What a Weekend!!

Well, this past weekend has been a crazy one! It has been jam packed with excitement! (to say the least) To kick things off.. I GRADUATED from BYU! what a relief!! This day could not have come soon enough. I have been so blessed to have so many people by my side throughout this journey and could not even begin to express the love and gratitude I have for my family. My mom, dad and Drew have been especially important in this accomplishment! 

Here is the whole gang who came out to support me! Dillon was there in spirit!! 

Tanner and I! He congratulated me by running over and picking me up while hugging me. He is WAY taller than me even!! WHAT! he is my LITTLE brother!!  

Me and the baby of the family, Spencer! I was not expecting him to be able to pick me up.. after all he only weighs like 5 more pounds than me... but boy is he strong!! I love you Spencer!! 

My mom has been the biggest trooper. I have no idea how many times I have called her on the verge of calling it quits and she has brought me back to reality. She has talked to me all night long when I have a long drive home from classes, given me "finals survival kits" every semester and is always full of encouraging words! She is my best friend and has made graduation possible for me! She is even taking me to HAWAII for a celebration vacation!! I love you mom (not just for Hawaii but for everything)! Thank you for everything! Words cannot even begin to express how thankful I am to call you my mom!

My dad is another who has helped so much. I grew up always knowing that school was not an option. I was going to graduate from college! I was going to make something of myself and be the very best I could be. He may not realize this, but I valued every single talk we had about what major I should choose, what I should do with my life, and how I was going to make it through! He was such a huge help financially and was willing to deliver pizzas at night time for extra cash if I needed help! He has always gone above and beyond to show his support and that is why I chose to give him the Stole of Gratitude. Even though he had no idea what it was. :] I love you daddy!! 

Drew was my shoulder to lean on through everything. Although he was only a part of the last year of my school, he has been my rock!! He has encouraged me to do whatever I wanted and understood when I couldn't go on a date because I had to study or most importantly, the crazy me that comes out when I am stressed. He has always been so patient with me and has helped with assignments or anything else I asked of him. He was the one who forced me to go get sonic drinks after a long night of cramming or to go for a walk to clear my head when I didn't know what to do. He is such a blessing in my life! I am so lucky to be able to spend eternity with him!! 

Three Generations. Grandma, Me and my Mom!! 

And of course it wouldn't be graduation without the little one! She was NOT happy about being up so early and having mom sit in a chair for so long! :]

Graduation was on a Friday and I originally had an ultra sound scheduled for Monday to find out the gender of our little one, but I could not stand to wait any longer! Friday night I called and rescheduled for the next morning! Drew and I were so excited to see our little baby boy! haha. We were convinced this little one was a boy! It has been a ridiculously easy pregnancy which usually meant a boy. Plus, I just "knew" When the Ultrasound tech informed us we were having a little GIRL we were in shock! Drew says he teared up a bit and I was speechless. It was such a neat experience and we have quite the active little girl! She is already starting to show a temperament like my own.. so WISH US LUCK! She was kicking, spinning, twisting up her little body, and waving goodbye to us during the ultrasound. It was such an incredible and unforgettable experience! I owe my mom a HUGE thank you for arranging for everything and allowing us to have a DVD of our little girl moving around! Drew thought the idea was so dumb at first, but now, he watches her on the dvd DAILY and shows everyone his little girl! He is going to make such a wonderful daddy! He already gets so protective over her. (even more so now than when he thought she was a boy) She has him wrapped around her little finger.. ALREADY. and I just love it!

Here is our Princess. Her name will be Lily Ann Baumgartner! 

Get ready for another crazy post!! We are moving to Saint George on Thursday and are so busy getting everything ready! We LOVE our new place and can't wait to start our family in our new home! Drew was accepted to Dixie, and will be starting school next month! He is hoping to be accepted into their nursing program for next year and then off to Nurse Anesthesist school! So many fun adventures are ahead! Wish us luck! 

