Best. Husband. Ever.

So friends, I have a need to brag about my husband. Spencer has been nothing but helpful all week, and he deserves some credit! It's normal for him to go above and beyond, but I'm in awe of all he's been doing lately. Last weekend we went to visit his family in Vegas, and while there I picked up a 24 hr bug that had been going around. As most of you know, I'm a HUGE wuss when it comes to pain, so I was pretty much useless. He took such good care of me, feeding me jello and helping me take baths. He also drove the entire 6 hour distance home while I slept in the passenger seat. When we got home, I was feeling better, but then was rendered useless again when my sweet baby girl kicked me a little too hard and popped one of my ribs. That night, Spencer came home from 8 hours of work, put his headphones on, and cleaned the ENTIRE house! Dishes, vacuuming, laundry, everything! I was so out of it, and he just kept on cleaning. He also made dinner that night, and the next. On top of all of this, Spencer works 40+ hours a week, and works out at least an hour a day. He also puts up with "pregnant me" all the time, which generally includes anxiety and unexplained crying, neediness, crankiness, and weird food cravings. He's preparing for our daughter's arrival and planning for the LSAT. I swear, I got so unbelievably lucky in the husband department. He should really get an award for all he does. I love him so much!!!

Rainy Waterfalls

Today Spencer and I really wanted to go on an adventure. I've been looking at different things to do in Utah, and the other day I came across a website that listed all the Top 10 Waterfalls here. Lucky for us, there was one we had never visited, less than 30 minutes up the road! We grabbed some water bottles and jumped in the car. You have to walk/hike about half a mile in before you reach the falls, which isn't difficult, unless you have a very active baby living in your abdomen :) She was excited about something, maybe the fresh air, and felt it appropriate to show me by jumping up and down on my pelvis. Ouch!

On the way to the actual fall, there is a pretty little stream that you walk beside. We stopped for a second at this pool where is collects so I could take a little break.

We also found a miniature Cave of Wonders. I wanted Spencer to pose inside, but he wouldn't. Something about not wanting to get dirty. In. The. Outdoors. Yeah, I laughed at him too.

Anyway, after the fun little Nature Walk, the incline becomes pretty steep for a little ways.. And in my Infinite Wisdom, I didn't think it would be a problem to wear Flip Flops on this adventure. But with Spencer's help, we made it to the top. After the walk uphill,  BAM! Out of nowhere comes a beautiful waterfall!

There are actually 2 cascades, but since it's so early in the Spring, the other one was more of a drizzle. It was ice cold water, but so amazing. We found a comfy log to rest on, and enjoy the perfect view.

I'm so lucky to have married this guy. Look how cute we are! All in all, it was a fabulous Saturday. As soon as we got home, it started raining. Perfect timing. I took a couple pictures of the rainy weather, not sure if you can make them out too well, but I'll post them later anyway. Hope your Weekend is as fabulous as ours!

Ikea, Ovens and Food Cravings

Well, this week is almost over. I'm one more week closer to being a momma. Yes! Spencer is one week closer to the end of the HARDEST semester in his college career. Yes! And summer is just around the corner. Double Yes!! In celebration of long awaited endings and inspirational new beginnings, we took a field trip to Ikea and splurged on an AMAZING rug! It adds a pop of personality to our living room, and does a fantastic job covering up the rental carpet. I love sitting in the living room now, it feels so much better. Crazy how one square of fabric can change your outlook on life.

In other news, I'm getting weary of our oven's unique "burned food" smell, and am going to attempt cleaning it without the use of harsh chemical products. Thank you Pinterest! I found a recipe for overnight cleaning, using baking soda, salt, and water. I can't wait to try it out! Cleaning the oven is probably the most awkward and irritating thing for me to clean, but I'm gonna dive into this with a good attitude and hopefully emerge tomorrow victorious! I mostly want to avoid inhaling gallons of cleaning products, which is what put me on this "all natural" cleaning kick. That, mixed with my new-found desire to deep clean/reorganize our entire apartment. I'm walking the thin line right now between being able to move around fairly easily and, well, not being able to move around. I want to get all the spring cleaning out of the way before I can't anymore. 

