BRANDON + STEPH + JACK

Jack's Assisted Walking and Brief Standing

2012-02-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

Our sister-in-law Kasey is letting us borrow her dinosaur walker thing until her baby needs it. So we tested it out today and Jack loves it! He even surprised us (if you couldn't tell I was surprised by my reaction)by standing for a brief second! I'm not sure if I'm ready for a walking baby....

We're Officially Adults

2012-01-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

We closed on our house yesterday! Everything went really smoothly with our loan and we had no delays. So we closed a few days early and got to sign a mile-high stack of papers.. and even got to take a copy of all of them home! We get the keys today and we couldn't be more anxious. We feel like REAL adults now. We are parents. We have a house that we will be paying a mortgage on. THIS IS CRAZY!!

We have TONS of work to do on this house before we can move in. Let me include you on a little taste of our upcoming week:
-Rip out all carpet and nails and staples.
-Check for any urine stains (yep the joy of dogs...) and if any, cover in Kilz primer.
-Remove all baseboards on the main level (carefully as we plan on putting them back on)
-Remove the sub floor in the kitchen and front entry way.
-Paint as many walls as possible in the entire house.
-Install hard wood flooring in the entry way, hallway, living room, kitchen, pantry, dining area, garage hallway, half bath, and laundry room.
-Reinstall baseboards.
-Get carpets ordered, shipped and installed.
-Clean the entire house.
-Get the vents and air ducts cleaned out of remaining dog hair and dander.
-Pick up a new furniture set from RC Willey that we purchased a month and a half ago.
-Pick up stuff we have been storing at Cam and Kasey's house in Lehi.
-Move ALL of our stuff to the new house hopefully on Saturday February 4th.

Sound like fun to anyone?!

We have a lot of work to do... and if any of you are willing to help, we will take whatever you will offer. We will be at the house in Spanish Fork every night from 5 to 11. I will also be there during the day some times. So any day or night that you are free- come on down! We will always have a job for you to do.

After this move, we will be tired, sore, and broke, but SOO happy to be in our own home!

A New (Home) Life on the 27th

2012-01-07T11:35:00.001-07:00

We're one step closer to being homeowners. We received our approval letter from the bank. Now we have three weeks to close. WOW! That's quick. But we've been told it can and will be done. We couldn't be more excited!

Our home. (As long as the process runs smoothly.)

We've posted about this house previously but to brush up, it's a house in Spanish Fork in a little neighborhood near the highway called Spanish Fields. We've looked at a number of houses in this area of Spanish Fork. The neighborhood is a little cookie cutter and the houses a little boxy but the prices are amazing. We really love the home though. The layout is so logical; nothing strange going on and it has plenty of room to grow. Built in 2006 it's newer so there isn't a lot of big projects. Except one. All new floors throughout.

The day we saw the house we were greeted with what seemed like burying our faces in 6 feet of wet dog fur. Obviously this was a concern right away. As we walked through the house we didn't see any major issues except the carpet. It was as if it had been found in a dumpster behind an old skating rink. There is even a gaping burned hole where it looks like a fire was built to keeps the wolves at bay. However, we pushed forward. The rooms were spacious and the closets in correct proportion with the room sizes. The master is just the right layout to put our king bed on the appropriate wall; it didn't leave us wondering where we would put the bed as some homes do, even with a big master. A major plus is the master bath and closet. Finally, my wife can have room to move around and enough space to hang the jammed contents of her current closet. Ok, my closet is equally jammed.

Looking out from the kitchen over the dining and family rooms. Not much separation so we're carpeting the family room and putting hard floors in the dining room, kitchen, pantry, entry and living room.

A logically thought out floor plan puts 2,921 sq ft on two floors without a basement. Walk in the front door and you enter a good sized living room. It leads down a short entry into a great kitchen connected to which is a huge pantry (YES!). Looking out from the kitchen is a good sized dining room and a family room, all open and spacious. Off the dining room is a sliding door that leads into the backyard where, luckily and unfortunately, the dogs (at least two great danes) took care of business. Not huge but enough for playing and a small garden. Needs a little work but with some seeding and fence finishing it will be great. Off the family room is the entry from the garage. In the entry is what would usually be the laundry room and opposite that, a half bath; something we decided was a must-have.

Living room.

The garage, ah the garage. Oh how long have I yearned for your trusting embrace and available space. It's not huge by any means but it doesn't really matter. It's a place to hang my tools and upgrade my man card. I'm as excited about the garage as I am about anything else.

Off the short entry into the kitchen/dining are the stairs that take you up into a huge loft or upstairs family room. What a great place for kids and informality.

Pretty stoked about the kitchen.

From there you enter the master. And it is a great master. Opposite the master is a hallway with the remaining 2 rooms, closets and bathroom. The first is Jack's room. He's going to absolutely love it when he's old enough to care. It's big and has plenty of room to store all of his possessions that he cares about equally as little as having a room. Except for an empty water bottle and a plastic package with a nursing cover in it which together make up his favorite toys.

Next to Jack's room is the laundry closet. We could move it downstairs into the empty room that should be the laundry room but we love the idea of laundry right next to Jack's room and on the same floor as the master.

Then the guest bath. It's a guest bath. Sink, tub, toilet.

One of the two closets across from the bathroom is for linens etc. and the other houses the 50 gallon water heater, awesome, and one of the two furnaces. One for upstairs and one for downstairs. Awesome as well. Something we didn't know about until our inspection. Also there is an AC unit for both up and down too. Can't beat that.

So that's our house. We close on the 27th and order new carpet. Then we will paint everything and rip out the old carpet the next week. We'll put in the new carpet and hard floors when they get there and move in hopefully the first half of February. We can't wait!

Oh, about the dog smell. We were worried but the inspector showed up and comforted us by saying it wasn't even that bad relatively speaking. It's not urine so replacing the carpet will take care of it. That was a weight off of our shoulders.

We'll post pictures and updates about how it's all going.

All I want for Christmas... no seriously.

2012-01-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Not many people know this about me (Brandon). And why should they? It's not something that pops up in normal conversation very often. But I'm telling the world now. Well, at least the 5 of you reading this.

It started when I was 14 and my younger brother and I were playing a common, not seemingly dangerous game of throw the object at each others' faces. Haven't heard of it? Well it was a common occurrence in our shared basement family room turned bedroom, (lots of space for launching said objects). The object of choice for this particular round was our niece Alyssa's soft, furry Elmo doll. What could possibly go wrong? As Chris and I hurl Elmo back and forth I decide I'm going to dodge the next assault by diving between our bunk beds. As I take flight my head instinctively turns to see my nemesis fail and BAM! One of Elmo's rock solid eyes in the midst of all that plush finds my mouth and I'm left with half a front tooth and lots of self confidence missing.

I thought my life was finished. Come to find out, the tooth could be fixed with relative ease. So I went on with life, braces and all. Until two weeks before I left on my mission. Another fun-filled game this time with a friend from college. We were taking turns holding a half-sized punching bag for each other. Obviously in a girl filled apartment, because we were so extremely tough and very impressive by our own standards. With one uppercut from my colleague one of the two straps that support the bag when hanging bounced toward my face and the metal ring secured on the end of it found my mouth as quickly and covertly as Elmo's stealthy eyeball. I stood there as unimpressive as I could possibly be with the same half of the one tooth absent and the bottom fourth of the other deciding to follow suit. I snatched what I could find of my teeth from the ground thinking the shards must be worth saving and made myself absent.

I went the next two years without incident. I returned home and my dentist told me veneers were the way to go in fixing them for good. Not knowing any better I went with it. After grinding my poor teeth down to nubs the veneers were attached. And with almost nothing for the veneers to glue onto they eventually started breaking off if I bit down on something hard.

Today I have no choice but to avoid any contact between food and my two front teeth. And I mean food in general, not just the hard stuff. It's a terrible way to live your life; trying to bite everything with the side of your mouth. Jamming everything in the corner so you can get a good rip. Try it out, it's extremely unpleasant and borderline savage. In restaurants I'm 93% positive people are asking themselves, "Who's the caveman that can't bite his food like a civilized human being?"

My current dentist knows how poorly the veneers were done and suggested fixing them for good. However, our insurance wasn't going to cover any of it and fixing my teeth became a want instead of a need. I didn't give fixing them a second thought until this Christmas.

My loving, caring and amazing wife decided to surprise me a bit. My final gift this year was a little box, light in weight but heavy in compassion. As my wife played the song "All I want for Christmas..." on her iPod I opened the gift to find a ring box inside. I knew what it contained. My older brother Aaron's two wisdom teeth that we pass around my family as a gag. I laughed and thought, "My wife is funny." Then it started to hit me. There is more to this than I thought. Steph started to explain and my tears started to flow. She knew exactly what I really wanted and needed. A normal life! So within the next month I will be going through the process of getting my teeth back. What an amazing, sensitive and understanding gift! I love my wife and she's made it obvious that she loves me.

Aaron's wisdom teeth representing my new two front teeth.

Jack Says Mama!

2011-11-02T11:16:00.000-06:00

Jack just started to say mama! I know he is just discovering different sounds and it is a normal developmental stage to say mama and dada without knowing what he is saying, but it is seriously the cutest thing and it melts my heart. Brandon was out of town in China when Jack started saying it, so I recorded it and emailed it to him while he was gone. Now I will share it with all of you!

Our House Search Update

2011-10-30T18:13:00.001-06:00

We've been asked a lot lately how the house hunting is coming. So I thought I would post about it and let everyone know! It makes us happy when people ask how things are going. We're very excited and anxious to be home owners... so we could talk your EARS off about the houses we have seen and the progress!

We have 3 offers in on houses currently. They are all in Spanish Fork. One of them we are the back-up offer, so we aren't thinking that one is going to turn out positively for us. We are the first offer on the other two. They are both in the same neighborhood (Spanish Fields in Spanish Fork, Utah) and the exact same layout/style. They have a lot of similarities and they also have a lot of differences which is nice. We would be completely happy in either of these homes.

They are both short sales, which translates to "LONG SALE."

House number one:

In short:
Has 2 mortgages, so the process is taking longer.

More details:
The first one is the one we posted about a bit ago here. Great price, great house, lots of square-footage, needs a yard, needs a fence, needs paint, but has great new carpets. Unfortunately it has 2 mortgages currently, so we have to have our offer accepted by 2 different banks, which means the process will probably take twice as long. We know the sellers accepted our offer, and the BPO was ordered (real estate appraisal.. not a real appraisal but they basically give their opinion on what the house is worth and then the bank will go off that opinion and decide whether our offer is acceptable of not) about 3 weeks ago and still hasn't been completed. So we are still waiting.

House number two:

In short:
Just put down the offer; so far so good.

More details:
The second one we put the offer down the day Brandon and I got back from out of town (so about a week ago). It has a great yard, only needs a fence in the very front, lots of square-footage, and needs all new carpet throughout the house. So we priced out the carpet and flooring that needs to be done and submitted our offer based on the amount we will be spending once we get the house. We know the sellers accepted our offer, the real estate agent has requested information from us, has submitted everything to the bank, and the bank requested more information. So it seems as though the bank is active at this point. They also have a website they use to submit all information and to communicate with, which is supposed to expedite the process. Let's hope! This house only has one mortgage currently so only one bank to work with. We're hoping that when a BPO is ordered, they will consider the fact that ALL the carpets will need to be replaced and be nice on the price.

Anyways, wish us luck, say a prayer, and cross your fingers that one of these work out. And they work out soon. My goal is to be in a house for the holidays. Wouldn't that be an amazing Christmas present to us?!

Thanks for all your support. We love you all.

