Couldn't think of a title...

This is a posts that I feel like I need to write, whether its for myself or someone else. Its one of those posts you don't ever imagine yourself writing and there's really no way to go about it, so I'm just going to do it.

Some of you may already be aware, most of you probably have no idea. In the past couple of months Wayne and I have found out that our pregnancy and baby are not exactly what we expected. We are both doing really well, but of course there are some hard things that we have to deal with. Our little girl, Kaelyn Ruth, has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Along with that she has a pretty serious heart defect that will require surgery when she is around 4-6 months old. She's also really small, we've been told that is typical with babies with Down Syndrome and we've also been told its not...I liked the answer that it was typical, so I'm going with that. We're really excited to get our little girl here, but the medical complications she may or may not have are the scariest part. We've felt so much strength and comfort through the prayers of our loved ones. My testimony has grown so much during this time. I know my Heavenly Father loves his children so much and that he is always with us. I'm grateful for this time that we have to prepare for Kaelyn to get here, I know it will help us get through the tough times.

I'm grateful for the support we have around us. One of the biggest realization that I'm come to in the past few months is that people everywhere are going through some really hard things. Whether they are medical issues, addictions, loss of loved ones, or something else...its all hard. I just wish I would have been more aware of people's sufferings and helped them more. When life seems to be going just as planned, that's an easy thing to forget. I don't ever want to forget, I want to remember so that I can try to support those around me when they are suffering, just like I've been supported so many times. Another thing I've realized is that we can't take anything for granted, especially healthy children. My eyes have been opened to all the children out there that have medical issues, I was just so blind to it before. I wish I would have said more prayers for those children and their families. If I could give anyone any advice, it would be to treasure the health of your children and the health of your family members. It is so fragile.

Thank You UNC!

Since North Carolina advanced to the championship game, I WIN THE BRACKET AT WORK! Who hoo! Now I get to decide where I want to get my $25 gift card from? I love gift cards, there is nothing like guilt free shopping!

People keep telling me that I don't LOOK pregnant...

well I'm afraid that is all about to change after what I found at Harmon's last night. (At least its light, or so they claim. Personally I think it tastes way too good to be light.)



Its like a grasshopper shake (One of my two favorite flavors...other is oreo banana), but like 100 times better because its hard ice cream with big ole soft-ish chunks of oreos. Yes this is the most delicious ice cream I have ever had, I raved about it sometime last year and have been looking for it every time I go to the grocery store. I was so happy last night, I bought the only two cartons they had and am going back today to see if they have more. Yes, I have already eaten one of them, in less than 24 hours. Told you I could do it.

It's no longer an it's...

Did I Mention....

We are buying our first home!!!! I'm so excited, you have no idea...or maybe you do. I have been researching buying a condo/home for the past two years, and I can't believe we are finally in a position to be able to do it. It was well worth the wait because its such a great time to buy, we were able to find a beautiful home in Daybreak (South Jordan), for much less than it would have been if the market were up. We are buying it from the bank as a short sale, which means it was foreclosed on and they are selling it for less than was owed on it, so we're walking into instant equity. It has been a little longer process than normal because we are getting it from a bank, but it looks like it will be definitely worth it. Its 3,250 square feet, which is HUGE for our first home. Especially compared to the 425 square foot apartment we spent the first two and a half years of marriage in at the University Village. It has a full unfinished basement that we can finish up one day when we need it, but for now we will be just fine using it as storage. Its three bedrooms, 2 bath with a big bonus room over the garage. We don't know what were going to do with the bonus room other than put our big ol' love sac in there! We had an inspector check it out and he was EXTREMELY positive about it. He said he on a scale of 1-10 he would give it a 9.8 and the minor flaws he found are things we can fix for almost no cost. The plan is to close on March 11th, so we should be able to move in that weekend. Wayne hates packing, which is just fine because I'm so pumped I don't mind packing everything, just as long as he will haul it all.

I am so excited to live in Daybreak too! I've had my eye on this development for a couple of years. It reminds me a lot of the neighborhoods back in Virginia that I absolutely love. I just love all the fun looking houses, parks, sand volleyball courts, basketball courts, pools, tennis courts, lake, schools, and of course the new TEMPLE. Its just down the street! I also like the idea of not having a huge yard to care for. I grew up taking care of my parents GINORMOUS yard and planters and garden, and I swore I would never have one of those beasts. The only downside is that we don't have room for a tramp, that has always been a dream of mine! If you want to find out more about Daybreak, check out their website - www.daybreakutah.com

Here are some pictures of the house now, decorating
it will be fun but I'll need lots of help :)

I've been glued to HGTV whenever I'm home alone.
(Wayne doesn't appreciate it as much as I do.)

Living Room

(I love that there is tile that runs from the front door to the kitchen so the carpet won't gets all roughed up.)

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Bedroom #2

(This will be baby's bedroom, its right next to the Master Bedroom)

Bedroom #3

500 Sqft Bonus Room

Dear Lexa

The other day I randomly came across a girls blog that I know through other friends, but I've never actually met her. I read something on one of her posts that made me feel kind of bad that she felt that way, and I've been thinking about it all week and what I would say to her if she were a close friend. I was bored today so I typed it up and now I'm going to share it with you. Not really sure why, but I've already typed it so why not ehh. Its really long, so unless you've got a lot of time you might not want to read it. Let me know what you think and what your thoughts are on the subject please. Thanks.

