This reminds me of my Grandma

I went and spent some time with my Grandma today. As, I was looking around her house I was thinking of all the things that remind me of her.
These are some of the things that come to my mind.

1. Peaches and Toast.
Ever since I can remember Grandma would serve us peaches and toast for breakfast. When she was in Kirtland and Grandpa was still alive, it was her homemade bread and the peaches from her tree that she had canned. We LOVED that breakfast.

2. Playdough
Not the store bought playdough but her famous homemade salt dough. I remember my sister Amber eating it, sometimes until it made her sick.

3. The Magnetic shaving face guy


She always had these at her house. I loved playing with them.

4. Diet Pepsi

I always remember her drinking this.

5. Balloons and bubbles.
She always had these fun things lying around for the kids to play with.

Memories at Grandmas house are full of happiness for me. I love her so much. I am glad I got to spend some time today with her.

Gratitude

I am taking my Aunt Lori's advice about writing things we are grateful for. With my Grandma being diagnosed with cancer, it really makes me want to find those many things that Heavenly Father has given to me. Things could be so much worse and so I want to publicly write the things that I am most grateful for.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the knowledge that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and loves me. When I get down on my knees to pray, I know he heres me, loves me and answers my prayers.

I am grateful for an amazing husband. He is like a good cheese, he just gets better with age. He is a compassionate man with a strong sense of what is right and wrong. He loves the gospel of Jesus Christ and tries hard to show it to our children and those around him. He is a great father, trying to constantly teach our children what is true.

I LOVE being a mom. I am so grateful for this. My greatest joys in life are my children. I am grateful for all the different stages that my children are at, even the teenage stages. I learn so much from them. I truly am finding joy in this.

I am grateful for good books that help me become a better person. I find that the Lord really guides my path and I find just what will help me the most in a good book. I love having those light bulb moments that help me become a better me.

I am grateful to wake up to the beautiful smile of my baby. She smiles so much, I think her cheeks just might fall off her face. She melts my heart. I feel like I am holding a little piece of heaven with her.

I am grateful for my health and the health of my family. We have been blessed to be very healthy this year, all of us. Through reading, I have found different ways to stay healthy and am grateful for that knowledge. It has sure paid off.
I really could go on and on. There are so many things that are given to me daily.

I love this scripture Matthew 6:28-34
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof

The Lord truly blesses me.. I am grateful for that.

Update on Addie

Wow!! I can't believe that I have gone a whole month without updating anything. So much has happened in that amount of time also. It's just that if I have a free minute, I am trying to catch up on cleaning and laundry and all that good stuff. I can say that I have gotten good at doing things one handed.


Adalyn has been such an amazing joy to have in our home. She is such a happy baby. She is growing way to fast. Her latest stats are at her 2 month appointment she weighed 12lbs 8 ozs which is the 95th percentile. She was 24 inches long which is the 90th percentile. She has now been sleeping through the night for 11 days. She goes to sleep about 10:00 and wakes up to eat around 5. Than goes back to sleep until about 8.



We had her baby blessing the first Sunday in September. It was really nice. We had lots of family come and support us.

I also wanted to share something I have found that I want to recommend to all moms of newborns. They are called Kiddopotamus.

They are awesome. I have bought three of them. They help keep her swaddled and she can't wriggle her arms out. They also help keep her asleep longer. They have velcro on the blanket so they stay nice and snug. We use them every night before she gets put in bed. She has also almost outgrown her Moses basket. So, I guess we will be putting her in her crib in the next few weeks. That really makes me sad because I would really like her to stay little longer..

She has also found her voice. Aubrey sings to her and she will start singing back. Maybe she will be a singer like Aubrey. I have it on video and will post in another time. She is so happy in the morning. She just grins from ear to ear.
But, she hates her car seat. Man does she ever. This makes it hard to go anywhere. If it is longer than 20 minutes, she starts just wailing. Plus, she will not take a pacifier. So, we are homebound lots of the time.

But, life is good! I feel very blessed.

I love this lady

This last weekend Summer and I took the babies and went and visited my grandma. I am so thankful for this great lady. She is my hero.


I love this picture. She is looking at Adalyn with such love.


Here she is with Adalyn and Summer's baby Brighton. These pictures are priceless to me. I love my Grandma and I am thankful that my kids can know her also..

2 week check-up

I took Adalyn in for her two week check up and these are her stats.