The Torture of Weening From Swaddling

2011-10-03T12:51:00.000-06:00

Jack's an amazing sleeper and always has been. We've been pretty spoiled. He started sleeping 8 hours straight in the night when he was 7 weeks old. Then he started sleeping 10-12 hours around 9 weeks. He takes 2 to 3 naps a day for 2 hours each nap. We don't have to put him to sleep, we don't have to rock him or anything. But he does have to be swaddled with his bear pacifier. With those two things, he sleeps perfectly!

We use the Velcro swaddle blankets and they've been great since Jack likes to sleep with his feet straight out and his arms to his side. Well he grew out of the small size and there isn't a medium, so he has been in the large for a month now, but he is too skinny for it! It is on the edge of the Velcro and now it won't stick anymore. So he gets his arms out and can't calm himself down. So we end up going in there and re-swaddling him so he can fall back to sleep.

Well he's now over 5 months old and we keep being told from everyone (seriously it must be the question/advice we get most often) that we need to stop swaddling him. So this week I've decided to focus on getting Jack to sleep without being swaddled with his pacifier on his chest.

It's Monday. I just put Jack down for his first nap. OMG I don't know if I can handle this! I think I have tried everything...
1. I rocked him to sleep while holding him. I put him in his crib on his tummy with his pacifier in his mouth. He stayed asleep but woke up by the time I made it back to the living room.
2. I then flipped him over on his back and put a blanket around his stomach with the pacifier in the blanket and in his mouth. He then cried and kicked and I saw on the video monitor that the blanket was completely covering his face.
3. I went in to remove the blanket and left him without a blanket. He was all smiles as he saw me and when I left, he started screaming.
4. I let him cry for 20 minutes straight! He never calmed down. He just kicked and moved his arms.
5. I went back in there and held him to try to calm him. I finally got him calm again. I slowly started to lower him back into the crib and he started screaming again.
6. So I put him in the swing. I didn't swaddle him. I buckled him in the swing with his pacifier (maybe we will try one of the 2 things at a time). I turned on some white noise and left the room. He sat in the swing awake for about 5 minutes then fell asleep.
7. He was asleep for 12 minutes until he started sucking on the leg of the bear pacifier and kicking. Right now he's getting fussy again.

So now I sit here an hour after putting him down and he slept for a total of 12 minutes. THIS IS TORTURE!!! I don't know if I can do this for 2 more naps today plus all night, oh and multiply that by 7 for the rest of the week!

Help me! What can I do differently?

Our Little Roly Poly

2011-10-01T12:41:00.001-06:00

Ok Jack is a super skinny baby. He maybe has a total of 4 rolls on his entire body and they're more like skin rolls than fat rolls. So the title of this post isn't referring to him looking like a roly poly, but instead acting like one!

Jack learned how to roll over! He's been rolling from his tummy to his back for a couple of months now (but still not intentionally), but just started to roll from his back to his tummy! I think it's so funny. I'm so proud of our little man! I took some videos on my phone and thought I would share them with you.

He shares a little treat at the end of two of the videos, which I think is funny, and a normal occurrence around here, so enjoy!

P.S. Sorry the quality is awful!!

Jack at 5 months.

Truth or Photoshop.

2011-09-28T13:59:00.001-06:00

You know those infomercials on TV for a workout video that GUARANTEES you will lose half your body weight or some insane amount like that? And they have before and after photos of people who have used the video and lost the weight? Is it just me or does the after photo seem a little far fetched? I always wonder if they get a picture of a completely different person, or if they just used photoshop to make them look skinnier. Well despite all that, I am a sucker for those infomercials. I even own some of the videos. And with life as hectic as it is these days, I decided that these videos might be my only resource to a workout. I try to go to the gym, but it doesn't seem to happen. I tried running, but my body just doesn't run. So the videos are the answer. And I am here to be your REAL life example and let you know if these videos actually work or not!

So here is the collection of videos I am using.

1. 10 Minute Trainer
2. 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels)
3. Hip Hop Abs
4. So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit "Cardio Funk" workout video
5. Paula Abdul's Get Up and Dance workout video (classic. Love this one)
6. Crunch, Tae Boxing
7. Core Cardio
8. Cardio Dance Jam
9. Just Dance 2 on the Wii (if you are wondering why this is on my list, then you haven't tried it! This is so hard. Try doing this for 30 minutes straight without a break!)

Brandon and I have been talking about losing weight ever since Jack was born. During pregnancy, I gained a few too many pounds... and Brandon might have as well:) So about a month and a half ago, we finally set a goal to lose some weight by Thanksgiving. And if we both hit our goal, we get to go on a cruise next year. YAY VACATION!!

Our Goals:
Brandon: Lose 17 pounds
Steph: Lose 20 pounds

And two weeks ago, we finally started trying to lose weight. Go us.

So two weeks down and the results are:
Steph: Total loss of 7 pounds
Brandon: Total loss of 8 pounds

I'm gonna try to keep record of our weight loss, and any tips or helpful things we have learned along the way here on our blog. So keep checking back to see how we are doing.

Another Offer. Another Light of Hope.

2011-09-26T12:16:00.000-06:00

The last house we put an offer on felt like the one. We both got all tingly and giddy whenever we thought about our new life in that house. We looked up the church we would be going to, we talked to a neighbor who was super nice, we drove around the neighborhood, looked at the area, the river, the sports complex right by it, the parks, the stores and restaurants, and we drove to our brother and sister in laws house, Chris and Julia, to see how far it was from their place.

We were hooked. It was like love at first site. There were imperfections but we saw those as potential. It was perfect for us. So when we found out that they didn't accept our offer and took a different offer, we felt like our true love had denied us or something. We never even got the chance to fight for it. We still don't know how much the accepted offer was for. I became distraught (even despite Brandon's post saying we weren't knocked down). The house hunting slowed down. We were comparing all the houses we saw to the one we put an offer on.

Until now. Brandon went to Toronto this past week for work (such a big timer... I love it!) and I went and looked at a house while he was gone in the same neighborhood as the one we put an offer on. And I put an offer on it! We faxed the paperwork to Brandon in Canada and $26 later, the offer was in. The bad news is it's a short sale. (At first we avoided short sales, but now it is impossible. There are so many!) There's also 2 mortgages on the house, so it has to be approved by 2 banks. Ergh. But the good news is that the sellers approved the offer and it was submitted to the first bank last Wednesday. So we're hoping for an exception in the short sale process and hoping we hear word soon.

Cross your fingers. Wish us luck. This house is for us!

Jack Laughing

2011-09-23T00:41:00.000-06:00

We are very biased parents.

We think our baby boy is the cutest person to ever be born. But after watching this video, I think a few of you might think the same thing! He melts our hearts. Sometimes I get nothing done because I enjoy holding him and watching him laugh all day. We are so blessed to be parents to this well-tempered, happy, sweet child.

This video is just over 2 minutes long, but he laughs the whole time! Well worth it.

Pure Giveaway Winner

2011-09-19T13:11:00.003-06:00

Congrats to "Unknown" for winning the Pure Sound earbuds. The random picker chose the number 6 comment as the winner but blogger did not post this person's name. However, I have received information that this "unknown" poster is Chad Henkel. Congrats Chad! You're a lucky man.

The following is Chad's guilty pleasures playlist.

I saw the sign - ace of base
cowboys from hell - pantera
salt shaker - lil jon & eastside boys
down - 311
genie in a bottle - christina aguilera

BOOM!

Nice Chad, very nice.

We'll be giving away more gifts so stay posted.

Jack's SECOND Haircut!

2011-09-15T11:29:00.001-06:00

I had to cut Jack's hair AGAIN! He is now 4 1/2 months old, and it has only been 6 weeks since I cut it the first time. But it only grows on the very top of his head! The rest of his head is balding. He is losing his hair so bad. Every morning when I get him out of his crib, the sheet underneath him is filled with hair. The poor kid. I love his cute hair and it makes me so sad that he is losing it. But the chunk on the top of his head keeps growing like a weed. What is up with that?!

Anyways here is a before and after shot to show everyone how cute he is!

What do you guys think?

Jack's Blessing

2011-09-12T16:07:00.005-06:00

Jack was blessed on June 5th, 2011 at 5 weeks old. He wore the cutest little white outfit that consisted of white suit pants (courtesy of Jared and Stephanie Marcum), a white button-down collared shirt from Gap, and a white paisley printed tie that I scored from Kid-to-Kid for $3. His hair was styled, his tummy was full, and he slept through the whole blessing!

He wasn't too happy about getting dressed.

Family Photo .. including the peace sign!

We had friends and family over at our place after the blessing to enjoy some fresh summer foods. It was so good to see everyone and to share this wonderful day with so many we love.

My sweet Grandpa and Grandma Ellsworth. They passed away 4 weeks from each other and I miss them so much. I am so glad that my Grandpa was able to use his priesthood for his last time on this earth in Jack's blessing circle.

My Dad and baby Jack!

Sweet Julia helping in the kitchen

My aunt Nettie and my cousins Kaitlyn and Whitney

Friends came too! Brandon's friends from college

My friends from college. I am so glad they came!

Pure Giveaway

2011-09-12T16:06:00.000-06:00

If you don't love music you live in the wrong century. Great tunes can keep you going when you've hit a wall and I'm sure you have your favorite mix. This is our first giveaway and it's a good one. It's a pair of PUR-800 titanium driver earbuds.

PURE Sound has offered to give away these high-end earbuds to one of our readers. They're an $80 value and sound amazing! Just post a comment by Saturday at 11:59 PM and let us know the 5 songs in your "guilty pleasures" playlist. You know, those 5 songs you never want anyone to know you listen to on a regular basis. Don't worry, we won't tell. Just one winner for these babies so choose your songs wisely.

Details: Pure Giveaway ends Saturday, September 17 at 11:59 PM. One winner will be picked and announced on Monday September 19. Giveaway ships anywhere in the United States. One entry per person. Winner will be picked randomly using random.org.

Rejection

2011-09-07T16:51:00.001-06:00

Well, it's happened. Our first home heartbreak. We got the email this morning informing us that the bank decided to go with another offer. The house we fell in love with just days ago slipped through our apparently monetarily weak little fingers. It's almost like our future pushed us off our tricycles and then laughed in our faces while a single tear dropped from our dejected little cheeks. Now that you feel utterly and hopelessly sorry for us I will say we will not falter! We've picked ourselves up off that unyielding slab of concrete, wiped the blood from our swollen knees and we're going to punch our future right in the belly! TAKE THAT, FUTURE!

(A photo of the house that broke our hearts.)

Our hopes are building again and we've wasted no time in our search. Another list of homes to see and a skip in our step that just hours ago was more like a body being pulled across loose gravel. We're even considering past homes we've seen which I'm sure all you "seasoned" home owners/seekers can relate to.

It's not easy being all grown up but it has its perks. Like buying the toys you could never have as a child. Or eating candy until it actually does spoil your appetite. Or even when your doctor tells you that you could lose a little weight. Yep. I'm an adult now. I knew it would come but my mind that says, "oh yeah, you look exactly like you did when you were 18," just doesn't want to deal with such adult issues. I'm getting up the courage to promise all of the digital world that I will run every day until this extra "plump" is gone. However, I don't really want all four of you reading this to be on my back about it. That's more stress than my clogged arteries can handle right now. Until then, I'll see what I can do to bring the 18, or at least the 25, out of me again.

Brandon's first, but definitely not last. (Fingers crossed.)

2011-09-02T15:56:00.009-06:00

There is nothing more that my wife would like me to participate in than writing on the blog. I didn't feel like I had anything interesting to say besides, "things are good" and "work is busy." I started thinking about it though; it doesn't matter if you have anything good to say, you make your wife's day regardless. I love you Steph!

