7 months and loving autumn!

Can I just say how much I love fall? It is my favorite time of year (besides Christmas) with the cool, crisp weather, the beautiful fall colors and always looking forward to another holiday. I think besides the 4th of July, all of my favorite holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas) all come this time of year. It is fun to have my growing family and be able to establish my own traditions. Homecoming Spectacular has become a tradition for me and my husband since it was our first date. Although we may not be at BYU or living in Provo forever, we love taking advantage of October when it comes and going to see the show where we first began our relationship. Pumpkin carving comes next, which we have also done every year since we first started dating. I'm thinking that this year I might look more like a pumpkin myself than the one I will be carving! I also love having my birthday in the fall. To me, it feels like Christmas and I love it. Can't wait to have a Harry Potter weekend, which my husband and I like to do from time to time where we watch all the Harry Potter movies in one weekend. It helps us get into the season and get excited for Halloween. And Thanksgiving should be fun this year too. I'm already starting to plan out in my mind what I want to make. I love cooking and especially baking and have already embarked on my fall recipes. The first cold day we had in October I made my pumpkin soup and I have already stocked up on walnuts and almonds for the rest of my winter baking. As for the pregnancy, I am now 29 weeks along, which means I'm getting closer! Time has flown by but I have definitely been enjoying pregnancy and feeling all the fun kicks my baby boy gives me every day. It's amazing to think about all the processes taking place in preparation of bringing a child into the world. Some things definitely make me nervous but it's such a wonderful opportunity to experience something so great and knowing that I'm doing it all for another human being. I've been cleaning like crazy around the house and feel like I've finally gotten on top of the laundry (it's neverending). I love getting everything prepared for our little boy and trying to make our home a happy and healthy place. I've signed up for a lamaze class at the hospital where I'll be giving birth and can't wait to start. It begins on the 28th and will hopefully help me develop some good breathing and relaxation techniques for labor. So far, it's been an amazing journey and I am excited for our little boy to be in our home. 'Til then, I'll keep updating our fall activities and tracking my pregnancy. Love to all of our family and friends!

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!