At Birth she weighed 7 lbs 5 ozs and was 19 inches long.
At her 2 week check-up she was 8 lbs 4 ozs and 20 1/2 inches long.

She is such an amazing eater. She feeds every hour and a half which makes for a very tired mama. She still sleeps lots. I love having her in our home. The kids just adore her. Thank goodness for all the hands that want to help hold her. Otherwise, I am not sure how I would get anything done. I love having her sleep with me, which I know and have learned from past children that is not such a good idea. I just figure I will stop when she is a few months old. I feel safer knowing she is right next to me.
This has been so much work but I LOVE being her mother. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to take care of her.

The Birth story part 2 (part 1 below)

After running around trying to throw a bag together, we left for the hospital at 10:30. The contractions started to come a little more regular but they were still mild. Jonathan stopped at the gas station to load up on goodies for him and I. I guess I was still in denial because I was in no hurry to get to the hospital. I just really wanted to go home, get in bed and have a good night sleep.

We get to the hospital and I got out of the car. When I stood up it felt like Niagara falls had just let loose. I was soaked. How could there be anymore amniotic fluid? So, I embarrassingly sloshed my way into the Womans center. Thank goodness there were no elevators to go up.

When I went into the center, she asked me if I was sure my water had broken. I just sort of laughed. I told her yes that I was sure. She preceded to ask me a ton of questions because I didn't preregister. I was sort of annoyed at this point but answered all the questions.

Finally, I get to my room and I promptly handed them my birth plan, things that I wanted and did not want. Now, I hadn't written it out when my water broke. I had it all in my head. Remember I thought that I had time for all of this later. So, on the way to the hospital, I wrote out my birth plan. It consisted of things like I wanted to go completely natural. I did not want pitocin. I wanted to be able to walk around. I wanted them to wait until the umbilical cord stops pulsating before it was cut and I wanted to be able to hold the baby right after she is born and nurse her. This proved to be very invaluable later.

So, they still had to give me an i.v. that they put a heploc on. I still had to be hooked up to a monitor so they could monitor my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. But, this was all portable so that I could walk around. It proved to be very annoying because I had to push a stupid pole around but atleast I was not confined to a bed. Now it was just the waiting game. When I got to the hospital, I was dilated to 2 cm and 65 percent effaced. Haylee's labor was only 4 hours so Jonathan and I said lets have this baby by 3 in the morning. That was 4 hours. I thought I can do that. Well, the problem was my contractions were pretty weak and erratic. They were painful enough that I couldn't sleep. So, I walked and walked and walked. As long as I stayed moving they would stay consistent. If I laid down they would become erratic. I tried the Jacuzzi tub and it helped with the back pain but it also slowed the contractions down. So, I just walked. I watched the hours just tick by. I had her come check me again at 4 am. There was no progress. I was patient and thought, it's okay. I really tried to stay positive. I was exhausted already but knew I could still do this.

At 8 am my midwife came and checked me. I was at a 3 and still only 65 percent effaced. At this time she was worried that I wasn't making progress and that my contractions were not strong enough. Because my water had broken, we needed to do something more. So, she suggested pitocin. At that time, I was really wanting to progress. So, I agreed to the lowest amount. Well, that really got things started.
My contractions really picked up in intensity and frequency. They were coming every minute and lasting 30 seconds. So, I walked some more. I also did the birthing ball which was the best thing for back pain. I liked this best as it took pressure off of my pelvic area and I was able to rest a bit. At 10:00 I was at a 4 and 75 percent effaced. This was so frustrating for me. I felt like I was progressing so slow. At this time the contractions were very intense. It was getting harder and harder for me to relax and remember the methods I learned to help with labor. I was having a very hard time remembering to breathe and relax. Jonathan was so great though. He would constantly remind me to breathe. My midwife was also amazing. She would push on pressure points which helped relieve some of the pain of the contractions. I was truly amazed by the help she gave me. She was with me from 10:00 until I had the baby, helping me through the most difficult part of labor.

By noon I had only gotten to a five. I literally felt like I was losing my mind. I didn't know if I could do it anymore. The pain was the worst thing I have ever felt in my life. I became that woman that I thought I would never become. It was the worst thing to feel so out of control. At 12:30, I was begging for an epidural. They checked me than and I was at a 7. I didn't care. I WANTED AN EPIDURAL NOW!!! By the time the anesthesiologist got there I was dilated to a 9 and my body just took over. It was the craziest feeling. I had the strongest urge to PUSH! I had to get the baby out now! That is what I was yelling. But, I still wasn't at a ten. I still demanded the epidural. So, at 1:00 I got the epidural and he put one dose of numbing medicine through the tube. At 1:16 she was born. I think I got enough numbing to help with the pushing but I still felt everything!