Things are good and work is busy. If you find yourself being content with that sentence stop reading now. It will only get longer and more detailed. And by detailed I mean boring. And by boring I mean great for me to tell, not quite as exciting for you to read. Unless you like torture by words then by all means, indulge.

No pictures in this first post. Shame on me I know. I just wanted to write a bit about life as it is now and possibly a little bit about the road we're taking.

If you're reading this I'm sure you know, but little Jack was born on April 26th of this year. You know that feeling you get in your throat when you just mention a miracle. Yeah, I'm having that. Was it the most amazing thing I could ever experience, watching my son be born? It is no doubt above funeral potatoes which is saying a lot for a guy without a sophisticated palate. He's a heartthrob. At least for us. And for older women at the grocery store.

You won't meet a more proud dad than I. He didn't just make it into law school. He didn't just get a 34 on his ACT. In fact, he just started grabbing his toes the other day but he might as well have solved the energy crisis. He's such a little champion. He has conquered our hearts forever.

Then there is my wife. My strong, sensitive, immensely loving wife. I wouldn't and couldn't be the man I'm on my way to being without her. The end of that road is too far to see but she knows where it is and takes me by the hand and proceeds forward. She cares for the well-being of this family more than I care for anything Apple. Again, that's a lot. She's an amazing mother. Jack always comes before her desires and even her needs. It's been incredible to see how she loves him, how she cares for his every need. Even how she worries if something seems wrong. I couldn't have asked for a better mother for my child(ren).

Now me. I design headphones and everything around them. It's the kind of job you wish for but never seem to find. There's a bit of managing a creative team, there's a bit of writing and there's a lot of designing awesome stuff for people who love awesome stuff. Empire Brands has grown so much in the past three years and this is the beginning of our growth. Now that I'm in-house and the creative processes are streamlined, the sky is the limit. Remember, we're in headphones, not airplanes. It's a figure of speech.

We'll be buying a house soon and with that will come some re-____ of at least some things. We're so excited to have our own little piece of "the real life" and we hope to post some of the happenings here. Our talented and creative bother and sister-in-law, Chris and Julia, have done so many great things with their place and have really inspired the artist in me to make our place perfect. Or as close to perfect as we can get it before we move on.

Our little family, our life together and our families here and beyond make me so very happy. Hopefully I can repay some of that happiness in some little way.

Jack's First Hair Cut

2011-08-05T16:08:00.002-06:00

Jack has grown pretty quickly over the past 3 months. And so has his hair. It has always been an attention getter and the topic of all conversations when he is around. In fact, I sometimes count how many people stop to talk to me about his hair when we go out and I tell Brandon when he gets home... it is fun!

But his hair started to get a little out of control. Brandon tried to convince me for about 3 weeks that we should cut it. Well last night our kitchen was turned in to a barber shop as I cut Brandon's hair and Jack's hair. I normally cut Brandon's, so that was no problem. Jack on the other hand wanted nothing to do with getting his hair cut. He was screaming the entire time. I am ashamed to say I did a horrible job, but when it is styled like we usually do his hair, you can barely tell the mistakes I made.

Anyways, here is a before and after comparison of his wild and crazy locks.

This kid is going to break hearts when he is older!

Do you see a difference?

2011-08-02T16:31:00.001-06:00

So I originally posted this and then realized that the photo doesn't really show that much of a difference. In person, this onesie is being pulled so much it is showing his cleavage!

So, do you see a difference?

Mother's Day and Father's Day

2011-08-01T18:06:00.001-06:00

I am just catching up on the blogging. Wow this is hard work! It is like a full time job. I think I need advice from all you bloggers out there how you get it done. I have the hardest time. I swear whenever Jack is sleeping, there are 10 other things that have priority over the blog. So it gets pushed back to the next day and then again to the next day, and now 3 months back! So here, the journey of "living in the past" begins! Enjoy:)

Mother's Day

May 8, 2011

I celebrated my first Mother's Day! Jack was 12 days old. So we didn't do much, but I surely enjoyed it!

Here is a picture of me and Jack the day Jack was born... April 26, 2011.

This is Jack and I on Mother's Day. Jack is 12 days old here.

Jack at 12 days old.

I look at this and can't believe he was ever this small!

Brandon surprised me. I woke up and there was a path of love notes and rose petals beginning at our bedroom, taking me to the kitchen. Then in the kitchen there were my Mother's Day presents! He got me a fondue set and flowers!

My presents!

Family photo on Mother's Day

So we did fondue for dinner. But we did not take pictures of it. Sad. But we ate lots and it was delish.

Father's Day

June 19, 2011

Brandon celebrated his first Father's Day!

Here is Brandon and Jack the day Jack was born... April 26, 2011.

Here is Brandon and Jack on Father's Day. Jack is 7 weeks here. (And looks a little funky. hehe)

Brandon got a gift card to Sonic (for those days at work when he doesn't come home for lunch) and Jack got him a book for them to read together! One of Brandon's favorite movies is Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. And he has never read the book! So Jack decided it was a MUST to get that book for them to share :)

And Jack insisted on signing Brandon's card! So here he is holding the pen right after he signed:)

At church Jack decided to let everyone know that he had some "volume in the pants!" He tooted so loud when the sacrament was being passed out. And it didn't stop! It was the longest toot ever. Everyone started to stare at us and all we could do was laugh. We are proud parents :)

Jack hung out with his cousins all day. We went over to my cousins place for some super yummy food and celebration. Russ and Cyndi were so nice to include us on the family BBQ! Here is Jack with Oscar. They are about 9 months apart. And technically they are 1st cousins once removed, but that doesn't sound so cool, so we will call them cousins.

And Jack wore his 'I heart daddy' onesie all day. And he looked pretty awesome in it. And yes, those are leg warmers, and yes they look adorable on him!

Here are some pictures of Jack having fun. He is so cute, sometimes I can't help myself with the camera!

He is so so cute!

Jack at 2 months

2011-07-27T17:36:00.001-06:00

Jack and I went to Colorado at the end of June. Brandon had a design conference in Chicago and I didn't want to be home alone. I ~~was~~ am a new mom so being alone with a newborn all day everyday was not in the cards. I will post pictures of Colorado later (Brandon needed my digital camera for Chicago so I borrowed my sisters, but her memory card is special and doesn't fit in my computer.. we are still trying to get them), but while we were there, we participated in a promotion at the Cherry Creek Mall Gap where my Mom works. If you made a purchase, you got a free photo session with Danica Larsen. Well here are the photos she took.

Jack's Photo Shoot

2011-07-27T16:02:00.000-06:00

When Jack was 2 weeks old, we got pictures taken of him. He is pretty much the cutest baby ever, so I thought I should share with all of you his cuteness!

Birth Story

2011-06-20T11:54:00.002-06:00

As I sit here typing with one hand, Jack is sleeping in my arms. He is in the stage where he is crying and screaming unless he is being held. That is why it has taken me so long to get this done. Jack is 7 weeks old! And already he is smiling (video to come) and cooing. I have been peed on more times than I can count, Jack has squirted poo all over me twice, and I have had vomit projectile on every inch of my body. I have the longest to-do list but it seems as though there always seems to be something more pressing to be done like dishes, laundry, getting boogers, rocking to sleep, cleaning up cat throw up, bathing, feeding, diaper changes, and baths. But nothing beats holding this warm body close to me as we stare into each others' eyes. So as promised, here is the birth story. It includes details, so to any women who haven't given birth who are reading this, or to any men, I warn you! I used to think labor talk was disgusting and too detailed so I understand if you do. So you might want to skim.

Oh and this is long.. but worth it!

I had measured pretty much right on the entire pregnancy. I had a doctor’s appointment 2 weeks to the day (April 12th, a Tuesday) before Jack was born. And I was measuring 39 inches when I was 36 weeks. So my doctor thought he was going to be big so she ordered an ultrasound for me the following week. She was out of town the next week, so I didn’t see her and just got the ultrasound. They estimated the due date to be May 3rd and his weight at the time to be 7 lbs 7 ounces. So a normal size. After this appointment I was walking to my car and I got an overwhelming feeling that Baby Jack was close. I had a feeling he was coming early. I didn’t know if that meant in 2 days or 2 weeks, but I knew he was coming earlier than May 11th… which was his due date. It was like I could feel him close. I could feel his spirit. And it didn’t make me feel scared or overwhelmed. I just said to myself, “Ok I have to be ready.” It was a peaceful feeling. 2 weeks later, I had Jack. So the feeling was real and he WAS early!

I started to have contractions around 1:30 am on Tuesday April 26th (I was 37 weeks and 6 days). I wasn't sure if they were contractions at first, but then I could tell they were because I had extremely sharp pain in my back and it would wrap around my sides into my stomach and hips. I started to time them and they were about 8 minutes apart. I fell asleep around 2:45 but then woke up again around 4:30 because I was having even more painful contractions. So I timed them and they were 5 minutes apart, but still not consistent. I started to get ready for the hospital. I honestly thought I would be turned away from the hospital because the contractions weren't consistent and I was so early. But at 6:15 am, we arrived and entered the triage room.

The nurse checked me and I was dilated at a 3 and 90% effaced. So we waited for an hour and 15 minutes until 7:30 am and she checked me again and I was then a 4+ and still 90% effaced. So they told us we were staying and having the baby that day! The nurse estimated that we would have the baby around 8 pm that night. So I called my mom and sister Lindsey (Lindsey is a labor and delivery nurse in Colorado. I wanted them both to be there for the delivery) and they got in the car and headed out. I told the nurse and the doctors that I wanted to wait until they got there. But things started moving too fast and we couldn't slow them down. Baby Jack wanted to come out!

We moved into the labor and delivery room and waited for the anesthesiologist to come give me the epidural. The contractions were really strong and painful by that point and I couldn't handle them anymore. (Women who CHOOSE to have babies natural are crazy in my eyes! I hated the pain and never want to experience it again! I am all for the meds!) I was told the anesthesiologist was in a c-section but would be right in. While I waited for him, I got the IV in my hand. It hurt! I told the nurse it hurt and she tried to make it feel better, but just ended up stabbing around inside my vein instead. The IV actually never seized to hurt the entire time it was in.

2 hours after getting the IV, the anesthesiologist showed up. I was told the worst part of the epidural was the numbing and it would feel like getting the IV. I knew right then I was in trouble since the IV was STILL hurting me so bad. Let's just say that the whole epidural hurt almost as bad as the contractions. But remember, I was having contractions and feeling every single one of them while getting the epidural so that experience was awful! He poked my back and I instantly felt sharp, shooting pain down the left side of my back. My body jumped so they asked me where it hurt and I started bawling. And I mean extreme crying! I haven't cried like that in 8 years. Brandon had never seen me cry so hard so he started to get teary-eyed. He felt so bad for me. He came over and held my hand while the anesthesiologist continued to poke my back. He readjusted the needle and then I felt sharp, shooting pain down my right side. Then he adjusted again. But this time I felt sharp pain directly on a bone like he was poking that bone. The anesthesiologist readjusted again and then I felt sharp, shooting pain across my lower back. Finally, the last readjustment and the numbing started to kick in. It took me a while to be able to lie down on my back, and for the epidural to kick in and to make it to my feet, but once it did... life was ALL GOOD AGAIN! I actually could always feel my feet, but the epidural did its job at numbing all the painful areas. I no longer had back pain or back labor. I no longer could feel the contractions. We turned on some John Mayer, Brandon took a nap, and I played the Brain Game on my DS!! The on call doctor came in and told me things were moving a lot faster than expected and there was nothing he could do... that he had to break my water. I was so sad knowing Lindsey and my mom wouldn't be there. But he told me that even if we delayed things as much as possible, I would have the baby before they got there. So I decided that I would rather have the baby as soon as possible rather than a couple of hours before they arrived. The doctor checked me and I was a 4+ and 100% effaced.