(My usual attitude towards cleaning)

Along with going on a crazy cleaning spree, I am finally feeling the ever warned about pregnancy appetite. I am constantly hungry! I'm doing my very best to only munch on carrots, celery, and banana muffins, and drink gallon after gallon of water, but it's not very fulfilling when all you want is a huge freaking piece of chocolate cake!

 I did give in earlier this week and bought myself some powdered donuts. But overall I'm pretty proud of myself. It feels silly, but I really am worried about pregnancy weight. I wasn't supposed to gain much to start out with, and I feel like every pound is another obstacle that I'll have to deal with post-baby. I've done pretty well, I think I'm at about 6 lbs of total gain (after factoring in the 15 I lost in my first trimester, no thanks to morning sickness), and I have 9-14 lbs left before I reach my ideal size. Baby has about 4-6 lbs left to gain before she's considered full size, so I think we're doing pretty well. That being said, now is definitely NOT the time to go crazy with food. It does help to think about what I'm eating, and how it's essentially the same thing  I'm feeding Avery. With that in mind, I'm much more likely to reach for a spinach salad over the Nutella jar. And now, some inspiration for myself:

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth!

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat- a- cake, darling and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard and there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look!  Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.  Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby.  Babies don’t keep.

1958   Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Although this poem doesn't apply to my exact situation just yet, I felt like I should post it for future reference. And even now, even while I can still carry my sweet baby girl in my womb and protect her from everything in the outside world, I can almost hear Ms Ruth Hamilton talking directly to me. I have been getting rather stressed out and emotional lately, which I am choosing to blame on a surge of hormones. I have been worrying about excessive weight gain, and how I can lose it after the baby's born, I've been worrying about whether or not breastfeeding is going to be painful, and on and on and on. But all these things I'm worrying about don't really matter. They'll happen when they happen, and stressing about things I can't control only hurts me. So, like the poem explains, I'm trying to step back, forget all the little things that I feel I "must" worry about, and enjoy this moment I have, experiencing this gift of being able to grow a little person, and feel her movements. That should be the most important thing right now. 

That being said, I also really want to enjoy the last 3 months that I have Spencer all to myself. I want to love sleeping all the way through the night, and enjoy finishing an entire load of dishes at one time. I'm positive that Avery will be the best thing that could possibly happen to us, but there are a few blessings we have now that are probably going to be a rarity in the very near future, and I don't want to discount them. I love our little family, it's exactly what I dreamed about having :)

"Gotta Get Down On Friday..."

Good Morning Friends!! I am catching up on all things online, I haven't logged on in almost a week. Not too long, I know, but when I usually get on 2, 3, 4 times a day, it seems like eternity to me! Spencer and I have been having quite the busy week, starting last Friday, when we went to Vegas to see my beautiful sister in law get married to her awesome fiance! The whole weekend was so much fun, we really enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone and celebrating together. The wedding was perfection, with weather to match! I love going to Vegas, especially in the Spring Time, because it's so warm and summery there. We came back to Provo Sunday night, and brought some of the sunshine back with us! Since then, both Spencer and myself have been working/studying/cleaning non stop. (Actually, Spencer did most of the cleaning, working, and all of the studying...lol) But it's Friday now, and tomorrow we get to sleep in and relax for most of the day.

Avery is still doing really well, kicking and moving like nobody's business. We have a Dr appointment on Monday, and a little later in the month, I'm having an ultrasound done to get an echo of her heart, and make sure it's developing properly. Just a standard procedure, they haven't found anything yet with her development to cause concern, but they want to be extra careful because of Spencer's heart thing when he was born. I'm sure though that all will turn out well!

We are currently in the market for a new apartment, and plan on moving within the next couple of months. We've been looking around, but nothing has really caught our attention just yet. It's hard to sift through all the dumpy places in Provo and find something we can both agree on, but I think we're having fun doing so. Keep your fingers crossed for us! Happy Friday!

