounds 9 ounces - 23 percentile
- 22 1/2 inches - 31 percentile
- his head circumference is in the 35 percentile

(I don't remember the exact measurement!)

He is starting to smile MUCH more, and is such a sweet baby. He knows his momma loves him and will pick him up at the slightest sound. I love cuddling with him after his morning feeding. He is so good in church - usually going the full three hours without eating! He knows I enjoy relief society too much so he lets me sit through it. He's outgrown some of his newborn clothes, although he can still fit into some of them. I love my little baby!

I'm really excited to go to his first baseball game with him and my family tomorrow. We're gonna go to a Salt Lake Bees game. I can't wait to take him to a real major league game someday though! Hopefully his Indians gear Sherry bought him will fit soon!

His bebe pod is still a little to BIG for my little guy!

I LOVE this little church outfit on him!! The shirt is "newborn" size and it's JUST now fitting him perfectly!

Emma's Prom

2010-05-29T18:32:00.001-07:00

I went down to Farmington to take Emma's prom pictures...and ended up taking pics of the whole group! It was so much fun, and Emma looked stunning! She went with her cute curly hair crush, Breman. They were adorable together, and from what I hear, they had a great time! I couldn't pass up getting a picture of Tim with his gorgeous Auntie Em and some with his Frampton cousins, too.

2 Weeks Pictures

2010-05-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from when Tim was around two weeks old....and I haven't taken any since!! I need to do way better, but here's a few of my favorites so far. I'll get around to posting the birth story....maybe!

Getting to Know Him

2010-04-27T18:00:00.001-07:00

We are having such a great time getting to know our new little son. He is so sweet and innocent, and I absolutely love him more than I ever thought possible! Here's a few things we've learned about him so far.

-Little Tim LOVES sucking on his fingers. I will swaddle him SO tight, and within 5 minutes, his little fingers are back at his mouth.

-He is a VERY good sleeper, but not such a great eater. Unfortunately I don't think you can have both of those at this stage in the game. We have been getting 6 hour stretches of sleep at night, and I try and make him eat at least every 3 1/2 hours although he doesn't eat as well. He eats best on demand, but sometimes that can be 5 hours between feedings!

-He LOVES having his hair washed while swaddled in a towel. He never looks more content than when we're washing his hair. It melts my heart!

-He likes to poop in his towel while having his hair washed ;)

We took him in to be weighed today and unfortunately he has only gained 1 oz since Friday (he's now 5 lbs 14 oz). The doctor is concerned and we have to figure out a way to make sure he's eating enough. He said I don't have to feed him every 3 hours since he doesn't eat well when I make him eat. I'm going to meet with a consultant tomorrow and see if I can't figure out some better feeding techniques. His jaundice levels have also been right on the border of needing the lights, and they haven't been going down. That can make him more tired which may contribute to why he doesn't eat very much. Because he's so small, he sleeps a lot, too. So right now it's a guessing game as to why he's not eating as much as he needs, and it's pretty frustrating not knowing which part to focus on! We have to go weigh him again on Thursday, so hopefully he gains some weight by then!!

Hospital & New Pictures!

2010-04-22T16:13:00.001-07:00

Timothy Willis Christensen

April 19, 2010

6 pounds 5 oz

19 inches

4:30 PM

Last picture of me pregnant!

April 22, 2010

Tim, Auntie Morgan, and Cousin Ila belly bump ;) I couldn't resist when I saw my sister's belly hanging out. I thought it was too cute!

Pictures!

2010-04-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

18 Days Early! Woo Hoo!!

2010-04-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

We're in the hospital! I'll post pictures and the story when there's more to tell!

Nursery Pictures and Pregnancy Update

2010-04-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

His nursery is finally done! I do still want to stain the changing table, but that's all that's left if I ever get around to it. I finished the bumpers and will NEVER tackle that project again, but it was fun to do it for our first little one. He's pretty much set with everything he needs, so now it's just a waiting game for him!

Just a little stuffed animal and comfort blankie I made for him out of scraps the other night

His crib and all his blankets ;)

His changing table - I still need to stain the dresser....eventually.....