Steph in the delivery room. Right after she got the epidural.

From then we waited a few more hours. During that time, the nurse came in a few times because the baby's heartbeat kept taking abnormal dips and the contractions had slowed down. She sent the information over to my doctor who reviewed it and was worried about the dips. So she gave me a very small amount of Pitocin. The nurse checked me again at that point and I was a 5 and 100 % effaced and a 0 station. The nurse had me turn on my right side to help the contractions.

25 minutes had passed and I started to feel this really weird feeling in my pelvis. So I called the nurse. When she came in she said, "So you are feeling some pressure down there?" I guess it was pressure?! She knew exactly what was going on. She kept me on my side and checked me again. I was a 9, 100% effaced, and 0 station. I went from a 5 to a 9 in 25 minutes! Apparently the Pitocin worked and it's a good thing they gave me a small amount. The nurse told me to give her a push, which she had to instruct me how to push, and just like that I was at 10 cm and +3 station! It was time to start pushing and have the baby!

After one set of pushes, the nurse told Brandon to look. He could see the head! Jack was all ready to enter the world. Brandon said he saw a lot of hair and that a piece of his hair was sticking straight up like Alfalfa! I pushed for about 20 minutes with the nurse and Brandon holding my legs. I would hold my stomach and feel it get tighter and I would feel pressure down there so I would know that I was having another contraction and it was time to push. In between each contraction, the nurse was setting things up, and we were all just talking. It wasn't stressful, I wasn't nervous, I wasn't in pain, and I wasn't sweating like you see in the movies. It was a very calm 20 minutes. I remember always feeling like his head was further out than it was. To me it felt like the whole top of his head was exposed the entire time I was pushing! His head got far enough out that the nurse said she was going to go call the doctor and tell her to come. I was ready to have the baby.

The nurse came back in and said the doctor was 10 minutes out so we had to wait for her to arrive and I could not push until she got here. It was hard not to push! My body was telling me to push and parts of my body were ACTUALLY pushing, so I was trying really hard not to add to the natural pushes. Brandon said he could see the head progressing out during that time, but I tried not to push! The doctor arrived 15 minutes later, got suited up, and had me push to get the head to the point it was at before. I did that in one push. I was kind of hoping that I was going to have a miracle and not tear or need to get cut, but that didn't play out. The doctor told me I was going to tear upwards so she would need to give me an episiotomy to avoid that. At this point I didn't care. I told her to go ahead. The nurse leaned over me to push the call button to have another nurse come in to help with the delivery. I watched her hand reach over my chest. And I listened to the conversation on the speaker. And during those few seconds of time, the doctor had cut me and told me it might pinch a little. I asked her what she said because I didn't hear her, and she just said, "oh never mind!" During those few seconds I got an episiotomy and I didn't feel it at all.

I pushed for 10 minutes (2 and a half sets of pushing) and Jack's head came out and his shoulders and the rest of his body followed with no complications. Our beautiful baby boy was here! He even arrived before the other nurse could come in to help. It happened so fast! He cried instantly. He was healthy and beautiful. Until you experience the birth of your own child, you won't appreciate the beauty of birth. I was so overwhelmed with joy and emotion when I heard Jack's first cry. He was perfect in every way. And had a full head of hair! I never checked if he had 10 toes and 10 fingers. I just held him in my arms, starring at the perfect little human being. I was in awe of the miracle and blessing of life that we were given by our Heavenly Father.

Jack was born at 1:24 pm on Tuesday April 26th, 2011. He weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 and a half inches long. He was the perfect size for us. Not too big; not too small. He was born 15 days early. He was just anxious to meet his mom and dad!

Jack Brian Marcum right after he was weighed and cleaned off.

They put Jack on my chest instantly. Brandon got to cut the cord as Jack was lying across me. We initiated skin to skin immediately and enjoyed his presence for a few moments before they cleaned him up. I will remember those few minutes for the rest of my life.

Right after his first bath

His hair is curly when it gets wet!

After the delivery, I leaned over to Brandon and told him, "Labor was a lot easier than I was expecting." I was in labor for 12 hours from the first contraction to when I delivered Jack. For the first baby, I have been told that is really good. I pushed for a total of 30 minutes, which is awesome. So even if there were other complications, everything went well and we are the happiest parents ever!

Well it ended up that we had Jack too quick for my mom and Lindsey to get there in time for the delivery. So Brandon videotaped the delivery so they could see it and feel like they were a part of it. I was also able to watch the video so I could see what was going on down there on the other side of my big belly! It is such a miracle. That video is obviously never going to be seen by another soul, but I am so glad we videotaped the event. What a beautiful moment that we will always be able to remember!

Dad ad Jack

Mom and Jack

I ended up having a periurethral laceration (upward tear) during delivery, so I was cut down and I tore up. So the healing process afterwards was short from fun. It also ends up that there were actually a lot of complications with the epidural. The anesthesiologist hit a spinal fluid sac and spinal fluid was leaking in to my back. My back always hurt. I had bruising and swelling on my back where the epidural needle went in for several weeks post delivery. I had constant headaches from the day after I delivered. They never got better. Some days I felt like I couldn't function because of them. They would wrap around my skull, into my ears, my temples, my forehead and behind my eyes. Level changes hurt, bright lights hurt, and talking hurt.So a month after Jack was born, I had to get a blood patch (aka blood transfusion). They took blood from my arm and put it in to my back in the same hole that they put the epidural in. That is when I found out that the anesthesiologist actually did hit a vertebrae and to this day it is still bruised and I cannot bend my back very far at all. They put the blood in to the hole of the fluid sac, to cause a blood clot. I had to lie on my back for an hour after the transfusion to help the clot form over the hole. My headaches slowly went away over the next few days. I still get headaches in the afternoons, but the pain is no where near the pain of when I had the spinal headaches. So things are a lot better now.

Jack Brian Marcum

Aunt Lindsey and her nephew Jack

We made t-shirts for my mom and dad so my mom and Lindsey wore them here! My Dad had to stay home with my sister Brittney who was finishing her senior year of high school

I was very swollen here after that IV. But this is me, Brandon, Jack, and aunt Lindsey

The family just starring at Jack!

I literally just starred at him everyday in the hospital. I actually still just stare everyday!

Jack is the first Grandson on my side. This is a very proud Grandma!

Aren't his skin rolls to die for?!

Going home! His hand are hilarious. They are pretty much always like this when he is in his car seat.

Leaving the hospital

On our 2 minute drive home, I got very nauseous and Brandon had to pull over.

Arriving home for the first time with a baby

All diaper changes at first required at least 2 people. This one required 3!

Brandon and Jack.

Great Grandma Moss, my Mom, Great Grandpa Moss, and Jack

Jack is the first Great-Grandson on my Mom's side!

Brandon is an amazing dad.

We love our little boy!

BABY J IS ALMOST HERE!!!

2011-04-24T21:54:00.001-06:00

I wanted to give everyone a little update on where we are at in this pregnancy.

I am 38/39 (read below) weeks along. I honestly don't think my belly can get bigger.

I cut my hair. Chopped it actually. And I regret going so short. I wish it was a few inches longer. I ended up cutting off 6 inches!

My doctor thinks Baby J is going to be big, so she ordered an ultrasound just to be sure. So we were lucky and got to have another ultrasound this past week!I am measuring 8 days ahead, so they changed the due date to May 3rd instead of May 11th. So that means I am actually 39 weeks along on Tuesday! And a week from Tuesday is the due date. So crazy! Baby J weighs about 7 pounds 7 ounces as of right now. So I hope he doesn't bake much longer!

This was actually my 7th ultrasound throughout my pregnancy. And without a doubt, each time I see Baby J on that screen, I fall more and more in love with him. It is crazy how I can have a connection and love someone so much even though I have never met him! I carry him around all day, but it isn't the same. I can't wait until he is here, I can hold him in my arms, and see his beautiful face staring back at me. The "motherhood" feeling has totally settled in and I am welcoming it with open arms.

I feel like I am definitely ready physically and emotionally for this baby. As other mothers out there know, the long haul of pregnancy prepares you for the emotions you will feel when your baby comes. My body is SO ready to not be pregnant anymore. My pelvis area feels like a huge bruise, and my feet and ankles swell so bad these days, that I can't even flex or bend my feet. The pins and needles sensation is a constant visitor and I dislike it very much.

But I feel like I am FAR from being prepared in the home. The nursery is a pig sty. We have no where to put a lot of the presents we have received, so they are scattered throughout the nursery. The crib is filled with diapers, presents, and paperwork that we need to be put somewhere. I ordered the last few things that we truly need from Target and Babies R Us (with our 10% off coupon on everything else on our registry) but they won't get here for 4 weeks! So there is no way that it will be all "done" and "complete" before Baby arrives. I have to deal with that. I still need to run errands, freeze a few more meals, hang up pictures and art, wash baby clothes, make the mobile for the crib, fix the dresser (it came with a broken piece so we are waiting for the replacement part from the manufacturer), finish packing the hospital bag, and so much more. This is just the beginning. But instead of boring you with my laundry list of things to do, I will share with you Baby J's baby pictures! (For those of you who don't know, we have decided to name him Jack Brian. And some reason I call him Baby J. We will see if that sticks when he arrives).

Our African American little boy! Ha. His nose is smashed so it is flat and wide and his lips look huge! but his cheeks are so squished that his lips are puckered!

Adorable Baby J. I stare at these pictures every day!

His precious lips and little nose!

His eye sockets and nose.

His profile. You can see his puckered lips! He stuck his tongue out during the ultrasound as well!

Another profile shot.


The tec said he has a lot of hair on the back of his head. I don't really understand this picture, but apparently it is his hair.

I feel like I have been pregnant for so long I almost don't remember what it was like to NOT be pregnant. But here is a list of things I look forward to:

1. Being able to have a tan. I am glowing these days. And not because I'm pregnant, but because I am so white!

2. Wearing my wedding ring again.

3. Wearing shoes. Any type. But they actually will fit on my feet. I have worn flip flops for the past month because nothing else fits. And even the flip flops are too tight now.

4. I am excited to have ankles again. It has been a long time since I have seen my ankle bones.

5. Not having to pee 100 times a day, or pretty much every time I stand up.

6. Being able to walk at a normal pace and not having to waddle.

7. I am excited to have my face shape back.

8. I look forward to not having a ton of doctor appointments every week. I had to buy myself a planner because I couldn't keep track of all the appointments I have. You would think I was 80 years old! I go to my OB, cardiologist, physical therapist, chiropractor, and more. It is tiring just trying to keep track.

9. I look forward to being blond again. My hair has become so dark during pregnancy!

10. I look forward to eating soft cheeses and raw sushi again!

11. I am excited to go out in public without someone telling me I am huge, I'm about to pop, I need to take it easy, or that I am carrying too high for it to be a boy.
12. I am excited to have Brandon available at nights where he won't be working or doing homework every night. I am also excited to see him with our baby and see the bond between the boys.

13. Last but not least.. I am excited to be a mom. I know this is what I am here on this earth to do.

Anyways we couldn't be more excited to be parents. It is coming soon!

Utah Baby Shower

2011-04-20T17:20:00.000-06:00

I had a WONDERFUL shower here in Utah! Again, I am amazed by the love people have shown us during this time of preparation for this baby! We got so many gifts! I am still in the process of trying to figure out places to put them! My FABULOUS sister-in-law Julia hosted the amazing party. We had it as an open-house style so people could come and go as they please. We had it at the church right by my house, so we didn't have to worry about having enough room! I think it was perfect!