Baby Baumgartner

Well, the cat is out of the bag, We are expecting another addition to our little family in September! :] I wanted to keep things a secret until I was at least 12 weeks, but Drew was way to full of excitement, so naturally he told EVERYONE! So, the secret was out. 

This is our little story:

  I am 12 weeks along. We have been trying to get pregnant for 7-8 months and after each month passed, I would get so devastated when I started, this month was a little more interesting. I was 2 1/2 weeks late and took a total of 5 home pregnancies. ALL were negative. We thought something was wrong since I was still so late and apparently not pregnant.  My tumors were also acting up, so we finally decided to go to the doctors and figure out what was going on. The doctor ordered a blood test, so we waited an HOUR. It was probably one of the longest hours of my life. The guy who drew my blood said it would only take a few minutes, but when he said it was wrong and it would take an hour we only had a few more minutes of waiting. They handed us a little piece of paper and said to take it to the doctor. Of course we opened the results to check and see if it was positive or negative... and it came back positive. WE were in shock!! Needless to say, we were incredibly relieved and on total cloud nine! The doctor gave us our due date which is September 16, 2012! and I was already 6 weeks along. Things were starting to make sense and what I thought was just me being lazy was really the pregnancy. 

   This past week has been interesting and fun! We are adjusting to being pregnant and trying to manage the extra eating, sleeping, and of course hormones. We are very excited and can not wait to be parents. 

Here is me at 6 weeks :]

Things to document:
        Cravings: I haven't really had many cravings lately, other than eating everything in my midst. haha. Although, I am completely repulsed by greasy foods.
        Belly:  I don't show at all yet!! haha  I think that is why it is so hard for me to feel pregnant.
        Morning Sickness: I only get sick at night. Although I don't throw up, I only get nauseous, which is a good thing.
        Other differences: Nothing so far out of the ordinary. :]

Here is me at 12 weeks :] 

We had our first doctors appointment when I was supposedly 10 1/2 weeks. I was so excited, because everyone was saying there was a really good chance I would get to hear the heart beat and I would finally ... maybe... feel like all of this was real. My mom waited in her car (she was suppose to be in institute) for my phone call to tell her about the heart beat, and we were all so excited for this milestone. Well, I weighed in at a whopping 91.8 lbs!! fully dressed. haha woot woot! Some would laugh, but this was definitely an improvement from the 88lbs I weighed in at when the doctor told me I was pregnant 5 weeks ago. Almost 4 pounds... it was a celebration! Anywho, back to the appointment. The doctor came in, gave me her shpeel, and asked if I had any questions. I informed her how nervous I have been about not hearing a heart beat because of the 5 negative tests. She laughed and reassured me not to worry. Well, she couldn't pick up a heart beat... I panicked.. of course, so she then checked my uterus. She said that my uterus was enlarged, but only for about 8 weeks along. She told me to order an ultrasound so they could measure the baby and make sure everything was ok and come back- and then she left the room. talk about no emotion. Drew and I looked at each other all disappointed, gathered our things and left the room. When we scheduled the ultrasound, I figured they could see me this week right? WRONG! I had to wait a week and a half! No one should make a new pregnant mom have to wait and fluster the many different possibilities and worse case scenarios! talk about torture!! well, that ridiculously long week passed and we went back for our ultrasound. We got to hear the heart beat (169bpm) and were told we have a healthy baby! The baby is only measuring at 9 weeks, but the dates don't add up, so our hypothesis is... our baby is a late bloomer. We should be expecting our little one anywhere from middle of September to beginning of October.
Here is our little blob :] 

Things to document:
        Cravings: I still haven't had any real cravings. I don't like my peanut butter crackers that I use to be able to snack on, and now I just hate all food in general and have to force myself to eat!
        Belly: I still don't feel very pregnant, but the weight gain is a very good thing! My baby might come out with some meat on his bones!
        Morning Sickness: I now get sick ALL day long. There is not one part of the day that I feel great! My mom is so awesome and always reassures me that, "The sicker you are, the healthier your baby!" It makes me feel a little better about being sick always and to be able to bare the nausea. I still don't throw up, but have come very close many many times. I sometimes wish I could just to ease the feeling.
        Other differences: Nothing to out of the ordinary. Due to the weight gain, my pants are a little tighter, but not very noticeable, I am always tired, and boy am I a BEAST! poor Drew has to try and stay married to a crazy person! Wish us luck! haha