Lone Wolf

Spencer is with Josh on a special man-date tonight, which means that I have nothing to do. Blah. I really just need some good girlfriends here in P Town. Sadly, all my besties have moved away to bigger and better things, and I'm honestly just too lazy busy with my own life to make new ones. I complain about it, but I know it's my own doing. So, thanks to my newly acquired anti-social-ness, I find myself sitting at home, on a Friday night, watching old chick flicks and eating mango sherbet. Hey, it has fruit in it, so it's not too bad, right? Actually, I am glad I finally got a chance to watch Dirty Dancing. So. Freaking. Good. And Patrick Swayze, he used to be a total hottie pretty decent looking :) 

A couple updates: I have found a better job, I now make smoothies. Not exactly for a living, it's part time enough that it's more for fun, and I really enjoy it! Kind of like a little break from the house a few days a week. Next, Avery is growing at an awesome pace. She is always moving, and I can constantly feel her now. She is especially active during meal times, which is both way fun and super nauseating. I get a slight motion sickness feeling from all the flopping around going on inside of me, but I love when she's that active because it's proof that there's a little person inside of me. I seriously am getting so excited to meet her for the first time. I may or may not have pinned a couple pictures to my Pinterest of little girls that I think she might end up looking like. They have different mixtures of both mine and Spencer's features, and it's so much fun imagining which features she'll end up with! Mostly I think of Spencer's dark hair and green eyes, and my light skin and mouth. Who knows though, we'll just have to wait and see!!

In other news, my awesome sister-in-law and her fiance are getting married in a week!!!! 7 days from tomorrow, exactly, and I am so happy for them. Courtney is going to have a very non-stress day, which I think is genius. To be honest, you don't have to have a zillion details in order to have an unforgettable wedding. Unless you like details, which is totally cool too. I just love her attitude about it though. And I know it's going to be so special, because no matter what you have planned before or after, the Sealing in the Temple itself is beautiful. Also cool, this wedding is an awesome excuse for me to go buy a pretty maternity dress :)

Spencer just texted, he's on his way home soon, I should probably clean up the house and make it look like I was semi-productive while he was gone! I need to post the recipe I have for Cafe Rio Pork, it's super easy and Spence and I both think it tastes JUST like the real thing. I'll put that on here sometime next week maybe. Anyway, hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Catch Up for the Week

I'm alive! Its been quite the week, and also the weekend before, so I've been slacking in my blog. But no fear, I have returned. Today is bittersweet, my dad and sister just left after spending the week with us. I loved loved loved having them here with us, it was so nice to just relax and be with them. My family lives in California, and while its not on the other side of the country, sometimes it feels that way. We don't get to see each other often, so it was an especially wonderful treat. That was the sweet part. The bitter part is now that they're gone, I'm feeling particularly lonely again. I hate not having lots of family around. But such is life.

Spencer and I also were able to find out this week that our little bundle of joy is indeed a GIRL. She is doing well as far as we know, and growing right on schedule!! We've decided to call her Avery, though the verdict is still out on a middle name. She'll be due right around Independence Day, I have never been more excited for the holiday as I am now. Just a little over 4 months from now, I'll have our sweet little baby in my arms. Ahh, I don't see how I can possibly wait that much longer! We were both VERY happy that she is doing so well in there. 

My job situation isn't working out quite like I thought it would, but if there's anything marriage has taught me, it's that the best way to live life is roll with the punches, and not try too hard to control the outcome of everything you deal with. I know things will work  out the way they are meant to, and I keep telling myself that I can only do as much as I can do. No reason to stress the small stuff, right? In every aspect of life, Spencer is so encouraging and loving, he's my number one fan :) Which works out well, as I try hard to be his own personal cheerleader. I love our relationship, I think we balance each other so well, it's almost perfection.

Before I go, I wanted to leave a fun quote I found on Pinterest, that happens to make me feel better every time I read it:

Everyone is a Genius

But if you judge a Fish

On it's ability to Fly,

It will live its whole Life

Believing it is Stupid.

Have a good day everyone!

My Love

I wanted to write a little bit about how grateful I am for Spencer. He deals with so much responsibility, and always has a good attitude and a smile for me. I tend to be a little bit cynical sometimes, and he constantly build me up and points out the silver lining in my clouds. I love him with my whole heart. Spencer is the best thing that has happened to me, I am so lucky to have somehow tricked him into loving me back :) He takes care of me when I'm sick, helps clean without complaint, buys me little presents all the time, and can make me laugh even when I really don't want to. I love you Spencer! You make my life so much better every single day.