The food was amazing. Thank you for all of those that helped prepare and helped set up!

I planned to have the shower on a Wednesday night, when my mom, dad, and sister Brittney were in town. I am so glad! They loved seeing their family members. And it just was so much more fun having my mom there.

My mother-in-law Janene came down from Rexburg Idaho as well. What a sweetheart! Her and Bob came down just for the night and just for the shower. I am so blessed to have such amazing in-laws!

Here are some pictures for you to see.

Yummy food. So pretty and SOOO tasty!

Chris, the chef, doing what he does best

Julia and the yummy food and pretty decorations!

Aunt Carolyn, cousin Cyndi, cousin Mary and her little boy, and cousin Ivy (all on my dad's side)

My grandma Ellsworth, aunt Barbara, Lola (Cyndi from above's little girl), and cousin Andria (all dad's side).

The Moss girls. My aunt Kathy and her girls (mom's side)

Opening presents and looking large. Brittney was the BEST helper! She took pictures, and wrote down what everyone gave me.

Cousin Allyson, aunt Carolyn, cousin Jaynanne, cousin Erica, and friend Dani.

The hostess Julia, little Greta, and Mother-in-law

My cousin Rachel is pregnant as well! She is due 3 weeks after me! So here are the pregnant woman and our proud moms!

Opening more presents!

Bob (father-in-law) and Matt (brother-in-law). They decided to make an appearance:)

Mother-in-law Janene, friend Brittney, sister-in-law Stephanie (yep 2 Stephanie Marcums!), and sister-in-law Julia.

Girlfriends! Some from my old job, and some from Provo (in my glamor days!)

Girls I worked with at Disney World! These are our poses we would have to make as characters. Shara (far right) was the only one out of us that wasn't a character. She was a lifeguard, so she is doing her pose.. blowing a whistle!

Courtney came! We went to high school together! Her and her family are living here while her husband finishes school. These girls are so beautiful!

Me and my Mothers! I am so grateful for these 2!!

Thank you for an amazing event!

Gettin' My Craft On - Pillow Style

2011-04-13T23:37:00.000-06:00

My amazing mother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me a sewing machine for a bridal present. (I am so grateful!!). I had never even touched one before. I had to have Brandon teach me how to use it! That is right. Brandon can sew. And he is really good at it! I have used it here and there, but this was my biggest challenge for sure. The first pillow took me probably 6 hours. Pathetic. I had to figure out all the measurements and figure out exactly how to make it work. Since it took me so long, I decided to track it and include a tutorial in this post for those that would like to try it for themselves!

My inspiration was this pillow I saw at a boutique store in Lindon. (on the right).

I fell in love with the pillow, but was completely turned off by the price (over $100 each!!!!!). So I took a picture, searched for fabric, and decided to make my own. With my own twist.

First: Here is my final product.

I knew I wanted 3/4 of the pillow to be damask, and 1/4 of the pillow a different fabric. I couldn't find one that went well with the damask, so I stuck with plain black. It has a zipper at the top of the pillow so I can wash the pillow anytime.

This pillow completed is 17 inches x 17 inches.

Step 1. Cut 2 pieces of the damask (patterned) fabric. Width: 12 1/2 in. Length 18 in. (This will leave room for sewing edges together).

*Watch what way your damask fabric(or other patterned fabric) goes. I specifically wanted the damask fabric on the right side of the pillow when finished, so I made sure the damask was running up and down before I started cutting.

Step 2. Cut 2 pieces of black fabric. Width: 6 1/2 in. Length: 18 in.

Step 3. Sew black and damask (patterned) fabrics together with a 1/2 inch seem.

*It is really important here that you make these two pieces opposite. By opposite I mean having the damask fabric, with pattern running up and down, on the right for one piece, and the second piece having the damask pattern on the left. When the pillow is completed, the black parts will be aligned and the damask parts will be aligned.

(One piece with damask on the left)

(One piece with damask on the right)

*I ironed these after I sewed them together to make sure the seem was sitting flat.

Step 4. Line up the two completed sides with the front of the fabric facing in towards each other. At the top, in each corner, mark 2 inches in from each edge. Also mark 1/2 of an inch down from the top. Sew these together, stopping at the edge of the 2 inches. This will leave a gap in the middle at the top where the zipper will go.

Step 5. Pin down (or you can use basting tape) the 1/2 inch seem at the top for each side. Sew each edge down from end to end.

Step 6. Sew the zipper to the newly sewn 1/2 inch seem. Pin the zipper to each edge and sew the zipper to the seem. Sew as close to the zipper as possible.

*I got a 14 inch "separating sport zipper." This seemed to work perfectly for me.

Step 7. Sew a 1/2 inch seem all the way around the rest of the pillow (3 sides).

Step 8. Flip the pillow to be right side out. Push the corners out to give it the square shape. And stuff with your favorite type of stuffing!

*I used stuffing from two other pillows that we had. The cats used them as their scratching posts when we had our old couches, so they were ruined. We were going to throw them away, but I decided to keep the stuffing!

Here are the final products! 2 pillows for our couch, to match our new rug, and the curtains and curtain holders I have made previously. Can you tell I LOVE damask?!

I hope you enjoy! And I hope these instructions make sense. Let me know if you have questions!

What We Have Been Up To Lately.

2011-04-11T15:14:00.000-06:00

Since I never post, I thought I would share with you all what we have been up to lately.

As discussed in an earlier post, I am no longer working. At first I was very upset and heart broken about it. But now I am feeling like it was meant to be. I think I needed to get used to the feeling of being home all the time before the baby came. I am not going to lie, I became very sad being at home and not having anything to do. I am SO used to working, that I didn't know what to do with myself! If I went through this when the baby came, it could have been a very depressing first few weeks. So I think this was meant to be. I have more time to prepare for the baby, and get things ready. I have more time to spend with Brandon, more time to take care of the house, and more time to take care of myself. I have more time to spend with friends and family, and time to catch up on projects that have been sitting on my to-do list since August.

Since I am not working, I have also been able to do more things that would have required me to take time off of work.. which I am not certain would have been allowed. But anyways, we have been busy lately!

We went to Boise to check out the city. I have never been there so we decided to go see it to see how we liked it. We wanted to look for jobs here for Brandon.

I have family in Boise, so they helped us tour the city.

View of downtown Boise. Beautiful!

We got our hair done by my cousins!

Family photo. Jeff and Linda and 5 of 6 kids.

Noah loves Brandon. He wanted a picture of him standing on Brandon.

Noah also wanted a picture of Brandon standing on him!


Our adorable niece Greta turned 1!!! The past year has for sure flown by! She is now 14 months old!

We then went to San Diego. We met my parents, little sister, Grandma and Grandpa, aunt and uncle and their 3 boys, and aunt and cousins.

We hung out on the beach... went for daily walks.

We ate a lot.

Fish House on the Pier.

Casa De Pico Mexican... yum.

And we were really full. Whose stomach is bigger?!

We went and saw the seals on the beach.

And enjoyed the sunset.

Everyone loves to touch the belly.

Because it's "Clearly Not A Secret!"

I have gotten together with some girlfriends. My friend Heather treated us to the Melting Pot!

We have gone out to eat a few times. We decided to try out the Purple Turtle... a famous burger joint here in Pleasant Grove.

I got the thinnest burger known to man and it was super expensive! I vote "nay" on the purple turtle.

I have been doing some projects.. I made some burp cloths! These are super easy and make the cloth diaper burp cloth look so much better!

I also made some pillows. Pictures and a tutorial are on its way.

I have been washing all of the baby clothes. First load!

My parents and little sister came in town for Spring Break. We went to conference! I had to sit in the hall on a couch for a while, but I made it through!

We ate at the Spaghetti Factory. And ate spumoni ice cream. Yum.

Spaghetti Factory.

We ate at JCW's and had a COMPLETELY raw hamburger. After waiting for 20 minutes in the drive thru... we didn't want to go back.

We had Spoon It Up Yogurt. My Dad loved it!

Spoon It Up.

We ate at the Olive Garden to celebrate Brian's 23rd birthday.

We set off balloons for Brian's birthday with my Mom's parents and Nettie and family.

Then we set off balloons with my dad's parents.

We got together with friends at the Barkers for dinner and games. We played Just Dance and it was amazing!

This is extremely embarrassing, but hilarious. Good thing it is blurry!

The boys gettin' it done.

More updates to come... so stay tuned!!

Suggestions to Make Blogging Easier and Quicker?

2011-03-21T12:23:00.002-06:00

To all of you bloggers out there... I need advice. Please help!

I never post on our blog anymore because it takes so LONG! It takes me forever to upload pictures. I can only upload 3 at a time or it says the upload was a "bad request." But pictures are the whole point of the blog! So I want to include the pictures. I made the Colorado post and it took me 2 days. That is WAY too long! I have heard about updating my blog but don't know how. I also have heard about creating a new blog and the new system is a lot easier and faster. But I don't want to have to get a new domain name or anything. So I think that option is out. I have also heard about doing it through your email or through another site, but I don't know how!

Any suggestions? Thank you bloggers!

Permanent House Guests

2011-03-21T12:05:00.005-06:00

We have made some purchases lately that have been very good ideas. So I wanted to share them:)

First we purchased a rug that was on sale. We got it for a steal! We have been wanting a big rug since we got married but couldn't find one for a decent price that we liked. This one is perfect. Except for the fact that the cats love it and it collects hair very quickly. So I have vacuumed it every day since we got it. Oh well.

And next are the cat beds. We had a laptop shelf thingy that I would use to study with while on the couch or bed. We decided to put a blanket over this for the cats to lie on. Well Sniper would lie on it but Gunner wouldn't get close. We recently got a new couch and don't allow the cats up on the couch. Well since Gunner had no where to sleep at night, every night after we would go to bed and close our bedroom door, he would jump up on the couch and sleep there! So I decided to try out a cat bed and see how he liked it. Our cats love the feeling of "hiding" and go under anything. So I got this bed.

Well not only did Gunner love it, but Sniper loved it too. They would fight over it. The second one of the cats got out of it, the other cat would sneak in right away. When Sniper would sleep in there, Gunner still didn't have anywhere to sleep, so he would continue to get on the couch. So we purchased a second one. Now they are in heaven. They haven't picked beds yet, but tend to just go in the one that the other isn't in. But I seriously think this is the best purchase we have made in a very long time. No more cat hair on the couch and they LOVE them! I suggest these beds to any cat owners out there.

Visiting Colorado

2011-03-17T16:55:00.005-06:00

I had a baby shower in Colorado a couple of weeks ago. Since I am not working I decided to go out there for the week to spend time with family and friends. And the anniversary of my brother's car accident was just 3 days before the shower, so I decided to be there for that as well.

It has been 8 years since Brian passed away, and every year my family goes and lights luminaries and places them at the crash site... so all those who drive by can have a glimpse of beauty and light on that gloomy day.

We went and visited his grave and gave him a present, and then set up the luminaries. And then we went to dinner with the Heykoops, Michael's family (Michael was my brother Brian's best friend who passed away in the car accident as well). It was a good day to be with family and friends. It always makes it a little easier.

Visiting Brian.

Setting up the luminaries..

While I was in Colorado I got to see many friends and it made me so happy! Usually when I come in to town, I only have a couple of days so it is all spent with family. I got to have girlfriend time everyday! I also got to go on morning walks with my parents, and attend a class with my sister at her high school!

We visited my old boss at Outback Steakhouse. Of course. It is a tradition we always go to Outback when I am in town!

We did some shopping and had great parking! Too bad this is only at the baby store. They need these in more parking lots!

I visited with my best friend Leslie who just had her baby girl Ashlyn in January, as well as my college roommate and really good friend in high school Raquel.