I LOVE his name sign I got made for him! You can check out the store blog HERE

His crib with his bumpers FINALLY finished!

I had the clock made at On the Avenue, too. We saw one with this saying on it in the store probably two years ago, and even Brock wanted to buy it then because we loved the saying so much. We didn't buy that one, but we kept the saying in mind and had this one made to match his room. I absolutely LOVE it, too!

The little teddy bear's name is Odie, and he was Brock's friend growing up ;)

I bought the shelf from Hobby Lobby, spray painted it, put some scrapbook paper in it, and added the stars. I think it turned out pretty cute!

I went to the doctor yesterday (I start going weekly now), and she asked if I have a family history of c-sections. I told her no and she said I should start reading up on them ;( So pretty much, what she ended up telling us is that I am "small" and he may have a hard time fitting through so I should be prepared for a possible c-section. The crappy part is that she also said I have a lot of muscle around my tailbone, and that combined with being small will put a lot of pressure on my tailbone. That's where I have arthritis, so she's worried that it's weakened already so it may break during pushing. So my biggest fear is that I will push for two hours, break my tailbone, and then have a c-section anyway. Recovering from all that does NOT sound fun, so hopefully they are all just concerns that will never come up!! It definitely made me a little more apprehensive about labor and delivery, but I still can't wait for him to get here, no matter how that happens!

Maternity Pictures

2010-04-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for spring to get some maternity pictures done before the little guy arrives. My friend Chelsea took these for me since we do picture trades and she'll need some maternity shots at the end of the summer. It was fun to do them, and hopefully I'll enjoy looking back on them someday!

Questions about Newborn Procedures

2010-04-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know this is a VERY touchy subject, but I just wanted to get opinions from mothers on what they researched prior to their newborn receiving the Vitamin K shot and the Hep B vaccination. Here's a break down of what I've learned from my research.

Vitamin K Shot: Necessary to prevent hemorrhaging of the brain because babies are born with a vitamin K deficiency. Breast fed babies can receive enough Vitamin K from their mother's milk if they eat the colostrum at birth as well as continue to breast feed while the mother ensures she is eating a diet high in vitamin K for the first few weeks. The number one risk factor of this shot is significantly higher rates of childhood leukemia in children who receive it. The shot has much more than the daily recommended dose of Vitamin K. Here's one of the articles I read that doesn't seem to be to biased to either side (although it's hard to find articles that aren't biased one way or another!)

Vitamin K Shot

Hep B Vaccination at birth: Given to prevent Hep B in infants. Out of 100,000 people, 2.6 will have Hep B. These are people who are living lifestyles that are likely much different from our own. A child must have VERY close contact with one of these 2.6 people in order to possibly contract Hep B. According to the CDC, Hep B is spread by:

-sex partners of people infected with HBV,

- men who have sex with men,

- people who inject street drugs,

- people with more than one sex partner,

- people with chronic liver or kidney disease,

- people with jobs that expose them to human blood,

- household contacts of people infected with HBV,

- residents and staff in institutions for the

developmentally disabled,

- kidney dialysis patients

CDC Hep B Shot

Hep B Shot

What are your opinions? I am planning on waiting until our baby is 2 years old to vaccinate him. However, I am completely open to personal experiences, research, etc. It is VERY hard to find unbiased information from either spectrum so I'm always open to learning new things!! What I find the most interesting is the information given by the CDC... why aren't the same risk factors and facts given on their information sheet that are so easy to find elsewhere!?

I'M HUGE!!

2010-03-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of my sister and her husband the other day, and we got a few of me with my sister and some of just me to document my hugeness. I had no idea I was so big until I saw myself next to my sister (who is almost 4 months pregnant). I'm still going to get some professional pictures done here in the next few weeks, but here's a few of me at 34 weeks pregnant!

Thank you Auntie Morgan!

