Madelyn at 6 Weeks

She's Here...Welcome Baby Madelyn!!

Hey Everyone!!

Where do I even start? I was so looking forward to spending a bit of time last Sunday morning (June 29th) updating you on all the baby events, but when I woke up at 6:00 am, I noticed a little something that landed Spence and me at American Fork hospital. Yep, you guessed it, my water had broken. I looked at Spence and said, "I guess Madelyn is coming today." (By the way, this has the potential to be an incredibly long post. Please feel free to start skimming at any time.)

The morning of June 29th

Since I wasn't having any labor pain we both took a minute to shower and get ready before we grabbed the hospital bag and headed to have Madelyn. We arrived at the labor and delivery center at 8:00 am and by then I was having some contractions. They got us into a room, hooked me up to all the necessaries, and away we went. I had an epidural at about 9:00 am and delivered Madelyn at 2:02 pm. I was seriously overwhelmed with gratitude for that epidural. Modern medicine is absolutely amazing and wonderful.





Ok, so now for the fun part. Spence and I are parents!!! I am a mom!!! I am going to take care of my little baby tomorrow and the next day and the next and the... I am so excited! It was fun to hold Madelyn when she first came out, but the best was the first night in the hospital. They brought her to me to be fed (she nurses like a champ) and I was just so happy to hold her. So, I held her for a couple of hours while she and I slept. I just loved it.

Well, I haven't found the time to post all of the things that I want to, but I better get these pictures up before another week goes by.

Hi Guys!!

Hi Guys!!

I just got back from a doctors appointment. We don't have a baby yet, but things are moving along.

We haven't had a chance to post because we are trying to get ready for Madelyn, and work has been busy as I have been training my replacement.

We have had so much fun going shopping for Madelyn, and having showers and all of the fun things that lead up to the exciting event of having a baby.

I will tell you all about it this weekend, and I will post an updated picture of my huge tummy.

Love ya'll!!

Moab

Spence and I had a fantastic weekend in Moab. We spent the weekend with Spencer's family, and thanks to the wisdom of my parent's in-law, we stayed in an air conditioned condo instead of camping. Both me and my sister-in-law, Christina (who is about 6 months pregnant), said that we would be up for camping, but when it came time to actually go to Moab, and when I actually felt the heat, I was so grateful that I was not camping.

Spence got a chance to go biking with Russ. He loved it. They did a trail called Gemini Bridges and got some pretty cool pictures.
Ryan got some sun...

This is Mandy and me, ready to go to dinner at the steak house.

We spent time at the pool, at Dead Horse Point, and in Arches. It was all a lot of fun, and it was a very relaxing trip.

This is baby Nathan. Oh how he loved playing in the sand.

And here is the whole family. I love my in-laws a lot and I am super grateful that I married into such a wonderful family.

You Know It's Bad When You're Dreaming About It

You know that something is bad when you start dreaming about it. Last night I dreamed that there was a gas station that was selling gas for $.30/gallon. I can't believe it, my annoyance about gas prices is coming up in my dreams.

When Madelyn gets here I won't have to drive to work anymore, so Spence and I decided that we are going to stop driving altogether. He can ride his bike to work, and I'll just have to go places that are within running or walking distance of our home. (I am not worried about this because i am a great runner... ha ha. So, don't be surprised if I show up with Madelyn, and our running stroller, to say hello. ) We also decided that we are going to stop eating because of the rising food prices.

Oh, but don't worry, I think I found something that is going to solve the gas problem. If you click here, you can learn how to convert your car to run on water, and they only charge you like $150 for this information. Since this is on the internet it must be true. (Please, don't fall for this. I would feel awful if someone actually thought that it was possible to convert their car to run on water, and they actually thought they could get this information for $150, and they actually gave their credit card information to these people. But then, if someone did fall for this, they probably deserve to be scammed. On another note, how do people not get in big trouble for posting websites like this anyway?)

Has anyone considered buying a car like this Honda Civic. It is only $24,000 and runs on natural gas. You just have to pay to have a refueling system installed in your garage, and the relatively expensive repair costs when that time comes. And, if you are on the road and run out of natural gas, don't worry, because this website tells me there are multiple refueling stations in California. (FYI, the cost of a new, gas powered Honda Civic is around $16,000.)

I did receive an e-mail recently that called for everyone to boycott ExxonMobil (the biggest gas distributing company in the US), causing them to lower their prices, and thus forcing a price war. Hmmmmm, Sounded good to me, but then I realized I don't get my gas at any ExxonMobil stations and i never have. Guess I can't help in that way. Dang!

How about everyone writes their local congressman to tell them to allow the US to drill for oil. I promise that in return I will clean up all the litter on the sides of the Utah freeways. (This really is something that I would be willing to do since I don't like seeing the trash on the sides of the freeways. I really should do it even if we don't drill for oil. Does anyone want to join me?)

Well, I wish you all luck managing your budget when half of it has to go to gas. I feel so bad for friends who are having to pay moving costs and traveling costs right now. And honestly, I do not claim to be an expert on why gas prices are rising, who is causing it or what we need to do to fix it (though I do have my opinions). All I know is that I am dreaming about gas prices, and you know it 's bad when you 're dreaming about it.

Who Doesn't Love Camping !?!

Alright, who doesn't love camping!?! There is just something incredibly relaxing about being outside in the great outdoors. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it is great!

We spent last weekend in Southern Utah and got to do some fishing, hiking and lounging at the camp site.

My little nephew, Jarin, is quite the little fisherman for a 3 year old. When he wasn't trying to jab the worm with his pole, he was able to almost cast that worm all the way into the river.


My brother, Matt, knew about a this hike through some narrows. It was perfect for pregnant people and kids. The scenery was really pretty, and I think that the kids thought that it was pretty cool to have rock walls going straight up on both sides of them.



By the end of the hike I, of course, had cankles. Too bad I didn't get a picture. It has made Spence and I laugh to see my ankles swell during this pregnancy; mostly because it has taken us by surprise. I didn't realize that I would swell so much (Do I need to worry about stretch marks on my ankles...he he?). I'm just glad that everything that gets larger and stretched out, during pregnancy, goes back to normal (or pretty close)... right?

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!! It is official! My husband has earned his bachelor's degree. We are all so proud of him (I say "we" because I know both of our families are proud of him even though not everyone could be there to show their support).

What an accomplishment. Those graduation speakers had an amazing ability to make it seem like my husband was one of the 60 people who would save the the world from all of their woes. You can imagine how proud I was.

If you asked me what we have done after work this past week, I would answer, "not homework."

Oh..... the Clyde Building, Spencer's OLD 2nd home
Spencer and one of his engineering buddies, Dane Huggard