Then we had a baby shower! I LOVED this baby shower. It couldn't have been better. Over 40 people came and supported me and my family. It was amazing. We played games, ate amazing food, had a drawing, and I was SHOWERED with gifts. It was so good to see people who I haven't seen in years. I just wish I lived in Colorado so I could see these amazing people more on a regular basis! (These pictures are in really random order.. sorry).

I copied this from Leslie's shower. Who will baby Marcum look like?!

Dessert table.
Food table.

Beautiful women.

(I stole these from Rachel!)

Me opening presents.

Playing games.

I miss Colorado already. I wish I could ALWAYS be there! Thank you to everyone who came to the shower and spent time with me. I loved every minute of it!

Baby Shower #1

2011-03-09T14:14:00.003-07:00

Results of Baby Shower #1
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Date: March 3rd, 2011

Wow we have been spoiled! I went out to Colorado this past week because my Mom, two sisters, and one of bestest friends April and her Mom Sue threw me a baby shower! There were over 40 people there. Some amazing women were there. Some women that I haven't seen for YEARS. I am so blessed and honored to have each of them in my life. I am so thankful that they care for me enough to come to my shower and bring me, Brandon, and baby Marcum gifts! I am overwhelmed with happiness still as I think about the smiling faces that I got to see and talk to last week. I already miss them all!

Thank you again for all your love!

A Challenging Month

2011-02-23T19:53:00.007-07:00

(I do not intend for this blog post to be a sympathy seeker. Instead, I intend to inform everyone what has been going on with us this past month and about the blessings that we have received.)

This past month has been a roller coaster for us. And definitely a roller coaster of emotions for me (hormones are in full swing!). Some events have happened that have taken us by complete surprise.

I was let go from my job on January 10th. I worked as a Closing Auditor for a mortgage company for the past 2 years. The mortgage industry is always up and down. During those two years I worked there, there were times that we were so busy that I was working 60 hours a week. Lately, I have been working barely 40 hours a week trying to find things to occupy those hours. I was told by my manager about a month prior to my lay off that all of us in my department had nothing to worry about because we were expecting to be busy again in March and the company knew that we all were needed when we became busy again. So I never expected to be laid off. It came so fast that I couldn't even comprehend the news I received. I was taken to lunch to be told the bad news. I was given an hour to leave the office after we returned from lunch. So I grabbed my purse and left. I didn't know what to do. I didn't say goodbye to anyone. I didn't finish my work I had started that day. I didn't clean out my desk. I just left.

Brandon and I went back to the office around 7:30 pm after everyone had left the office for the day. This is when I cleaned out my desk and returned my keys. It was a weird feeling to drive away from that office and know that that was the last time I would be driving there ever. It is weird when you have a routine and something is such a big part of your life and it is suddenly taken away. Suddenly your life isn't the same. I have always had a job. For those who have known me for a long time know that I tend to keep going and going... not giving myself much of a break. As long as I can remember I have had at least one job. Always busy. I tend to take on too much at one time. During the 4 1/2 years I attended college, I always had a job. In fact, several semesters I had more than one job and went to school full time. I have always been used to having something to do... something to look forward to... something to plan around. So this has been a hard transition for me. I don't have something in my day that I HAVE to do or something that I need to plan around. And I also am used to having social interactions with people. I am used to talking to co-workers and having conversations with them. Now I am home by myself with no one to talk to. I feel like I need to interact and socialize with someone each day to keep me sane. It is weird to think that this job was probably my last job for a long time. I want to be a stay-at-home mom, so this will introduce me to my new life I guess:)

I went through every emotion when I was laid off. I first was shocked. Then sad. Then depressed. Then angry. Then I became panicked. There were so many unknowns and we are planning on having a baby soon. We need stability. We need a good home, a good life, a good situation to bring this baby in to. I was worried I was not going to be able to provide for my baby. So I have spent the past month trying to figure out what we are going to do to provide for this baby and to keep us afloat for the next 3 months. Brandon graduates at the end of April and we hope he receives a job offer with benefits and a decent salary. But we couldn't rely on this. So we needed to make sure we were covered until he did get a job.

We had insurance through my work. We have been saving up the money that we knew we would owe after the insurance paid their portion for us to have the baby. Brandon only works about 9 hours a week since he is in school, so we can't live off of his income. So the past month we have been living off of the money we saved to have the baby. That money quickly went away. And for insurance, we didn't know what to do. Cobra was out of the question since it is $800 a month for just me to be on the plan.

So we decided to apply for medicaid. This has been a full time job just trying to get medicaid. There was always something wrong, or something missing, or additional information needed. I was doing something with medicaid every single day for 4 weeks straight. But it was a blessing when we found out that we got medicaid. This will pay for our delivery and our doctor visits.

I also got unemployment, which will help us pay rent, car loan, car insurance, phone bill, gas, groceries, etc. It is nothing near what I was making while I was working, but this will definitely help us stay afloat during this time.

We also found out that we get to keep our supplemental insurance plan that we have been paying a large chunk of change to each month, and they will still help out with the delivery of the baby.

So after a long month of tears, frustration, prayers, and stress, it seems as though things are working out for us. We know that things could always be worse, so we are thankful for the situation that we have and for the help we have along the way to get through these trials. We are still paying our tithing and we have surely seen the blessings that have come from that. We also see the blessings we have received from prayers, help and comfort from family members. We wouldn't be able to get through this without them.

Now we have 76 days left until this baby boy is due, so this gives me time to concentrate on preparing for his arrival. I have the LONGEST to do list ever, so I better get working!

I want to thank all of you for your support and help during this time. We love each of you.

Love Steph and Brandon

Nursery Bedding Dilemma

2011-02-10T01:10:00.011-07:00

Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I have been stalking the internet for the perfect bedding for the crib. I have always wanted semi-neutral bedding, but it has to be the perfect bedding:) I have had a vision in my head of exactly what I want, and it is seeming more impossible everyday to find that perfect set. I dislike everything that has to do with cars, trucks, zoo animals, Disney characters (this is probably the only time you will ever hear dislike of Disney characters come out of my mouth... or from my fingers!), stars, polka dots, stripes, sports, and the ABC's. I like simple, classy and elegant, but modern. And within a reasonable price.

What we have imagined from the beginning is something incorporating gray, white and black with teal as an accent color. We have thought about gray and white damask, black and white damask, and even black, white, and gray damask.

We got a changing table and crib from my aunt and want to paint them. But we want to wait to paint them until we get the bedding. We will paint the crib and table either black or white depending on what the bedding looks like and which one looks best with the bedding. But we want to paint these soon so I am still able to. Who knows how my mobility will be in another month. So we need to decide on bedding asap so we can start painting!

Here I sit at 27 weeks, at 2:00 am, looking at the same websites I have been looking at for over 6 months now. I am exhausted and my eyes are totally blood shot. This then causes me to sleep in until 10 am, skip my morning workout class, and be lazy the rest of the day. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!! I honestly dream about bedding in my sleep. I am sick of it. So help me figure out what to do.

Here are the options, and I am TOTALLY open for other options and opinions. So if there has ever been a post of mine that you need to comment on, this is it.

1. Buy the bedding I like and fork out the money. But between me being unemployed and Brandon working very few hours a week leaves us with very little money to be spending on "wants" for the baby. But if this will be a totally worth it purchase, than I need to know. Here are some images of the beddings I have created myself. Total cost: $327 (Trim on skirt costs $5 more).

A few differences on each picture. This one has the white bumper and skirt, but with damask trim on the skirt.

This one has damask bumper and skirt, with white trim.
This one also has damask bumpers and skirt, shorter skirt which is cheaper ($5) and no trim ($5 cheaper).
Or does it look better with a black crib?
And what if we added turquoise ties?

2. Buy a plain white bumper and a plain white bed skirt. These can be found for less than $50 total. Then I can either buy the gray damask sheet ($36) or a plain gray sheet, which I have yet to find. Oh and the gray damask blanket ($54). Totaling probably around $140-150. Is this too plain?

3. Buy a set that includes all the pieces needed for a decent price and deal with the fact that it has prints on it. Just don't concentrate on it.

$161

$100

$180

$150

$270. (Still expensive, and is it too much damask? Will I get sick of it?)

4. Buy this plain bedding set for $100. I would probably get the ivory because the others are just too much of a color for me. What color of sheet would I do?

5. Make the bedding. I went around to 3 fabric stores today and couldn't find exactly what I wanted. I started considering plain grays and whites, but the fact of me having to make it makes me not even want to approach this route. I am not a seamstress and do not have confidence to make my baby bedding. I feel like I would spend at least $100 on fabrics alone... so to me it doesn't seem worth it to make the bedding when I could spend $100 and have it made already. But is this better than buying $300 plus bedding?

UGH I don't know! I need help.

Crazy Cat

2011-01-31T12:28:00.003-07:00

Last night we had essential oils on our feet. Each oil has a different scent, and in my opinion they all smell really good!

And apparently Sniper LOVES essential oils. We have discovered this before, but last nights reaction was hilarious! We decided to record it for all of you to enjoy. I have never seen him react like this. Sniper is our black cat that kind of has a little attitude. He is very affectionate... but only when he wants to be. Which is usually when it is inconvenient for us! But this shows that he LOVED the oils!

We came home and took off our shoes at the front door. The cats instantly went to the spot where we stood in our socks after we took off our shoes. Hilarious!

(Oh and please don't mind all the mess in the background. We have some awesome family members who have given us baby items and they are sitting in our living room waiting for us to go through them and organize them).

Christmas!!

2011-01-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

We went to Colorado for Christmas this year. We decided to fly since the past two years we got stuck because of the weather. We had to wake up at 2:45 am to make it to the airport in time. I wasn't feeling well that morning (of course since morning sickness is still affecting me at 22 weeks!) so Brandon went and asked the ticket taker if expectant mothers get to board with families with children. EVEN BETTER! We got to board with the people with disabilities! We got to board the plane before anyone else. So we got to pick our seat.

We picked the first row. This was my first time in the front row on a plane ever.

Pregnant= disabled. I love it!
We then got to have a get together with some of my very best friends in Colorado. We exchanged white elephant gifts and talked for hours.

I got a nutcracker and it made me so happy! I seriously asked for Christmas decorations for Christmas. So this was perfect.

We had to wear our awesome sweaters.
April and Trevor and Canon and their white elephant gifts.
Left to right: Gardner, he is living in New York cutting hair... Kara, she is living in Denver teaching Kindergarten... April, she is living in Denver teaching yoga and is a Thai masseuse. Then me, pregnant, large, and in charge!
Christmas Eve we went to our annual dinner... Chinese food!

Brandon decided to finish off the soup.

We then drove around to look at Christmas lights. Here we are in the middle of downtown Littleton.
Christmas was amazing. We were all spoiled.

The presents were exploding in the living room. Can you find us?!

Christmas Eve Pajamas.

Brandon worked extra hours to make some extra money to afford this for me. A Mac Book Pro! It is so nice I am afraid I will ruin it! He also sewed this amazing laptop case for me.

We got my parents "proud new grandparents" shirts. It will be the first grandchild on my side!

Brandon and his duffel bag shaped like a Lego piece!

Family in aprons.

Enjoying our presents.

My little sister got a car! She got a Honda civic. Now all 3 of us girls have civics. So precious.

We then went shopping, ate a ton and went bowling!

This was the first game and I won! Brandon wasn't happy. I then won the second game as well! My score for the second game was 122! Who knew I could bowl? Cuz I sure didn't!

Family.Hubby and me.
Sisters.

April joined us.
Parentals.

When we returned, I soaked up all the time I could with Brandon before he had to go back to school or out of town for work. We hung out every night and it was SOOO amazing.

