6 months and counting!

Well, I am now 6 months pregnant and can't believe how time has flown by! In just 3 short months our little baby boy will be here in our arms! We are so excited and anxiously getting ready for him to be here. There is still so much to do! Over the weekend, we cleaned and cleared out the other room we've been storing stuff in to make room for our baby boy. We put the crib together and I bought some cute bedding on Saturday that I liked. As far as the pregnancy, things are going pretty well right now. I haven't gained too much weight which I worried about from the beginning but pregnancy hasn't exactly been anything I ever expected either. A lot of changes, that's for sure and things I've never experienced...like heartburn. That's what I've been getting a lot of lately. Other than that, I've been back to a pretty typical appetite and have had a lot more energy. I haven't been taking any 3-hour naps lately and I can stay up past 10:00 pm now! There's just so much I want to get done every day that I'm glad I've had the energy for it. Labor Day weekend Manuel and I went to Las Vegas for a sort of last "hoorah" to celebrate our 2nd anniversary which was August 23rd. We knew we wouldn't get an opportunity like that for a while after the baby comes since we'll definitely have our hands full and our finances tightened! We had a blast and loved being together just the two of us. I love our little trips just the two of us. :) I was hoping that maybe we'd be able to go somewhere nice for my birthday for a few days in November but considering that I'll be 8 months pregnant and it will be cold, we'll most likely be staying right where we are which is alright with me. I love being inside where it's cozy and warm in the middle of winter. Well, I've posted some pictures here from our Vegas trip and what I look like at 6 months. Hope to post more soon, especially with holidays and birthdays coming up this fall--it should be pretty eventful. Can't wait for our fall traditions like pumpkin carving and hay rides! And I can't wait to get baking! Love to all our family and friends...

IT'S A BOY!!!

Manti Pageant, Camping, & the 4th of July

So, just thought we'd catch up with some pictures of the Manti pageant, our most recent camping trip and some time we spent on the 4th of July (also my sister's birthday). Manti was a fun little trip we made to go see the Mormon Miracle Pageant which was our first time there. The drive was stormy and we didn't think the weather would hold out for the show but we got lucky and the clouds disappeared just before it started. The temple was beautiful and we enjoyed a barbecue turkey & potatoes dinner from the local stake before we made our way over to claim seats. It was an awesome performance.


We had a ton of fun camping up in Hobble Creek Canyon and of course I made foiled dinners! I mean, what's camping without foiled dinners and s'mores?! We set up our tent along the creek which made it kind of colder at night, but it was still nice. Here's some pics from our campout...











Last but not least, the 4th of July was a lot of fun. We went to get some breakfast in the morning at Macey's and decided to stop by the parade. We still had our camping chairs in the trunk of the car so we went and watched the parade for about an hour. Then, we started getting ready to go over to my sister's for a 4th of July barbecue and to celebrate her birthday. I made my mac 'n' cheese and there was a ton of good food from everyone. I think we found the funnest part to be watching the nieces and nephews playing in a mound of dirt for about 2 hours. It was so entertaining. Fireworks were fun and Nathan's face was the cutest when he got all excited about them. Here's some pics:




I hope that covers what we've done so far this summer! We are flying out to Oregon in about a week and a half which we're so excited about. My mom has rented a beach house for a few days and I'm just excited to be in Oregon and relax for a while. We'll definitely post pictures when we get back. It will be fun to be all together with my parents, my sister and her family. Pregnancy update: I'm 17 weeks along now, time is flying by and I'm so excited to get back from our trip to Oregon to find out what the baby will be. Boy or girl, we'll be totally happy with either! I'm finally getting over my morning sickness but have been super tired. I can't believe I can take 3-hour naps in the middle of the afternoon! We send all our love to our family and friends and we'll be in touch soon!

We're having a baby!

As most of you already probably know, we are expecting our first baby! We are really excited about it and I'm almost 13 weeks along now. Due date is December 27th which means we will be having a beautiful Christmas bundle! So far, the morning sickness has probably been the worst part so I'm anxiously waiting for it to wear off--hopefully soon. We can't wait to find out what it will be and have already been thinking of names for both a boy and a girl. We will update you with our final decision later down the road. Other exciting news--we've finally submitted Manuel's residency papers and so far the process is going pretty quickly. He already has his appointment for biometrics (fingerprints) and then we'll likely have our interview before the end of the year. Manuel is also starting a new job doing cancer research in a lab on BYU campus. He's really excited about it, as am I. It should be really good for his experience towards pharmacy school. We have certainly been extremely blessed and are especially excited about our baby on the way. We'll definitely keep updates on how the pregnancy is going and any other future news. Love to all our friends and family!

Between conference sessions...

Well, Manuel and I went to the park between conference sessions today (since we live a block away from it) and had a little picnic to enjoy the sun and wish for spring to come faster! Here are a couple of pictures so you can see my new bangs. Still getting used to them and need to learn how to do them better :)

The Big Bang Theory...

What is up with all the bangs?! Well, I don't know but I want ém too! I thought I had sworn them off when I finally had grown out my childhood bangs 9th grade of high school. However, bangs are coming back. This week I am going to have my sister put highlights in my hair to make me a blond again and then I want to get layers in my hair and finally, get some nice side-swept bangs. So, stay tuned for a posting of my new hairstyle in the next week or so. Can't wait! I really like Jennifer Aniston's new bangs with the layers in her hair but I also liked this picture of Catherine Zeta-Jones' bangs. Feel free to post what you think...


P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day this year was awesome--Manuel made me breakfast in the morning (although I helped a little with the fruit parfaits), we got to hang out a lot and I made him dinner. The day was simple but fun and it was nice to just relax and spend sometime with my wonderful husband. Manuel surprised me with flowers which made my day and I got him (well it's really more for us) a book of date ideas for married couples. Can't wait to use it! Here are some pictures from our Valentine's Day:










I just wanna say I love my husband more than anything in this world! He really makes me so happy, always knows how to make me laugh and would do anything for me. He's the best!

New Year, New Resolutions

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family! I am so excited to start out a new year and make new goals and resolutions. For some reason, after Christmas is over, I am ready for summertime! Although it's still super cold out, I love when the sun comes out and it just feels like a new start. Manuel's back in school for the winter semester and I am still working at the dental office. We've received so many blessings from the opportunities given to us this past year, especially through a tough economic time. I'm excited for a new presidency for this country and hope that things can really get turned around. It's been hard to see the many that have struggled with the pitfalls of what has happened recently and I only hope that we can see a light at the end of the tunnel even if it takes some time. As for my resolutions this year, here is a list of only a handful of things I'd like to work on, not in any particular order:

1. Eat more healthy, natural foods (Most people put losing weight as one of their top goals but I truly just want to have better, overall health in general)
2. Read the Book of Mormon in Spanish
3. Have Family Home Evening night more consistently
4. Attend the temple once a month
5. Make one special date night a week with my husband out of the house
6. Be a better wife, in general
7. Learn yoga
8. Deal with my stress in a positive way (exercise, meditation)
9. Plan a budget, save more, spend less
10. Keep my house cleaner
11. Sew more
12. Play my violin and the piano more, maybe even start teaching some

I could keep going but won't--it does feel good to set new goals though! Hope everyone started off to a good year and hope to also stay on top of this blog! Love to everyone!