I was disappointed with myself that I just did not hang on another 15 minutes. I almost did it. But, I can say that looking back the only thing I would have changed was hanging on another 15 minutes. I would do natural again. It was amazing to see how alert Adalyn was when she came out. She was completely different than any of my other babies at birth. She stayed that way for quite awhile. It was all worth it to me to see her not having any effects from the medication.

I will never tell another woman what is the best way to labor. It is by far the hardest thing I have ever gone through. This labor was far from what I thought it would be. I guess my only advice is have no expectations on how it will be and you will not be disappointed..

The Birth Story Part 1

It has taken me awhile to write this mainly because I was unsure if I wanted to share it. The reason for this is that I know quite a few pregnant ladies right now and did not want to influence them one way or the other with this story. This is just my experience and know that it will be different for every other pregnant woman out there, just like this birth story was completely different from my other four.

It all started in the late afternoon of the 22nd. I was having some braxton hicks contractions that were not going away with lying down or changing positions or any of that. But, they were very erratic. Sometimes they were 15 minutes apart and sometimes they were 3 minutes apart. They were not painful just annoying. I didn't say anything to Jonathan about them. I made dinner and was just going about my regular duties. Jonathan had church meetings that night and so I went and relaxed in my bedroom for a bit. They started getting a bit stronger but still no pattern to them. I really thought it was all false labor. I mean I still had 18 days to go. My two oldest had been gone that whole week on trek. They were to return around 9:30.
Jonathan had gotten home from his meetings about 9:00. I than decided to let him know that I was having some very irregular contractions. I told him not to worry it had to be false labor. My kids returned around 10:00. As I was listening to them speak of their adventures, I started having some mildly painful contractions. They were painful enough that I needed to concentrate on them and block others out. But, I still had 18 days to go. I kept telling myself it was false labor. I did not have any type of bags packed. I hadn't even preregistered at the hospital. I was going to do that on Monday at my next doctors appointment. So, I convincingly told myself that it was false and went and laid down.
As I was laying there I felt like I had just uncontrollably wet my pants. I have a very strong bladder so knew that it was something more. I stood up and called Jonathan in the room. I told him that I thought my water had just broken. But, I was unsure because it had never happened to me before. So, I started walking into the bathroom and well lets just say that I than became very sure that my water had broken. I started to panic. I wasn't ready for this. I still had a few weeks to mentally prepare for this. My babies had never been more than 5 days early. I than started to cry... I don't know why. I guess it was because the reality of the situation hit me. There was no turning back now.
I called my midwife to let her know that my water had broken and that I wanted to stay at home for as long as I can. She told me that I needed to go and get checked to make sure everything was okay. I wasn't really very happy about that because I knew they would make me stay. In hindsight, I wish I would have followed my own instincts and stayed home for awhile.


To be continued....

Our newest member, Adalyn Grace Bond

She was born on July 23rd at 1:16 pm. She weighs 7 lbs 5 ozs and is 19 inches long. This was my longest labor to date. She weighed and measured almost exactly what Aubrey did. She has one dimple in her right cheek. We named her after my Grandma Dean whose name is Ada Evelyn. So we combined her first and middle name to get Adalyn with a short A sound. I think this is fitting considering she resembles more of the Dean side. We are so glad she is here. I will save the labor story for another post. What I will say is that it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life..


Her Daddy already just adores her.


It is amazing to me that my heart can open up and love another so much. I love being her mother. The Lord has truly blessed our family with such a beautiful little girl..