2010-03-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Auntie Morgan's gifts came in the mail today!! Can't wait to use them! I was registered for a Bumbo chair, but then we found out they've been recalled cause babies fall out of them all the time! So we found this chair instead and it has buckles. Yeah for safety! And I LOVE Baby Bijorns. I used one with the little boy I watched and you can barely even tell you're carrying a baby! I'm so glad I got to try things out before I had my own!

Thanks, Momo!!

Getting Ready for the Little Guy

2010-03-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

I'm about 6 1/2 weeks from my due date, and I'm getting SO ANXIOUS!! When I was making the pages for the baby book yesterday, I decided to take some pictures of the things we have ready in his room and the stuff I've made him. (Yes, some of it is from a previous post). It's starting to be feel so surreal - I'm going to be holding MY baby in just a few more weeks! It's so fun to get everything ready for him. To look at the little newborn diapers and his clothes and think that he's going to actually be wearing them. To sit in my WONDERFUL rocking chair from Grandma Steff and Grandpa Chris and to think that I will be spending hours rocking MY SON in it. I can't wait to hold him, to take care of him, and to love him! I know these are pictures of just "things," and "things" don't matter in the long run, but to me these "things" represent this whole new blessing in my life. So I want to remember them!

Top left: Blankets I've sewn for him

Top right: My favorite little hat for him! I'm still an Indians fan, but I'm excited to see him with his daddy, hopefully sharing the same loves and passions!

Bottom left: His little newborn diapers!

Bottom right: The blanket I crocheted for him. He's the only child that will get one of those...haha

Top left: I may have gone a little crazy buying him clothes. And the sad part is that's only showing his newborn and 0-3 months clothes....and part of the closet is cut off....

Top right: I LOVE Bordeaux Butt Paste! We used it after every diaper change for the little boy I used to nanny. It's super easy to clean, smells good, and prevents rashes!

Bottom left: One of the bumper pads....we're still working on the rest....

Bottom right: I've gone a little burp cloth crazy...

Top left: The AMAZING glider and ottoman my mom and step-dad gave to us

Top right: My friend gave me her boppy pillow, so I made two covers for it

Bottom left: Pee-Pee Tee-Pees

Bottom right: Just a few books we have to read to him. I really look forward to that time at night!

Baby Book Pages

2010-03-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of making my "baby journal" scrapbook pages. I'm not the most creative person, but I wanted to keep all my ultra sound pictures and journal entries in one place. Here's a few pages so far!

Our Baby Story

2010-02-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

I'm 30 weeks along in my pregnancy today, so I only have 10 more weeks to go! I can't believe how fast my pregnancy is going, but some days I just want to hold my little one right now. I just wanted to blog about our "journey" to getting pregnant with our little boy because it truly reminds me that Heavenly Father has His own plan for each of us, regardless of the plan we have for ourselves!

Everyone that knows me knows that I have wanted a baby for a LONG time. I always had the feeling that getting pregnant would be hard for us, and adoption always felt like the way that I would get my babies here to earth. A few months after Brock and I were married, I stopped taking my birth control because I was ready to start our family (at least I thought I was). Brock wasn't so sure about the idea, but he went along with it because we figured it would take a while to get pregnant anyway. In some of my Family & Human Development classes, I learned that it can even take a woman with regular cycles quite a while to get pregnant, so we figured that with my very irregular cycles, it would take us a even longer. Well, we were right. We didn't get pregnant for a few months, so I decided to consult my doctor.

My first doctor put me right on Clomid - the cookie cutter fertility drug that pretty much every woman with fertility problems takes. I had to do an HSG test to make sure my tubes didn't have blockages, but everything looked good there so we were hopeful that the Clomid would make me ovulate. I was on and off it for a while since Brock and I would talk about whether the timing was right before I started a new cycle. The doctor really wasn't following up with anything, so luckily she moved. I found a new doctor, but she kept me on the same drug. She started doing monthly follicle checks after my 6th round, but they were all discouraging. It didn't look like the clomid was making me ovulate. She still had me keep taking it (which I didn't really want to since it can cause cysts if taken too long). I kept at it though because it felt like the only thing I could do. It was so discouraging because EVERY month I had to take pregnancy tests when I wouldn't start (even though that was normal), and EVERY pregnancy test was discouraging. I started with a bag of 25 test strips, and had used 21 of them while taking Clomid. That's 21 times I went through having hope and anticipation of something good, only to be very discouraged and angry every time the test turned up negative. Sometimes I would cry, other times I would be angry. Sometimes I felt totally hopeless and didn't want to keep trying. I had gone to school and graduated in the "mom" degree, and couldn't get the ONLY job I ever wanted. My life seemed pointless. We are taught in the gospel to grow up, get married in the temple, and have a family. I felt like everything else was pointless - going to work, doing things around the house - nothing was as important as having a child and I couldn't do it.