Life Gave me Lemonade Today... How Unexpected!

Well friends, I have some terrific news. I found a new job! I'm finally getting the hang of this pregnancy thing, and I was offered a position as a receptionist practically as soon as I decided to find one. My old job was a night shift, and it was really hard on me during that first trimester, so Spence and I decided to try and make due with only one income for a while. At least until this little guy/gal stopped making me quite so nauseated! I'm feeling better and better with every passing day, and hardly ever have to, erm, call Uncle Ralph on the Big White Phone anymore, so I started looking for jobs via the internet. I applied to this position on Tuesday, and after a disastrous interview on Wednesday, assumed there was no way I would get the job. I'm not exaggerating either. I got so completely lost on my way there, I ended up being almost 45 minutes late. But they were understanding and agreed to interview me anyway. Which, by the way, ended up lasting less than 5 minutes. I thought for sure I was a gonner!! But they called me this afternoon and offered me the position, and now I am officially employed. This is such a blessing, and it really happened at the perfect time for us.

AND...from this blessing stems another. Spencer has given the green light for us to move!! With a second income, we will be much better equipped to afford a slightly larger kitchen apartment. A slight Freudian slip there, I think. A larger kitchen would be fantastic, but what we're mostly looking for is a second room for baby, and now is also great timing because I'm not quite to Elephant-sized pregnant-dome yet, and can still be of use while packing and unpacking. We just need to find the perfect apartment, and hopefully will be in a new place by the end of March. I have come to really like this apartment, for the most part. The neighbors are really nice, and it's pretty removed from Campus, which is especially nice, since the closer you get the more concentrated the freshmen seem to become. :) I have nothing against freshmen individually, but as a whole they do have certain, aggravating, tendencies. I've also learned that a smaller kitchen means that the mess can never really grow beyond a certain point. That is definitely a blessing. I just want some more wiggle room, and preferably in a place that doesn't have a s.p.i.d.e.r. problem. *shudder* I HATE SPIDERS. And for that reason alone, I will never be able to make an appearance on Fear Factor. That show creeps me out to no end! But I digress.

Hope you all have had a great week so far. Only one more day until Friday!! Ahh, sweet relief. Enjoy the weekend everyone :)

Spinach Mushroom Pockets

Yummy! I have to say, this recipe was surprisingly fantastic. Even Spencer gobbled up the entire thing, and said he'd love to have this in our weekly rotation from now on. That's saying something! Usually, he'll eat most anything I make, but he's never been so excited (and I've been cooking for him for over a year now) about one of my creative cooking adventures. If you are at all a fan of mushrooms, give this a shot. I can guarantee your mouth will thank you!

For this recipe, you will need:
2 tbls Butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 tbls minced Garlic (I used the kind that comes in a jar, mincing Garlic is the WORST)
1 (8 oz) pkg Mushrooms, sliced
2 cups Spinach (I used fresh, but frozen should work just as well)
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
salt, pepper to taste
1 can Crescent Dough ( I used Pillsbury, the sheet instead of the Crescent Rolls pre-cut, it makes creating the pockets much easier)
Parmesan Cheese

Start by sauteing the onions with butter, until onions are soft, about 4-6 minutes. Add Garlic, and continue to saute until Garlic is translucent. 

Add Mushrooms, and stir until coated in butter. Lower heat to Medium Low, add Spinach and Heavy Cream, and cover.

While this is marinating, open can of dough and roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut in half and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.

Once Mushrooms have softened, and Spinach is reduced, pour half of the mixture into the middle of each dough square, making sure to leave a perimeter for folding the dough.

Fold sides of dough up to middle and pinch closed. Roll ends up and press until sealed. **HINT: Before adding Mushroom mixture to dough squares, transfer dough to greased cookie sheet. It's much easier than transferring after filling. I promise!

Bake at 375 F for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. I also sprinkled with an Italian Cheese blend for the last 2 minutes of baking, because I love cheese :) 

Cut in half and enjoy!!