An inspiration to me

Every Tuesday Jonathan and other members of the Elders Quorum presidency go out and do visits to less active members of our church. About 6 months ago, as they were making their visits, they came to a house of a young man named Mike. He is a married man about the age of 26 and grew up in a family that was not active. He was baptized at 8 but that was about it.
At first he was very friendly but just not interested. They sat and talked to him for a few hours and got to know him. At the time he was a guitar player in a band. He loves music and is very talented at playing the guitar and base. He and his wife fully lived the rock and roll lifestyle.
The next Tuesday the group was out making visits again and saw Mike on his front porch playing his guitar. So they went and talked with him again. They became his friend. It wasn't about lets get him to church. It was about being a friend to him. So, that is what Jonathan and the Elders quorum President became to him.
After a few months Mike had decided he really wanted to change. He surprised everyone and quit smoking cold turkey. He started coming to church. The hardest decision he had to make was to quit his band because he knew he could not stay clean while playing with them.
2 months ago, he received the Melchezidek priesthood and was ordained to the office of an Elder. He started temple prep classes 3 weeks ago and has decided he really wants to be able receive his endowments.

Yesterday Jonathan got a call from Mike who was very upset. His wife had just served him with divorce papers the night before and told him she wanted him out that night. She said he has changed and become to religious. So he packed up all his stuff in the back of his Jeep and headed to his parents home. He got a call from them saying that their house had just flooded and he would not be able to stay there. So, while he was trying to find a place to stay, his Jeep broke down on the side of the road. He left it there and went to get a part at the store for the Jeep. When he got back, the Jeep was gone with all his stuff. Someone had it towed and he had to figure a way to get it out. This is when he called Jonathan for help.
This morning I woke up early and as I was coming into the kitchen Mike was sitting on a chair reading his scriptures. Through all of this, he is still relying on the Lord.
What an inspiration it has been to me to see him. It reaffirms a few very important things to me. The temple and the work that is done there is vital to our salvation. Mike could have just said "this is to hard." But, he has not done that. He still has the desire to finish the temple prep classes and receive his endowments.
It also reaffirms to me that without my testimony of Jesus Christ I have nothing. Things can get really hard but I know in whom I can trust. How blessed I am to know Mike and have his example in front of me to help remind me of what really is important in life.

Summer's baby

Summer had her baby! I am so excited to see my baby sister become a Mom. It was such a great experience being able to be there with her and help her through one of the most important events in her life. She was scheduled to be induced but didn't have to be. Her water broke that morning at 5am. She had her epidural in by 6:30. From 6:30 until about 3, it was just a waiting game. We watched movies and read. I think her husband Jesse was getting a bit of cabin fever. It took her awhile to dilate to a 4 but, she went from a 4 to a 10 in a matter of 2 hours.
She started pushing at 3:00. But, Bryton decided to take her own sweet time. Summer did so amazing. She pushed for 3 hours. Jesse was a great coach. Bryton was born just a little before 6:00. She came out just a screaming.. She did not stop until she heard her daddy's voice. He started talking to her and she automatically stopped crying and just stared at him. He held her hand and just talked to her. It was such a sweet moment.

She weighed in at 7.7 lbs and 21 inches long..



She is so beautiful. It really makes me so anxious to meet my own little girl..

I love my job

My mother in law came up on Friday and took my three youngest kids down to New Mexico for the week. This is something that she does every summer. Aubrey used to go down too but I think she has out grown it. So, it is Jonathan, Aubrey and me. Having them gone really helps me to appreciate how much I really love my job as mom. I feel almost lost without them.
I was at the bank yesterday. Every time we go to the bank Haylee has to get a sucker but it has to be a blue one because that is her favorite color. So, it felt strange not to grab her a blue sucker. Aubrey and I were at Walmart and I was getting cereal. Jerin and Haylee are the ones that pick out the cereal. I just wasn't sure what to get. These are just little things that remind me of how much I love my kids and my job..
How blessed I feel to have the children I do. I love being a mom.

My decision

With much studying and reading I have decided to have this baby naturally using the Bradley method. I have been devouring books on this method and natural childbirth and the benefits that come from this. This will be my first go at this. All my other babies were born using an epidural. I got to tell you that I am nervous but really believe that if I practice and use the principles that are taught I can do it. Now, I just need to coach Jonathan on his responsibilities and hope he can do it also. With an epidural he just had to sit back and wait until they said it was time. Heck, thats all I had to do too.
This will sure be more work for the both of us. I can do this! That is what I must keep telling myself... Positive thinking, right?