Express Christmas in Saint George.. :]

I don't know how many of you watch the show Modern Family, but just in case you don't I will explain the blog title a little... On a recent episode, everyone realized December 17th, was the last day they would all be together until after the holidays, so they had an express Christmas...

Well, this year, the Baumgartners sort of had the same idea. We left for Saint George last Thursday and had an express Christmas in Saint George since that would be the only time we could all get together considering Drew works on Christmas and I work Christmas Eve. Drew and I had finals that day and left right after we took all of them. So of course, as soon as I was de-stressed, I got ridiculously sick. I was fevered for three days straight.. tylenol couldn't even keep the fevers away. Oh it was awful, and then the rest of the sickness set in. I was too weak to walk anywhere for about 4 days and still have a plugged up nose and an extremely annoying cough.  All in time for the real Christmas celebrations! BLAH! I guess I shouldn't be surprised seeing as how this happens every year, last year started after Thanksgiving Break, so I guess I should be grateful! Anywho, besides the impeccable timing of sickness, we had a blast spending a little vaca with the Baumgartners. Here is some of the fun...

We spent the first few days shopping and spending time together.. On Sunday we had our Express Christmas where we opened presents and of coursed played with all of our new toys! Drew and I were so blessed this Christmas because his parents helped us buy a brand new desktop computer for my photography! It has already paid for itself and then some and we are constantly using it. In fact, Drew and I fight over who it was really for! :] Some of our favorites this year were the giant Book of Mormon with all the pictures inside for us to use when we have little ones, I LOVED all the jewelry I got from Nancy, and Drew thinks his new ReBok ZigZags are the coolest thing ever! We (even though I am not in the book) loved getting the "Baumgartner Bible" from 2009. Every year Nancy puts together a book of everyone's favorite memories and pictures from the past year. (she is a little behind due to everyone being uncooperative) but I think it is the neatest tradition to have. How fun will it be to pass down to later generations! LOVE IT!

 On Monday we had family pictures taken which was a battle! It took me forever to hike up to the place we were taking pictures.. and it wasn't even that far!!! Stupid Fevers! Here are a few of the pictures...

On Wednesday, Drew, Me, and Kyler all woke up early and drove down to Vegas for the day! What a blast! I honestly can not remember a time where I had that much fun on the strip and shopping! (yes,, I did say shopping ;0) Our first stop was the Coca Cola factory... The bear was out taking pictures with people so naturally I made the boys smile and take one. We ended up buying the prints so I will have to scan those in, but here is a glimpse of the fun!

We also went to the M&M Factory and bought a Christmas Ornament! Drew and I buy/make one each year to describe our Christmas, so this year we decided a memory of our trip would be perfect! I love it!!

Roger, Matt, and Alexis ended up meeting us down in Vegas for dinner and a little more shopping! Our first stop was the Nike store where Drew got a brand new pair of tennis shoes that look SAWEET! And Nike we was having a ridiculously awesome sale so they were super cheap! Woot Woot! Drew's Christmas present to me was a new outfit so while we were down there I got new earrings, sweater, belt, and leggings! I can not wait to wear them all! He sure does spoil me!! 

After dinner and shopping we went to see the Lion King thanks to Nancy! It was my first broadway show EVER! and I LOVED IT! I have already made plans to see Wicked! It was so good and we honestly had the time of our life!! 

Here is a picture of us during intermission! Ahh I can not get over how awesome it was! 

