mother's day

mother's day was beautiful. we had a delicious breakfast with tyler's parents and then headed to church. afterwards we headed down to laguna beach and visited shaw's cove. it was SO nice. i     wanted to jump in the water SO bad. it was nice to spend time together and enjoy the beautiful california weather. i am so grateful for the mother's in my life. i have many women who have influenced me for good and i am blessed to have them guiding and supporting me through my life. 

i also thought a lot about my new role as a mother. soon i will take on this new challenge of mothering a precious little boy. words can't really describe how blessed i feel that Heavenly Father has entrusted tyler and i with this little soul. i can't wait to meet him!

 

 

happy memorial day!

memorial day was so much fun! we slept in, went to lunch at cafe rio and headed down to balboa island. we decided to park on the island and take the ferry over to the fun zone for balboa bars and walk on the pier. it was the perfect day. the weather was amazing and the company was excellent. it was so nice having time alone with tyler. lately life has just been so busy with work, school, coaching and getting ready for the baby... i wanted tyler all to myself and that's what i got. i loved every single minute.
while we were together i realized, this could be the last date we have before the baby comes. i really have been spoiled having tyler all to myself for the past six and a half years. sometimes i worry what baby boy will do to our relationship. not that i feel like i'll love tyler any less, just that i'll pay attention to the baby more than i should. but i am determined to learn to balance in my new role as mother so that no one feels unloved. i'm sure it will be hard at times, but i don't ever want to get tired of being with my husband. i love him far too much!
i rounded out the day with swimming at my sister's pool, pizza and five crowns while tyler was at practice. everyday could be THE day so for now, i am just soaking up the freedom, the sleep and the sunshine before baby arrives!

10 days

my due date is ten days away. ten days. i have no idea when or if i will go into labor. when or if my water will break. for now, we wait. wait for the arrival of our son. the fear of the unknown is lingering, but there is also a strong excitement lingering as well. at any moment we could be off to the hospital. off to endure whatever necessary to bring my baby boy into the world. it's so crazy to me how fast this has gone by. for 9 months we've measured our lives in terms of my pregnancy, with nothing planned past june 5th. it seems strange that it is already so close to being over! soon i will no longer feel his hiccups inside of my belly, i'll hear them as i hold him in my arms. i won't feel him suddenly move to one side of my stomach as he stretches, i'll be able to hold him, watch him, kiss him, smell him. i am thrilled. thrilled to look into the eyes of my son and see him look back at me. mine forever and ever.

happy birthday mom!

we celebrated mother's day and my mom's birthday a week late so we could all be together. it was a really nice day. delicious dinner, gifts and spending time together as a family. brylee was especially cute as always & mom got spoiled!

35 week ultrasound

our 35 week ultrasound revealed that baby boy is weighing in at 7 pounds, with a head diameter of 9.5 centimeters and 81st percentile for growth. pretty big baby if all of that information is accurate. when i was born i weighed 10 lbs 6 oz and my mom's smallest baby was 8 something. tyler was over 9 pounds and his moms smallest baby was 8 something. i never figured it was in the cards for us to have a small child, but the reality of pushing out a 9 pound baby is closing in. and let me tell you, it is a little intimidating!

this ultrasound was something special though. now, he looks like a little person in there. the technician showed us that he has a lot of hair, which i love. she confirmed that he is in fact a he. and we got to look right at him. he is head down now, so a profile shot was hard to get, but he was facing my left hip and it was like he knew he was looking right at the camera! we saw him blink his little eyes and open his mouth and stick his tongue out. i was totally crying. that is my baby in there! he is already so so so precious and i cannot wait to kiss and snuggle him!

like i've said before, i am kind of sad that it's almost over. the ability to feel my baby move inside of me and take him with me everywhere i go is such an indescribable miracle. on may 31st it will be a year since my miscarriage. if you had told me on that sad day, that a year from now i would be so close to having a baby, i might not have believed you. i feel so blessed to have life growing inside of me, the ability to do so and i know it is a blessing straight from heaven.

now, i am at 37 weeks and the next few weeks are a waiting game. i'm like a ticking time bomb, no one knows when i'll blow! i have appointments every week and one final ultrasound scheduled for may 28th to check on baby's size. so many people have had their babies early as of late so i am trying to get everything ready just in case he decides to show up early. if he really is as big as they think he is, i wonder if he'll break my water. but really, who knows?! i just have to be ready. for now i try to be productive everyday, get prepared so i don't freak out and enjoy my freedom with tyler.

soon, the day will come for us to meet our son. i cannot tell you how thrilled we are. i have this image in my mind of tyler standing next to me, holding our son. i cannot wait for it to be real.

baby's profile

his cute chubby little hand

if you tilt your head to the side, you can see him looking at you!

another baby shower

oh my goodness. it's hard to say just how happy i am about this day. it was so wonderful to have the support and love from so many amazing people. it poured rain the night before so we were a little worried about the outdoor setting, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day, it was just perfect. everything came together just in time and SO many people came. i was on cloud nine.

we got spoiled with tons of amazing gifts from our dear friends and family, the food was delish and the desserts got gobbled up. my sister, who runs her own little business, sift it sweets, did an outstanding job on the desserts! everything was super yummy, plus the colors all turned out perfectly. somehow everything just coordinated without clashing, which i was hoping for!

my family did such an amazing job helping with the shower. setting up, making food, cleaning, decorating, you name it, they did it. i SO appreciate everyone who helped to make it such a memorable day for me. i will remember this day forever!

some fun highlights: my big sister kimberly keeping me hydrated during the opening of gifts & seeing friends come from far distances, just for me. my wonderful friend tess came all the way from vegas to come to my shower. she was my best friend, more like sister, during my time there and i COULD NOT have survived without her. we spent so much time together and she was seriously the best friend to me. i will always love and appreciate her for loving me during one of the hardest parts of my life. when she walked up to me i was completely stunned and just hugged her until i could stop crying. i feel so blessed to have such beautiful people who love me. she is truly an angel in my life and once again, her love and kindness have just blown me away! love you tess!

i just want to say thank you to everyone who came and showed their love and support for us. we feel so incredibly blessed to have a baby boy coming to our family and that he will be loved by so many people! we know that he will be well taken care of because of your generosity and love!

kaitlin, ashli & mary

SO much love!

kimmy keeping me hydrated

brylee, my little present opener

rachel, who is expecting a baby girl in october and my dear tess. some of the best girls around! 

jessica, my best friend since junior high

amanda, who is expecting a baby girl two weeks after i'm due!

angelynn and ben, friends we know through tyler's missionary service

mariah, baby bennett and kazia

my girls, the cousins. LOVE them to pieces!

shira and i comparing bellies, her boy is due a month after mine. 

the singley family! love them!

the host, my wonderful mother in law, cindy

my mom! 

grandma beth, mom & cindy

gma, big sister kimberly, mom and little sister danielle. love these ladies so much. 

oh and my favorite baby girl, miss brylee!