Mothers Day

I have so many different things to post about lately but finding the time to do it is the tricky part. But, I have got to talk about Mothers Day or the day before Mothers Day. Some of my sisters took my mom out to lunch on Saturday, the day before. It was really nice spending the day together. While I was gone Jonathan and the kids spent a lengthy amount of time preparing my Mothers Day gift.
We have had this bit of weedy ground in our front yard filled with wood chips, weeds and dried up dead plants. I have wanted to plant something beautiful there and have talked about it but have not done anything. So, they decided to clean it up and plant a flower garden for me. He took the kids to a local nursery and they all picked out different kinds of flowers to plant. They all pitched in cleaning out the spot. I was told it took about 2 hours just to do that.
I wish we could have gotten a before and after shot so you could see all the work that went into it. But, I absolutely LOVE it!!! It
was by far the best gift I could have gotten, one that can last all Summer..





Here are some of the different kinds of flowers that were planted... I love them.

Art Royalty

The Springville Museum of Art holds an Art ball every year. It is a big tradition in Springville that has been going on for the past 75 years or more. This is one of their big events that raises money for the museum. It includes a nice dinner, dancing and a program. Everyone dresses up in their fanciest attire to come to it. They also have Art royalty that is announced the night of the program.

This year Aubrey decided to try out for it. She made it down to the twelve finalists. These 12 finalists than have to perform a talent and are interviewed by 8 different judges. I was able to watch her perform in front of the judges today but the interview part was completely closed. They are also asked to submit a paper answering a half dozen questions.

here she is after the talent competition waiting for her interview.


We have to wait until May 16th to find out if she has made Queen or an attendant.. Whatever happens, she did amazing today. She had some very tough competition as their are some crazy talented young women in the area.

Here is her performance. I was so nervous for her so I think I was shaking as bad as she was. Also there is something wrong with my camera because the pictures and video are just a bit blurry. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it..

Put it on me

RULES:1. Put your iTunes, iPod, MP3 Player, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

Do you need a good laugh? This will do it! I tag you ALL!

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
Black Bird- Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe soundtrack)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Juke Box Blues (Walk the Line soundtrack)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
City Traffic Puzzle - So Sudden

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Message in a Bottle- The Police

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
New Slang- The Shins

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Set it Off- Audio Slave

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Homeless- Michael McLean

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Miami-U2

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
The Star Spangled BAnner- Jimi Hendrix

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band- Paul McCartney and Bono

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Of the Girl- Pearl Jam

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Rollover DJ- Jet

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
In my daughters eyes- Martina McBride

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Nowhere with Love- Harry Connick Jr.

WHAT WILL/DID YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
I got a name- Jim Croce

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Love one another- Church Hymns (ha ha)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Let him fly- Dixie Chicks

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Come by me- Harry Connick jr.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Travelin Soldier- Dixie Chicks

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Everything I said- Cranberries

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Roxanne- The Police

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Father up above- Primary songs

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Christ the Lord is risen today- Mormon tabernacle choir... ( this is so not true)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Faithful- Pearl Jam

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
God so Loved us so he sent his son- Church hymns

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
If with all your heart- Primary songs

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Foolish Games- Jewel

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Making memories of us- Keith Urban

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
How sweet it is- James Taylor

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
I'm like a bird- Nelly Fertado

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Put it on me- Ja Rule

All kinds of fun

My sister Summer, Jesse and Dezmon came over for Sunday dinner. We love having them over as we always seem to have so much fun. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. We have this huge park right in our backyard so, we thought we would go and play games. The first game that we played was shotput and discuss.



Than we played a game of Croquet.





I had to put this picture in of Summer and my pregnant bellies. I know my eyes are closed but I think it is a cute picture. I love that we are pregnant together.



It was a great way to spend our Sunday afternoon.

The tummy sleeve

I had heard of this thing called the tummy sleeve. It is a piece of stretchable cloth that you can wear with your regular jeans while pregnant. I have always disliked most maternity clothes. Plus, they are so expensive.. I can just leave my regular jeans unbuttoned and it smoothes lines from the unbuttoned jeans. My sister Summer went and bought one and liked it so I thought I would give it a try. I absolutely love it.. It works so great. I can wear my old jeans, shorts, skirts.. whatever and don't have to buy those ugly maternity pants.. This is a must for any pregnant woman.

A first for everything

This week has been Spring break for the kids. Jonathan has had to work and so has Aubrey. So we have just stayed close to home. We decided that tonight we would travel up to Sandy and go see Monsters verses Aliens with my sister in law Kristy and her family at the Jordan Commons theater. It is so nice because this theater has reserved seating and lots of different restaurants and you can bring all the food into the theater with you. The kids are always excited to go watch movies up that way.