At the end of the show we walked out to our car to realize that Drew had left his phone in the theatre! AH so we ran back as fast as we could, Drew fuming of course, but luckily we found the phone hidden under the seat! PHEW! When we finally got back to Saint George it was 1 o'clock in the morning and we were pooped. I did not want to wake up the next morning! We had such a fun trip and are excited to keep these memories forever! 

A much needed update...

Wow! I have been slacking in the updates! Needless to say, we have been busy as ever. Finals start next week and we are more than ready for the semester to be over! We officially started selling my photography and had a big "kick off" party to see how successful we might be... the results were shocking! We were way more successful than anticipated, in fact, I had to email everyone and say they wouldn't receive their order for a few more days. I was so blessed and am so grateful for the love and support we were given. We actually have another big party tomorrow night, which should go well.. hopefully!

Because of our recent success, we have decided to make a few big changes. WE ARE MOVING TO COLORADO after the summer is over! I am THRILLED. Beyond EXCITED. Oh words can not even describe!!!!! I am not ready to quit Red Robin yet, so I am going to try and work hard on photography as well as work every day. I have a feeling I will be cutting back on the hours I spend there though. Drew has also decided to make a few changes in work. He is now a sales member for Vivint. He is going to start doing all the preseason sales and what not and then in May, we will either be going to New Mexico, Texas, or Oklahoma... (there was talk about Vegas... but I doubt it). Drew will still work at Heritage schools, but more on an on call position, so he will work whenever he has time. He loves the boys and everyone he works with at Heritage, so staying employed there is more of a hang out for Drew.

We have so many fun and exciting changes coming up and this is a boring blog post because there is no pictures, but as soon as I can catch up with my orders, I will edit a few pictures of our recent happenings and get those posted on here.

Makenzie's Wedding

My cute cousin just got married last weekend and she looked BEAUTIFUL! Her photographer was her sister-in-law, so they asked me to take a few pictures outside of the temple so the sister-in-law could be in them. Here is a sneak peek of her wedding... 

She looked absolutely gorgeous! Congrats Miss!

a look into our future...

Our nephew, Adam, worships Drew. Every time we go over to their house, Adam has to be center of attention when it comes to Drew. It is so cute to see the two of them interact. The other day, we stopped by before going to take pictures at a few temples and as we were leaving Adam became so upset and would not leave Drew's side. So, we decided to take him with us. Drew loved it just as much Adam did. As I was going through all the pictures I took, I stumbled upon this one. Drew is going to be an AMAZING father. and for that, I am eternally grateful. 

 Adam was telling Drew all about the temple and pointing everything out! 

The best of friends!! 

updates...

Drew was looking at our blog the other day and turned to me and said "Last time you posted was in JULY! you need to get on it!" haha. We have both been so busy and life is flying  by for us. Here are a few updates..

1. We went to Colorado for a quick trip home. We drove out for Dillon's farewell and to help my mom with all the party planning. 

2. My little brother left on his mission :[ I bawled. Long story short, I absolutely HATE the MTC. Worst experience ever! Sorry Tanner and Spencer, I am NOT taking you to the MTC. However, Dillon is doing great and learning the language quick.

3. We both started school. I postponed my graduation a semester so that I can focus on my health and not being so stressed all the time, so my new graduation date is in April. THEN I am finished!!

4. We are finally "going for it" and starting up my photography "business." I have fallen in love with taking pictures of the temple and everyone seems to think I should share my pictures. So be expecting a website soon and all that jazz. Here is a sneak peek... 

5. I work at Red Robin in Provo and am loving the extra money right now. Drew is still working at Heritage schools and is also loving his job. He gets to watch tv, play sports, hang out... and all be paid. Lucky duck! 

6. Daisy is getting bigger and bigger. She now has two retarded ears. They want to stand up (the Yorkie in her) but her ears are to big (the doxin in her) so- they stick straight out to the side. And yet we still love her. She loves watching tv and will literally bark when it is a scary part. She pays attention to what is happening. It is HILARIOUS. 

7. We are loving life and each other. Staying busy. and keeping up with work, school, church, and our marriage.