Where does the time go?

Six months ago, Steven and I were sitting in a hospital, holding our longed for baby. Looking down at his sweet face, and wondering how we got lucky enough to have such a perfect little boy.

For nine months we pictured who he was going to look like, what kind of a personality he would have and what it would be like to be parents. He was finally in our arms, and we had no idea how it would change our lives forever.

Taking Andrew home for the first time was such a surreal feeling. We had spent so much time preparing his nursery. From setting up the crib, picking out bedding, painting the dresser, finding a cozy rocking chair, and hanging letters on the wall. The once empty nursery was now filled with a sweet little baby, and our once empty hearts were now filled with something we never thought was missing.

Raising a child isn't easy. It takes a lot of getting used to...like, taking 3 minute showers, while peeking your head out every 20 seconds to make sure he is "still OK". Laying awake at night, even though you are extremely exhausted, just because you want to make sure he is "still breathing", and you also love to watch him sleep. Forgetting to feed yourself because you are so preoccupied with all of his needs. Selflessly giving up all of the things you once took for granted to spend every second you can with him.

These past 6 months have honestly been the best of my life. Andrew brings such a sweet spirit into our home, and I honestly cannot imagine my life without him. I never knew I could love a little person as much as I do him, in such a short amount of time. Being Andrews mommy is the BEST thing in the entire world.

As for Andrews 6 month stats:

Height 26 inches (45th percentile)

Weight 21lbs 14oz (95th percentile)

He is one chubby little guy!!!!! We sure love him.

Cute little monkey!

Bahamas 2011

The past couple of weeks have been very eventful! My parents were so generous, and took our family on a cruise to the Bahamas!!!

A few days before we took off on our cruise, our little family journeyed up to snowy Logan, to spend a few days with my family. We had such a great time, and it was so good to see everyone. While in Logan, we decided to go shoot some guns at the gun range. Our exchange student, Eileen had never even held a gun, so we all had a good time watching her shoot for the first time.

After spending a few days in Logan, it was time for some nice weather! Because Andrew was not 6 months old, he wasn't allowed to even come on the cruise with us, so we had to leave him with Stevens parents. Leaving Andrew was seriously one of the HARDEST things I have ever done. I bawled, and bawled, and bawled! But it really was so nice to get away, and have some time with just Steven.

Our cruise was 5 days long. In a way, I couldn't wait for it to end, just so I could get home to my baby, and I also didn't want it to end, because who doesn't love laying on the beach all day, without a care in the world?

We were able to stop at 3 awesome places! The first island we stopped at was called Grand Turk. This place was absolutely beautiful, and had some of the most amazing pina coladas! While sitting on the beach, Steven managed to crack open a coconut. I was so excited to try some of the juice, but it was so gross! Grand Turk also had an amazing swimming pool, with a really fun poolside bar. We had a blast!

Our second stop was to a private island owned by Carnival Cruise lines called Half Moon Cay. This place was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. The water was SO blue, and clear! We did some snorkeling, had burgers for lunch, played volleyball and had some really yummy Miami Vices (virgin, of course!).

Our final stop was to a place called Nassau. Nassau is the capitol of the Bahamas, and is also known for the famous water park called Atlantis. We were told that because it was spring break, there would be no way that we could get into the park, because it was going to be so full. We thought it was definitely worth a try, so we immediately took a taxi and went straight to Atlantis, and luckily, got in! It was AWESOME! It has some of the scariest water slides, ever! One of my favorite slides actually takes you through an aquarium of sharks while going down the slide. Atlantis also has such a fun lazy river. It lasted about 20 minutes, and instead of just being "lazy" the whole time, the river had huge waves and got a bit treturous in a few places. You know its fun when my dad can sit through it. :) While at Atlantis we also saw a celebrity, "Pauly D", and my sister and I got a picture with him! We had so much fun, and were so happy we were able to get in to the water park. I highly recommend it!!!

Once our cruise had come to an end, it was time to pick up our little guy! Words can't describe how excited I was to see him. I had really missed being a mommy, and being with him all day, every day. Although we had such an awesome time, I don't think ill be leaving Andrew again any time soon. Who wouldn't want to come home to this little guy?!

a quick update!

St. George has stolen my heart. Despite being homesick, and all the old, annoying people here, I think we really want to stay. (I may be thinking differently this summer when it is bloody hot outside.) But for now, we are loving it. We have only met a couple of our neighbors, only because a lot of the residents here, don't live here year round.

Our ward is absolutely huge. We are liking it, but not as much as our old ward. In our old ward, everyone had little kids, and we had so many friends. Not so much in this one...people are either in their 30-40's or 80's.. so we may struggle to find some friends at church! Oh... and the Relief Society president reminds me of Kate Gosselin...