We were stopped at a light getting ready to turn into the theater complex and I looked over at the car next to me and there is a lady opening a bottle of Vodka and taking a drink out of it. I had to do a double take to make sure that is what I saw. It was a big clear bottle with the word Vodka written on it. I wasn't sure what to do. We had gotten the arrow to turn left. So, I got her license plate number and called 911. I told them everything that I saw in that quick 15 seconds. But, there were some things that I didn't get like the dispatcher asked me what was the color of her shirt? I did know important things like our location, the license plate number, the color and make and model of her vehicle, her race and how old I thought she was. I just kept saying I can't believe I just saw that... Devin's comment to me was "well you grew up in New Mexico I thought you would have seen that before." I have seen a few drunk drivers and plenty of drunks but never seen someone actually drinking and driving...

Aubrey's going to prom

I tell you the boys are sure alot more creative when it comes to asking a girl to prom than when I was a teenager. When I was a teenager it was like "uhh...hey do you want to go to prom with me?" And I would say "ya! Sure.." Well here are some pictures of what Aubrey's room looked like after the boy left who was asking her to prom.


This sign was left on her bed...


She had to pop the balloons until she found the one with his name on it. But, she decided to just peak through the balloons instead..


He was a smart guy. He waited until she left for Young Womens before doing it so he would not be caught in the act. He also asked Jonathans permission to take her to prom... No boys I ever dated did that. Can I say WOW!

Half way there

So I am half way through this pregnancy and I am feeling so good. I am growing very fast this month. I feel like my belly has sort of just popped out there. No more wearing my regular clothes. I guess I am going to have to start wearing maternity clothes. They just aren't very stylish. I am fighting it as long as I can get away with it.
It has been really neat to start feeling the baby actually move. Before it was just like flutters and I knew it was movement but this is different and so wonderful. Last night I was laying in bed reading. I had my hand on my belly and there was a hard kick right under my hand. It actually startled me. It was so awesome. I know I have done the pregnancy thing a few times before but it still amazes me. I love it.
I don't necessarily enjoy getting big or losing my favorite sleeping position. There are some things that stink about it. But, the idea that a life is growing is a miracle. I am truly blessed.

Happy Birthday Jonathan

Today Jonathan turns 36. We have celebrated the last 18 birthdays together. That is crazy.. I have been with him now for half of his life. Jonathan is such a good man. He has such a strong testimony of Jesus Christ. He is passionate about so many things. You will never find him sitting on a fence about anything. He has the desire to learn constantly and amazes me almost daily with something new that he has learned. This last year he has memorized most of the Declaration of Independance because it is important to him. He is a good husband, great father and my very best friend. How blessed I am that he is part of my life..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!!

Shocked

That is the best word to describe my feelngs. I had completely convinced myself that I was having a boy. There is a reason for that and a story that goes along with it but none of that matters now because I am having a girl. We are all very excited but no one is as excited as Haylee. When the tech told us, Haylee turned to me and said " see I knew it the whole time." I still was not convinced. So the doctor came in and looked at the baby and checked again and said "I am 100 percent positive it is a girl." so there we have it. I have no names at all. I guess I have a few more months to think about it.

Ultrasound

So I will be getting my ultrasound done on Monday the 16th. We are all very excited for this. So, I guess I will join the bandwagon and ask your opinion on what you think we will be having...

I will post and let you know when I do.

Catch up post

So not to many exciting things have been happening around here lately. This is a good thing considering my last post..

But, I was able to go to my first doctors appointment and heard the babies heartbeat. It was a beautiful 160 beats per minute. I  find it sort of comical that I am considered a high risk pregnancy because I am 35 years old.. I really did not feel old until they told me that. This means that I got to take an early glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes and I will have to take it again at 20 weeks. I also had to give about 5 viles of blood for all these other tests and my vein collapsed in the middle of it. That has never happened to me before. So, it left me with a big ugly bruise.

I stopped refereeing a few weeks early because it was just to hard for this old, pregnant body. I dreaded going so instead I chose to quit early. That was a big relief for me. Hopefully next year will be better.

And the best news of all is that I am starting to feel back to normal. I have more energy and I am not feeling so sick. Ya! for that.  I did find out that some of the reason that I was so exhausted all the time is that I have become Lactose Intolerant. Go figure... That is sort of a hard one for me because I love milk and cheese. I hope things will return to normal after the pregnancy.

A bit of a scare.