Oh yea, her name isn't really Lexa.

Dear Lexa,

I read the entry on your blog where you talked about wanting to get a nose job, and that you felt like you needed to do it in order to learn to really love yourself, because liking the way you look is a crucial part of loving yourself. I just had a few thoughts about that I wanted to share with you. First off, I think you are a beautiful person; I am solely speaking about your physical appearance, because I don’t know any more than that. In my mind I don’t see why you feel like you need to change your appearance. Now don’t get me wrong, I like you have things about my own appearance that I have either wanted to change or want to change now. That is something that pretty much every woman deals with, even the most beautiful, gorgeous person you can think of, still has those same issues. In the past few years of my life I’ve come to realize a few things and those are what I want to share with you. You mentioned the saying that is quoted quite often, “In order to love someone else, you must first love yourself”. I kind of agree with that saying, but I think it is more like, “In order to love someone else, and let them love you, you must not HATE yourself”. At least for me, that is something I had to do before I would believe that I was worth loving. Luckily this change in my life happened right before I met my husband. Okay, I know it wasn’t luck. I have never felt Heavenly Father’s hand in my life as much as I did during that time in my life, when I met Wayne and during our courtship.

Any way, about the nose job, I just don’t think that it will change your life, or the way you feel about yourself as much as you think it will. Truly loving yourself means accepting yourself for who you are, and who you can become. Knowing that you are a daughter of God that loves you more than you will ever know. He made you the way you are for a purpose and a reason. In his eyes you are beautiful, and there isn’t anything about your physical appearance that you could change that would make him love you more, because he already loves you as much as he can, and that is so much more than we can even comprehend. Those around you that love you, friends and family, they don’t love you because of the way you look. They love you for so much more than that. Think about all those you love, why do you love them? Is it because they are supermodels or have been voted the most gorgeous person in the world? I don’t think so; it’s because they know you and are there for you and would do anything for you. If you only “love” someone for their appearance, then that is NOT love. It’s nothing close to love, its selfishness and it won’t last. I have learned this concept so much more since I’ve been married. The more I get to know and love my husband, the more I am attracted to him physically. He is such a selfless, patient, fun person. His inner qualities mixed with the experiences we have together make him more physically attractive to me. He is a beautiful person on the inside and that radiates through and appears on the outside. It makes me want to be a better person, a better wife.

I also know a girl that I met in college that seriously is the nicest, most Christlike person I’ve ever met. When I look at her in person and in pictures I can see that inner beauty shine through her outward appearance. She is so beautiful, seriously in my eyes is the most beautiful person I know. I’m sure if someone that was wrapped up in worldly things compared a picture of her to a beautiful actress they would think the actress was more beautiful, because they are only looking on the outside. That’s the thing about the world…They are wrong. Their idea of what is beautiful and what is important is WRONG! It doesn’t matter what we do to change ourselves, to try and fit into what they world sees as valuable, we will never be good enough. They are looking for flaws, looking for reasons to hate you. That’s why it’s so important that we don’t let the world tell us what is beautiful, or what’s important, because they honestly don’t know. I mean that with my whole soul, they have no idea what beauty is.

When I think of beauty, I think of the Savior and the scripture Isaiah 53:2 “For he shall grow up before him as a tender ^aplant, and as a ^broot out of a ^cdry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no ^dbeauty that we should desire him.” There is not beauty that we could desire of him, nothing that could be changed because he is perfect, and through him we can be perfect to, and that is real beauty, being like our Savior, not looking like a Supermodel. I am so grateful for the gospel, and the knowledge that I have of a Heavenly Father and an Elder Brother Jesus Christ that love me for who I am, and for who they know I can one day be. What a blessing that has been in my life. It is something that I have to be continually reminded of, because the world and Satan, who is the leader of the world on their ideas, are always telling us different. That we’re not good enough and that we will never be good enough. But they are wrong, and I’m so glad I know that.

LIL' UTES

On Saturday Wayne and I, Rick and his two boys Jackson and Carson went to the University of Utah vs New Mexico basketball game. It was a pretty exciting game and we ended up winning by one point. I had to post this video of my nephew Carson, he is not quite one and a half. I laughed so hard while he was doing this, because usually out in crowds he's pretty shy. Its funny because we went to the Utah/BYU game on Tuesday and he just sat quietly in his chair watching the game very intently. Then for the first half of the game on Saturday he sat on my lap doing the same thing. Then he and his bro went and sat in the seats in front of us and he just busted out of his shell and started really getting into it!


My favorite part is when the crowd spells out U-T-A-H and he throws his right arm up at the perfect times.

They both cheered so hard, they didn't even get to see the outcome of the game. This is what they looked like when the 4th quarter rolled around.


My family really knows how to train these little fans, on both sides of the coin. If you try to get my niece say, "GO UTES", she screams (and I mean SCREAMS) "GO COUGARS!!!".