As for Steven's job hunt...GREAT NEWS! He got a job with JP Morgan Chase bank. We were so worried that he was going to get this job, and not be able to go on our cruise coming up in the next couple of weeks, but his start date at the bank is TWO days after we get home from our cruise. Phew! Steven will be working at the bank, and also at a restaurant called Anasazi Steakhouse. He is so relieved to have finally found a good job, that will give him some needed experience.

Andrew is getting so big! I cannot believe he is almost 6 months. It is absolutely insane how fast they grow up. Andrew laughs at EVERYTHING Steven does. It is so funny! I can get him to laugh, but not nearly as much as his daddy. He already loves to "rough house" with Steven, but when it comes to cuddling he needs his mommy :) Just how I like it! Andrew has also gotten so good at rolling over. He can also scoot himself, when he wants a toy, or his binki. Andrews all time favorite thing to do it to jump in his bouncy chair, while watching Nick Jr.! It is so nice, because I can get so many things done!! That may sound like bad parenting...but he LOVES it!

As for me..Im just busy being a mommy! I really do love staying home with my little guy, and taking care of him. Although while I am not too busy, I am looking in to going back to school to pursue a nursing degree. I know it is going to be hard, and probably kick my butt, but I do feel it very necessary to obtain a degree, and also to have that knowledge. So wish me luck!

Life is going great right now, and we couldn't ask for anything more.. other than to see family a bit more than we do down here... COME VISIT!

An {early} Easter Message

I know Easter is not for a few more weeks, but I came across this video, and absolutely loved it. Not only do I believe every single word our past prophet speaks of, but it brought tears to my eyes to hear Gordon B. Hinckley's voice again. He is a very missed man.

I have to admit, being a first time mom, I am SO excited to be the "Easter bunny". I know Andrew won't understand what the "Easter bunny" is for a couple of years, but I am so excited to fill his little basket full of candies and toys. Although Easter does have the BEST candy of the year, I do feel that sometimes I neglect the most important thing about Easter...that is, Christ.

Easter is a time to reflect upon the Savior, and what he did for us. He died for us, so that we can be forgiven of all our sins, and live with our Heavenly Father once again. I know, from personal experience that the Atonement is real. I know that if we obey His commandments, we will be resurrected, and have eternal life.

I hope you enjoy this message as much as I did!

Home sweet home...for now

Front of the home

First off, what on earth would we do without mom's?! My parents came down to St. George a couple of days before we did, to bring all of our belongings in their trailer for us, (that way we didn't have to rent a U-haul). After a couple of days, my dad went home, but my mom stayed, so that she was here when Steven and I got here.

When we arrived, we had found that my mom had unpacked ALL of our stuff for us. Folded all of our clothes and put them away, put the crib together, and organized the entire kitchen! We felt like we had both moved home again! It made us realize how much we miss having our moms around to take care of us! It was so nice of my mom to do all of that for us, and it will definitely have been the most stress-free move we will ever have. I have the best mom, in the world!

We are loving it down here. We went from 2-feet of snow, in Logan, to 60° weather in St. George. Yesterday, my mom and I took Andrew for a walk in his stroller, and he loved it!!! I had a swaddling blanket hanging over the stroller, so that he wouldn't get sun burned.. After a while of being covered, he got a bit angry, because he wanted to see where we were goin'! [He is definitely developing a bit of an attitude].

We are loving it here!!! Thanks mom and dad for EVERYTHING!

Bye, bye Logan....Hello St. George

[The past couple of weeks have been...hectic, to say the least.]

Steven graduated about 2 months ago, and has seriously had no luck with finding a job in Logan. He has looked every where, and has found nothing. We knew the economy was bad, but not this bad.. NO ONE IS HIRING!!!!

So a while back, my parents mentioned the idea of us moving into their home down in St. George, to see if he would have any luck down there, job wise. (I think my mom just wanted an excuse to come to St. George more often!!) Any way... we thought about it for a while, and thought there was no way we could leave Logan. My family is in Logan, we love our little house, we love our ward, and we really didn't want to even think about moving, especially with a baby.

After having no luck finding a job in Logan, we seriously started thinking about the move to St. George. Within about 2 weeks, we had come to the conclusion that we had absolutely nothing to lose by moving. Yes, I am going to be VERY homesick, and probably call home crying every day, but we feel like it is the right thing to do right now. Within about 5 days we have gotten our entire house packed up, and off to St. George. We will be outta here Monday! It is so not like us to just fly by the seat of our pants, and MOVE within 2 weeks, but we have prayed hard about it, and feel really good about going.

Steven has a couple of jobs that he has really looked in to, and when we arrive in St. George, he is going to go in for some interviews. So cross your fingers for us, and pray that he finds a good job down here.! Also, while all of you are freezing your butts off in L-town, ill be sure to definitely soak up some sun!!!!!!

(My mom warned me about our future ward...apparently there are so many old people that live around us... one Sunday, she said a few little old men were in "jazzy chairs", and using walkers to pass the sacrament!!! Ha Ha. We're going to be living by some real party animals!!!)

WISH US LUCK!