Over the last month or so Jonathan has been having some weird things happening to his heart. It will start to tighten and sort of spasm but than goes away fairly quickly. We have been keeping an eye on it and knew that we wanted to get him to the doctor for it but we haven't. 

Well today on the way home from teaching his class, it started to hurt and tighten, like someone was squeezing his heart. I was in the passenger seat and saw him turn pale. He than started to sweat all the while driving and grabbing his chest. Okay, I was scared....very scared. 

He drove himself to the ER. He went in and I parked the car. So they hurried him back to his room. They started running all kinds of tests, just one thing after another.  They were putting  medication under his tongue, hooking him up to an EKG machine, taking blood, taking x-rays, putting an IV in him. They took it very seriously. 

In the end they found that it was not his heart but the muscles around his heart that were spasming and tightening.   They gave him some muscle relaxants and said it was probably brought on by stress but they were not sure. 

So, I am very glad that his heart is fine. It was scary but that news is much better than my 35 year old husband is having a heart attack. 

35 isn't that old

I remember when I was young thinking that 35 was OLD. Well, it is amazing how perspective has changed. Yesterday was my birthday. It was a nice quiet day. My sister Amber came and got me for lunch. We went and ate sushi and had a great time talking and being with one another. I love her company. She is so thoughtful. She also put a slideshow together for me on her blog. That evening Jonathan and the kids took me to my favorite restaurant Thai Ruby. I love this place. Everything tasted so good to me, which is good considering these days very little tastes good to me.

Yesterday was also the first day of my second trimester.. HALLELUJAH! I am hoping that my appetite and my energy level return soon. I go to my first Doctor's appointment today. I am excited to hear the baby's heartbeat and make sure everything is okay. 

Thanks to all of you who sent birthday wishes my way. I have the best family and friends ever!!

My heart aches

I have so many things to be grateful for. The Lord has blessed me so tremendously and continues to do so on a daily basis. But, over the last few days my poor heart has been aching for Jonathan's cousin Audrie and her son Kristoffer who is 5. For some of you this story is a repeat but for others, it is not. So, I will tell it in my words but will also give you the link so you can here it in Audrie's words.
http://theflackfamily.blogspot.com/
About a week ago her son was running a temperature and said his stomach hurt. So, she took him into Instacare and they ran an xray of his stomach and found a mass. From there they sent her to the ER and that is where they ran a CAT scan and found a large tumor on his Kidney and some spots on his liver. The next day he was flown to a hospital in Phoenix where they took a biopsy of the tumor. He is now in Albuquerque so they he can be closer to home. It is a very fast growing tumor and so they are starting chemo treatments for him tomorrow. It is heartbreaking to me that she has got to make such hard decisions for her 5 year old little boy. Haylee and Kristoffer are just 3 months apart in age.
All of my prayers have included Kristoffer. May I ask for you to please pray for him also. Through our faith miracles can happen. I believe this... And please remember who is important in your life and let them know...

Dating Contract

Now that Aubrey is sixteen we as parents feel that it is our duty as her custodians to make sure that she feels safe and taken care of on the dates she goes on. I remember all to well some of my own dating experiences and so I want to keep her out of some of those situations if at all possible. So, we were talking with some of our good friends Roger and Larin. She told us of the dating contract that each of the boys had to sign before taking her or any of her sisters out. Well, we got it from her dad and put a little bit of our own into it.
At first Aubrey did not like the idea. But, I think she has finally gotten used to it and doesn't seem to mind it. Anyway, here is the contract. Tell me what you think?

Jonathan and Melanie Bond
Parents

________________
Defender of Honor

The Bond Family of Springville, Utah, acting as Celestial Custodians of Aubrey Bond, do stipulate the following terms and conditions contractually binding upon the defender for the high privilege of accompanying said daughter on petitioned dates between her ages of 16 and 18. The defender certifies that he will faithfully abide by these terms and does so of his own free will and choice:

• The defender will physically protect and defend said daughter from any situation fraught with peril (i.e., shady characters, associates involved with smoking, drugs, or alcohol, friends involved in moronic behavior, etc.).

• The defender agrees to pay for all "damages" encountered in the course of the date. Damages can consist of meals, transportation, sporting events, entertainment, accouterments (flowers, candy, perfume, bribes for the father/mother, etc.), however, NO live animals nor rings will be accepted! "Dutch" dating may be agreed to before hand.