We went to dinner and got frozen yogurt.

We had 2 groupons to this yogurt shop that was 45 minutes from our house. So we used both and seriously got like a gallon of yogurt!
We then went to dinner (sushi... yum!) and to Tron 3D.
Then I gave Brandon a haircut. I have been begging him to let me try to cut it for months now. He has been very hesitant. I have never used hair-cutting scissors so this was my first time. But I finally convinced him. He said he loves it and wants me to cut it every time now on. HAHA!

Also I wanted to update everyone. I found out that I do have a blood clot in my leg. It is behind my left knee. It is painful and has given me some ugly and permanent varicose veins. I have to wear compression stockings everyday (I can't stand them) but they help with the swelling. It still hurts all day, but it is less painful with the stockings on. Here are some pictures of what my ankle looks like.
That is it! I will try to update more frequently now that I have a computer of my own!

November Update

2011-01-08T15:40:00.001-07:00

I am late posting, I know. I have been without a computer for several months now. And with Brandon being so busy with school, I don't really get a chance to sit on the computer as he is always needing it. So posting on the blog has been delayed for sure. So here I will play catch up!

I will start with November. I turned 25 in November.

I got yummy cupcakes at work.

I got to open presents at night.
It is a tradition in my family to take a picture with all your gifts.
Brandon finally finished my statue of Christ! Now we just have to burn it or fry it or whatever. Still figuring that out.
Brandon got me roses!We spent Thanksgiving in Idaho with Brandon's family this year. It was just what we needed. A relaxing weekend. No crazy plans and stressful schedule to accommodate to. Nowhere to be. Nothing to do. I loved it. Plus this was the first weekend I got to see Brandon longer than 2 hours in about 3 months. So I LOVED IT!

We first went to my Grandpa's 80th birthday dinner in Idaho Falls.
My Mom and aunt Angie.
We told everyone what we having! We made a little card that says, "we found out our baby has 3 knees... a left knee.. a right knee... and a WEE KNEE!!!!" This is my parents holding the card. Bad picture I know.

We played games on Thanksgiving. I love playing games!

And Brandon played with legos for hours.
We went mini-golfing.
We got home and went to a movie! First date night in a LONG time.
Brandon had school and was really busy. I hung out alone a lot. Got addicted to some tv shows. When Brandon finally finished school for the semester we got to finish our Christmas shopping. We decided to go to a pizza buffet for dinner. WOW IT WAS AMAZING! It was like heaven for my pregnant body!

Christmas Card + Other Photos

2010-12-21T17:45:00.003-07:00

Here is our Christmas Card for 2010. Plus some other shots that didn't make the card.

Merry Christmas!

Without the banner.Happy for baby. I might have stuffed out a little:). And Gunner wanted to be in the picture.

Serious shot.
Flip. Brandon looks like a giant.
Kissy Kissy.
Now the cats. They crack me up. They HATED taking pictures. So we held tuna in our hands and they started to lighten up. You can tell where the tuna is in each picture!!
Sniper became a little more relaxed.I know this one is blurry but it cracks me up. He really wanted the tuna.
Finally a good shot.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

An Even Better Birthday Present

2010-12-02T22:30:00.004-07:00

OK remember my post about putting up Christmas decorations early and how it is the best birthday present ever? Well I actually got an even BETTER birthday present on my birthday.

We have been SOOO anxious to find out what we are having! What parents aren't anxious?! Anyways, we found out that our 20 week appointment where we find out what we are having is 2 days before Christmas. And if anyone knows my Mom, she is already having a hard time restraining from buying baby clothes! So we knew it would be too close to Christmas to have everyone wait. So we went to Fetal Studios on my birthday (the 18th of November). It is a place in the mall that offers gender determination ultrasounds as early as 14 weeks. So for a birthday present, we headed in there.

I was just over 15 weeks when we went. The little bugger was fast asleep when we started the ultrasound. The doctor was poking my tummy, jiggling my tummy, etc trying to wake the baby up. The baby would move them fall right back to sleep; not allowing us to see the private parts! The doctor then had me roll to my side and low and behold......

WE ARE HAVING A BOY!!!

(Here is the ultrasound we got. We decided to not expose his boy parts on the internet though!)

We couldn't be any happier! Now it is all becoming real. We can start planning, start throwing out boy names, and start deciding on nursery colors.

(I am going to live with 4 boys very soon. Weird!)

And as an update on the pregnancy if you are interested. And if you don't want details, I would suggest to stop reading now:

I am still sick everyday. I keep being told from doctors and nurses and friends and family that I should start feeling better any day now. And it never happens. I have tried 5 different types of medications and even natural remedies that are supposed to work, but nothing has seemed to work. I finally got Zofran (medicine they use for cancer patients to help with nausea caused from Chemo) and it is helping. I am still nauseous, still throwing up (TMI?), and still DEAD tired all the time. But the medicine helps the sickness not last as long. I guess that is a good thing right? I have also been told that you should ask your Mom and Grandma about their morning sickness because it is hereditary. Well my Mom was sick until 20 weeks or later and my Grandma was sick throughout her pregnancies, until the end. So it looks like I have a long road ahead of me still. Brandon hates seeing me be sick and wants to make it go away. But he also looks at it as a good sign that the baby is still growing and is still healthy. So I guess that is a positive way to look at it right?!

I have started to have swelling in my left leg. I have been told this isn't normal this early in the pregnancy. At first it wasn't painful, but now it is like a constant throbbing. It hurts to walk on my left foot. I can't bend my leg all the way. It feels like I am wearing really tight jeans that have no give. My ankle looks like I have elephantiasis (maybe I am exaggerating). I went in to the hospital tonight to get an ultrasound done on my veins. No blood clots. So that is a good sign. But now what? The doctor suggested to wear compression pantyhose. I sent Brandon to the store and he couldn't find any that mentioned "compression" on them. Does anyone know of any? Where do I find them?

I have been feeling the baby "flutter" inside of me now for a few weeks. But I think I felt him kick tonight. It was for sure more than a flutter. But it wasn't strong so it was hard for me to tell. Honestly, I can't wait until Brandon can feel them. He is just so cute with this whole thing!

My Mom got me some maternity clothes for my birthday and they are amazing! But it is what I wear under the clothes that are really bothering me lately (catch my drift?). What do you suggest?

I find myself contradicting myself a lot. During the day I have all desire to do something at night. I sometimes make plans or think of all the things that I can do. But by the time work is over, I have no energy or desire to do anything. I end up hanging out with myself on the couch in front of the TV every night. It would be very nice to hang out with others who are experiencing the same things as I am. Does anyone in the Utah area know of any groups or activities that are for pregnant woman? Not birthing classes as those are taken during your third trimester. But something like friend gatherings, hangouts, etc?

Anyways, My stomach is growing. I hate all pictures of me as I just look dead and fat. I crave anything with SALT. LOVE SALT SALT SALT!!! I like hamburgers, Mexican, Italian, and every single form of potatoes (fries, sweet potatoes, yams, tater tots, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, funeral potatoes, etc). I don't really crave any sweets. WEIRD since I have had a very big sweet tooth my whole life.I have actually had a really weird heart beat so my doctor told me to reduce my salt intake. WHAT?!!! How am I ever going to do that?!

Well OK I think I just wrote a novel. Good thing this is my journal so I can one day look back at my awesome thoughts. But for all of you, you got a taste of what it is like to be Stephanie! hehe.

Ok but seriously, I am done now. Thanks for reading. Love you all.

I lied. One more. If you have any boy name suggestions, we could really use the help:)

Ok now I am done.

Christmas Card Time!

2010-11-29T16:18:00.007-07:00

'Tis the season for awesome Christmas sweaters, torturing of cats, cheesy poses, and huge smiles. That is right. It is time for all of you to expect our Christmas Card! If you don't know what I am talking about, check out these from the past 2 Christmas's.

2008
(Please notice the handmade fireplace in the background)

2009
(This fireplace is real)

We have gotten our "outfits" for our card this year. I am lacking creativity in my pregnant brain at this stage, but don't worry. We will think of an amazing idea. And you won't be disappointed.

A friend posted this on her blog and I am SOOO excited. Check it out. Shutterfly is giving away 50 free cards to bloggers who write about their cards. I love this idea. Even though I have access to a free and very talented designer in my own home, the cost of printing them and figuring out what type of paper or way to send them out is way too difficult. So this is perfect.

These are a few of my favorites:

(This one makes me excited to have a boy)

And this one. I love the design of this one.

You can check out all of their Christmas photo card styles here:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards:
And their Holiday styles here:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
Or their Christmas cards:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
Or overall Holiday styles:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations

And get your own free cards here:
http://http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

All I can say is I am excited! Oh and Merry Christmas! I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

How We Announced The Pregnancy To My Family

2010-11-21T17:24:00.005-07:00

We have been asked quite a few times how we told my family about us being pregnant. So I thought I would share that story here with all of you.

This is the first grandchild on my side and even the first great-grandchild on my Mom's side, so you can imagine how happy and excited my family is that we are having a baby! We were so excited when we found out that we couldn't hold it in. So we decided to make a very short trip to Colorado the weekend after we found out. We told my family the reason we were coming out was to celebrate my Mom's birthday which was still two weeks away, but we couldn't make it out in the next two weekends, so we had to come out that weekend to celebrate. Hence, the post a few weeks ago about going to Colorado.

We drove all night after I got off work on Thursday and arrived at my parents' house around 1 am. But everyone was working or was busy with something the whole weekend! So we pretty much hung out by ourselves all day Friday and Saturday. I was having a hard time keeping the news in!

We went skydiving for our anniversary and got videos of our dive, so we decided to tell them by having them watch our skydiving video with a little surprise at the end! Right when I am about to jump out of the plane, the whole screen goes black. Then music starts playing (You're Having My Baby by Finn on Glee) and pictures start popping up of us holding the positive pregnancy tests. Then it ends with an ultrasound that says, "Due May 2011."

We made plans to go to dinner on Saturday night. It was VERY difficult to get them all together. We had a very certain way, as stated above, that we wanted to tell them and it wouldn't work to tell them at dinner, so we had to organize it to get them all at my parents' house at once. The family was very confused why I was being so persistent that we drive to the restaurant together. I told them I wanted them to watch our skydiving video and that was our only chance to watch it all together. So they reluctantly agreed to watch it.

Here is the proof. I love it!
1. Recording of the families reaction to the video! (The part that they all get confused is when the whole screen went black. They thought they did something to the TV or sat on the remote or something! Then the pictures and song come up and they slowly got it!)

2. Shortened version of the video we showed them.

Last Weekend Trip To Disney

2010-11-17T15:10:00.012-07:00

Since I am carrying a lot of extra "cargo" lately, I can't exactly work at Disney World right now. I could handle wearing a dress all day and just standing there, but I don't think my growing belly would look good in that tight dress. And I can't exactly trek around with 50 pounds of fur, being inside a sweat cave (aka a fake animals head) while playing Pluto. And I have to work by the end of January in order to keep my position as a seasonal cast member. So it is time for me to admit, that after 4 years, I will no longer be an employee of Disney at the end of the year. It is sad to say, but it is time to move on!

Ok, now with that off my shoulders! We decided to take advantage of the GREAT discount employees get during the holidays season, as well as the free tickets in to the park. This is our last chance! We called up our good friends Mark and Kaylinn Morrell to see if they were up for a spontaneous weekend trip to Disney the FOLLOWING weekend. They agreed. We booked a very cheap hotel room at Super 8 and were off!