We finally decided that the clomid wasn't working and that it wasn't worth the health risks anymore. I quit taking it in August. Brock and I started discussing our options since we knew that fertility treatments are expensive and don't "guarantee" a baby at the end. We called LDS adoption agency to see how the adoption process worked and got some encouraging information. We talked about it and figured we could save up for adoption for now and try fertility treatments later when we could afford it. We were getting ready for vacation to Hawaii, and said we would start the process after we got back.

I had my friend take our "family pictures" for us because the adoption agency told us that pictures are REALLY important in a profile to grab a birth mom's attention. I was so excited to be "taking control" of something, since everything else was in Heavenly Father's hands. I got the pictures, edited them, and printed a bunch off.

The NEXT day, after having some tenderness and pain in my chest for a few weeks, I took a pregnancy test on a whim. I was prepared for the usual disappointment, but I had the tests laying around and I always took them when I didn't have a cycle for a while. This time though, it was different. Instead of the dreaded one line, I saw two! I couldn't believe it and immediately started crying. I figured the test was just faulty because it had been sitting in the package for a while. I was so happy though, because deep down I knew that pregnancy tests are actually VERY accurate. I went into my room and knelt down and asked Heavenly Father to let it be real - to let me have this child that I wanted so bad for so long! It had been two years since I quit taking birth control! I cried for a while longer, but made myself stop because I didn't want to get too excited. Brock was working until 11 pm, and I took the test around 7! I had to wait the rest of the night for him to come home. I was so happy when he walked through the door (I had taken another test by then that was positive, too). I walked up to him, started crying, and told him that I thought he was going to be a daddy. He put his arm around me, tapped me on my back, and said "That's neat." haha I still get a kick out of that. We decided to run to Walmart and get a more expensive test that had digital results. Sure enough, both the test that night and the next morning were both positive. I can't say Brock was thrilled, but I think it was more the shock of the fact that I was actually FINALLY pregnant that was showing through.

For the first few weeks of my pregnancy, I was so worried that I would miscarry. I couldn't believe that I was actually going to be given this little blessing. But once I made it to 12 weeks, I felt safe. In reality, the whole time, I felt a comfort that I would keep this baby and I wouldn't miscarry. I just couldn't believe it.

Looking back on this experience now, I understand that Heavenly Father had a MUCH better plan for Brock, the baby, and me than I had for myself. Brock and I had gone through a lot in our marriage up to the point when we got pregnant. We were both in school, working, participating in activities, etc (the normal stuff). We could have done it, but then I look at the time when Brock was in the hospital having brain surgeries. I NEVER could have been there for him like I needed to be if we had a baby, or even if I was pregnant (the fold out cot would not work for a pregnant woman!) We had really bumpy times in our marriage that wouldn't have been good for the baby, and we weren't really stable in our home life. We moved four times and never really had a "plan." Right before getting pregnant, we moved into the basement apartment we are in now, and it's where we've planned to stay until he graduates. It doesn't have cinder block walls like our Aggie Village apartment, and it feels MUCH more like a home than any other place we have lived. I feel like we've made a more stable living environment - one a baby can live and thrive in. Our marriage is much better, we have a home, and we are ready for this little guy.

I am very grateful for our little Tim, and cannot wait for these next 10 weeks to go by! We are very blessed, and even though I know I was very patient through this process, it has been very worth the ups and downs (mostly downs) to get him here.