• The defender will protect and promote virtue at all costs. defender will not engage in a goodnight" kiss with said daughter during the course of the date. At the end of the date, a goodnight kiss on extremely rare occurrences (approximately once every 33,414 dates) may be exchanged. Kiss will be exactly the kind given to his mother. Examples may be asked for! A peck on the cheek or a quick kiss on the lips of less than 3 nanoseconds duration may qualify. In addition, holding hands is limited to situations requiring chivalry (crossing the street, escorting to dance floor - father cannot think of any other examples!). Holding hands while walking in the park, walking to class, walking in the hallway or any other situation which causes other boys to view said defender and daughter as an "item" are strictly prohibited.

• Defender will have said daughter returned to her home by curfew. Curfew is 10 PM on weekdays and 11:30 PM on Fridays or Saturdays. Earlier arrivals are encouraged and looked upon favorably by said parents. Curfew requires said defender to vacate premises (no hanging around here after curfew!). Any suspected violations must be phoned in to the parents for notification and/or approval.

• Defender will acknowledge that said daughter is a jewel of priceless worth to her family. He will treat her with complete respect, courtesy, and will take all possible precautions to include but not limited to:
• Driving defensively and obeying all posted speed limits;
• Never parking in a car for conversation or amorous purposes;
• Avoiding all solitary dating situations (always being in the presence of the double dating couple);
• Never dating said daughter twice in a row (2 week minimum interval
required if daughter has not dated anyone else in the meantime);
• Never raising his voice in anger;
• Never pressuring her to do anything of a less than a celestial nature;
• Never acting like a jerk (as far as within his power!).


Entered into on this day of ____________


signature ______________________________

I am feeling old

Refereeing season has started. I reffed 4 games last night and by the time the fourth game hit, I was already hurting. My muscles in my legs just ached. I wondered how I was going to get through the fourth game. Luckily, it was a blow out so not a whole lot of running was involved. 

Just add the pregnancy to the mix and this body just isn't up for it this year. My energy level is literally non existent. Although I do find that exercising seems to help somewhat. I hope that when this first trimester is over that things will pick up. I know that getting pregnant in my older years is harder than my younger ones or I have just forgotten what it was like. Either way I really need to figure out a way to have more energy. I am just dragging all day long. I looked it up online to see what I can do about it and why and this is what it said: 

"Your body is really quite wonderful. During what is called the implantation phase of a pregnancy (the time when the ovum and sperm have joined and it is getting settled into the uterus) the development of the zygote is extremely fragile. Your body is in an amazing race to get the zygote implanted so that it can develop into a fetus. Your body understands this reproductive process far better than we can and it produces hormones to make you tired so that you will take it easy and you will rest - this helps to protect the fragile life that is getting settled in your womb.

We're a society that is constantly on the go so the constant feeling of tired can be really annoying. But as the old saying goes, rest is often the best medicine. You need the rest so that your body can utilize the extra glucose for the baby. It needs it to fuel development and so once you know that the line has turned pink, it's important to plan for some rest time during your day."

Anyway, I really am looking forward to when I start feeling normal again.

Haylee's Birthday

Okay So Lots has happened since the last time I blogged. Christmas, New Year's and Haylee's birthday. Her birthday falls on December 31st. She was my New Years baby and made it with 45 minutes to spare. She is such an amazing joy to my life. She constantly tells me how beautiful I am. I can wake up in the morning, have bed head and she says "mom you are beautiful." I really enjoy being her school teacher this year. I get so much satisfaction out of helping her learn all kinds of new things. She has a great sense of humor and comes up with some of the funniest things. Lately most of them that she comes up with have to do with babies and her ideas of how they get in my tummy and come out. HILARIOUS!!!
So, on each of the kids birthdays they get to choose a favorite restaurant to go to. Haylee chose to go eat sushi.. Yes, sushi is her favorite. She got to choose what she wanted and she said that the dragon roll was her favorite.






Than we decided to go clothes shopping so she could choose out her birthday present. We went to three stores before she could find something that she actually liked. She is very picky and knows exactly what she wants. So if we couldn't find it, we went to another store.


To end the night we went to my cousin Amy's house for a fun New Year's/Haylee's birthday party. We all sang her Happy birthday. It is such a treat for her because there is always such a big crowd at her party.

It is hard to believe my baby is six.. They grow up so fast.. I think this is my very favorite age. She still thinks the world of her mom and dad....