We had a great time. The Morrell's share our love for Disney and know so many tricks and secrets that excite me all the more! We all haven't been since May (I know what some of you are thinking. May is not that long ago. Well for us when we are used to going 5 times a year and the Morrell's who used to work there and go everyday, May is a very long time). I think I aged 20 years since we went in May because man, I was dying! My feet hurt, especially my heels, my back hurt, my neck hurt, I had a constant headache, my shins hurt, my calves hurt, and the list goes on and on. I had the hardest time standing for that long. I don't know how women who are in their 8th or 9th month do it. I was beat! But we took lots of breaks which was wonderful.

There were many rides I couldn't go on, but there are many things that I NEVER do when we go there because I would rather do all of the big rides (that have long lines). So it was fun to do new things for once. Oh and Kaylinn decided to join me most of the time, so it was more like a man date and a girl date. We all loved it. Here are pictures of the event.

**DISCLAIMER: I love looking at all my pregnant friends' blogs to check out their growing bellies. But they all don't take lots of pictures because they say they don't like any of the pctures of them. I thought that was crazy until now. I look hideous in these pictures. I didn't want to post them, but I decided that maybe a little bit of sympathy at this stage would be nice:)

Mark and Kaylinn

The little kids choo-choo train.

Kaylinn and I went on tours of some of the factories there. They weren't really tours. They were like rooms with read to yourself signs. But still very fascinating. At the Mission Tortilla Factory they gave me a package of free tortillas for my birthday!

We met Rapunzel from the new movie Tangled. I CANNOT WAIT to see that one.
We watched Bugs Life. And had to take a picture of us with our bug eyes on.
We rode Toy Story twice! Waited 75 minutes but it was WAY worth it. It was pretty much the only ride I could go on, so it was even better.

YAY!! I knew I loved Disney, but now I love them even more because they love Christmas as much as I do! They put up all their Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving just like we did!
We met Santa! I think his makeup artist needed to work on bringing his mustache to life a little bit more.

We got to meet aka stare at Santa's reindeer!

We rode the Disneyland railroad a few times:)

They brought back the Captain EO show. I never saw it before, and I would be fine if I never saw it again:)
While I waited for everyone to ride Indiana Jones, I went and met Jasmine and Aladdin.

We splurged and ate at the Blue Bayou. This is the restaurant that is inside the ride Pirates of the Caribbean. It was so delicious. And they have the best atmosphere and ambiance ever. Just love it.

I got a dessert for my birthday!

The gang at Blue Bayou. Too bad you can't tell that is where we are at!

We also got to watch the World of Colors. This is probably the coolest thing I have ever seen. And leave it to me to cry during pretty much the entire thing. I love Disney.

The pictures don't do it justice, but they play videos off of the water and bright lights to tell the stories of each movie.

Well that is about it. Thanks to the Morrells for going with us!

Happy Early Birthday To Me!

2010-11-09T07:51:00.004-07:00

So I have been thinking this year that Christmas time is by far my favorite time of the year. Everything about the holiday makes me happy. I am in such a good mood the entire month of December (even despite the awful weather!). And having the tree up for a month is just way too short! You don't get to fully enjoy the holiday season. So... my birthday is in a week, so I told Brandon that what I wanted for my birthday is to set up Christmas decorations early. He agreed! Last night we had hot chocolate, homemade pizza, and Christmas music playing as we put out all the Christmas decorations. It was pure bliss.

So happy birthday to me! I LOVE YOU BRANDON!!!!

THE BEST NEWS EVER!!!!

2010-10-27T14:07:00.000-06:00

I have been dying to announce this. In fact, I have been dying to post this for 8 weeks; ever since the day we found out! So here it is:

WE ARE PREGNANT!

I am 12 weeks. We went to our doctor's today and got to see the babies heartbeat and see the little bugger movin' around. It made both me and Brandon cry.

So here is baby Marcum. Due May 11, 2011!!!!!!!!!!

(I know some of you already knew, but now it is official!)

It is now October.

2010-10-01T18:18:00.009-06:00

We went to Colorado. We went to dinner at Outback. April, Sue, Brad, and Trevor joined us (my second family!)

We went to Garlic Knot. I have been craving it for almost 4 years! I just never seem to remember to eat there when we are in town. This time I didn't forget.
We went to the Dew Tour downtown.

The kitties turned 2. I gave them tuna. They loved it. Now they ask for it every morning. oops.

We went up the canyon one night. I lasted 10 minutes before I got too car sick. So we pulled over and played by the river. It was a nice break from B's homework.
I have made more flowers/headbands.

The end.

Bored at Work

2010-10-01T18:06:00.003-06:00

There have been many changes in my department at work, and unfortunately it has made things really slow. And my paycheck really small.

This is what I did for lunch one day. I'm not making money, so might as well spend it right?

The LONGEST Update Ever.

2010-09-05T21:39:00.025-06:00

I have looked back through the pictures on my computer since the last update and there are so many! So I will try to include everything here. I have tried to organize from the beginning of the summer to right now. Be patient as there are a lot. But I think they are pretty cool. So... it is worth it.

We planted flowers. My first time.

Brandon finished school at the end of April. 4 days later we flew to Mexico to spend 9 days with my family at an all-inclusive resort in Puerto Vallarta.

We moved in to ANOTHER apartment. Our old one was bad. Really bad mold 6 inches from where we put our heads to sleep. It was making us both sick. We had to threaten with an attorney to get out of the contract, but it was well worth it! We now live in a basement apartment in Pleasant Grove. Still middle ground for our opposite locations. We live a block away from Brandon's brother Chris and his wife Julia (who are moving away from us). No pictures of the apartment yet. Too messy. Too embarrassing.

Right after we moved, we went to Disneyland. Gotta use those benefits!

We played a bunch of mini golf. Brandon played some big people golf too.

We went to Lake Powell for a weekend with some friends.

We camped there. I highly UNrecommend it. It was awful.
We went to Idaho to hang out with Brandon's old roommates and their wives.

We went to MANY weddings. And bridal showers. We are officially broke after this summer of weddings.

We planned a ward "24th of July" breakfast as we are on the Activities Committee.

Tug of War

We had Brandon's extended family reunion in Idaho.

We had my extended family reunion in Bear Lake.

Shakes

Bubble Blowing Contest

We did some country dancing for a talent and then all the cousins wanted to dance with Brandon. I loved it.

We won the water balloon toss contest. These are our sweet prizes.

Yep that is Brandon braiding hair.

After the reunion, my parents and Brittney came to town.

We celebrated my Dad's birthday.
My Dad got a free Iceberg shake on his birthday. Just what he wanted!
All of Brandon's presents from the family (I might be wearing a couple of presents)

Sniper and Gunner are good. Sniper is a pimp sometimes.

We went to the Salt Lake Rodeo with Brandon's parents. My first rodeo!

We went to a Salt Lake Bees game with our friends Jessica and Bryan. We got front row seats.

My work had a Biggest Loser contest. The winner got $2000 so I was VERY motivated. I didn't win, but I did "lose" a lot. So it was worth it.

My boss bought everyone pizza after the last weigh-ins. This was only half of the stampede for real food!

We went skydiving. No big deal.

Brandon surprised me for our anniversary. It was amazing. Best thrill of my life.

Signing our lives away...

I couldn't control my lips. Or my drool.

We went to Park City after skydiving to spend the rest of the weekend to celebrate our anniversary and Brandon's birthday.

Hot Tub and Sparkling Cider

Park Silly Farmer's Market

Brandon and his presents
Homemade Ice cream cake
He got a free Iceberg shake on his brithday!
We have made a lot of big purchases lately. Necessary, but still painful to the checkbook.

Brandon's 1996 Lumina died on his last day of school. All summer Brandon worked from home so we worked it out. But now with him in school again, we had to get a second car. We bought a Hyundai Sonata. We got a screaming good deal. SCREAMING!!! (Get it?)

We bought a new couch.
We bought a new mattress. Yay king size! We also bought new bedding, of course, to go with the new mattress. We are still working on the bed frame and headboard.
We bought a new TV. We got it from a friend for such a good deal!

We went to the John Mayer concert with Chris and Julia!

We met up with Brandon's cousin Jeff and his wife Natalie.
We went to Park City again because we got two free nights at a really nice hotel.

We got a Groupon for a sushi restaurant up there. It was probably the best I have ever had.

Our total was $5.67. Thank you Groupon.Luxury Robes :)

We went to the Olympic Park and took a tour.

I had a reunion with friends that I worked at Disney World with.

I have been into sewing lately. Thank you to Brandon for teaching me how to use my sewing machine, You Tube videos for teaching me how to make flowers, and my friend Allyx for teaching me how to make other flowers, I have started these items!

I made curtain holders.

I made curtains for our kitchen.

I made headbands.

And hair clips.

I have made more than these. But I have given those away. But this is only the beginning. I plan on making more!

And that is finally it! Thanks for sticking through it.

Blogging Failure

2010-09-05T21:19:00.004-06:00

Ok I admit. I have been a bad blogger. It has been so long since I updated the blog. There are many reasons why. The top three reasons are:
1. I have a PC that is as slow as a SNAIL. It takes 30 minutes (without exaggeration) to start up and Brandon has worked from home all summer, so he is always on his computer. So I can't use his.
2. This summer has been so busy! I go to work, go to the gym, get home and eat, then go to bed. Not really anytime to sit down and download pictures and update the blog.
3. I will be honest, no one ever comments on our blog. It gets discouraging when I spend time on a blog post and no one comments.

So anyways, I will try this out again. I am going to make it a goal to update the blog more often and make it exciting for all of you! But make it worth it for me! If you read a post, let me know you did!

Here goes nothing...

The project I have been working on

2010-04-11T15:39:00.005-06:00

It was my brother's 22nd birthday on April 3rd. I still can't believe that it has been 7 years since he has been gone. Sometimes I feel like my memories of him are slipping away. My sisters and I were talking about this. So we decided to create a book of memories so we could always remember the happy times we had with him. So we gave my parents a book of memories from the 3 of us on Brian's birthday.

I am very happy with it.

The cover.

Example of the inside.
My Daddy while he is reading it.
We miss you Brian.

Super Duper Bad Blogger

2010-03-31T22:47:00.014-06:00

I have been a super duper bad blogger. They blocked all the computers at work, so I cannot access it from there anymore. And let's face it, blogging becomes last on the priority list after a long day of work. Besides, I have no motivation to do it when I get home. Tonight I promised Brandon I would make him Funeral Potatoes (he helped me with a project this week) so I have to wait an hour and a half for them to finish baking before I can go to bed. So here I am.

Let me summarize our lives lately:

1. Easter is the best time of the year. My favorite candy, Mini Eggs, are available! Every year I stock up on these delicious things, put them in the freezer to try to last me the whole year. Well they end up lasting to about June or July. But all the stores are out! Seriously? What am I gonna do!!!

2. Brandon is still busy with school. He got home tonight at about 9:30pm.

3. I still have a job (please hold applause until the end).

4. I have a 3 week break from Activity Days. Is it bad that I am happy about that?

5. Brandon and I spoke in church last Sunday. A guy in the ward came up to us afterwards and asked us for a copy of our talks. It made us feel special.

6. Gunner is "stressed." For those of you who do not blog stalk us, Gunner is our gray cat. We took him to the vet because he has this thing lately that he likes to pee on anything and everything. The vet did some tests and decided it is because of all the animals that live around us. They are stressing him out. He put Gunner on Prozac for cats. Then he told us how to really fix it: move. Sweetness. Now to find another apartment that allows cats, but doesn't have a zoo below us... good luck to us.

7. I have been busy working on a project that I cannot disclose until Saturday. But I am proud of it and glad that I am done with it.

8. Vampire Diaries is playing new episodes again!

9. We are counting down the days until Glee is back on! 2 weeks from yesterday!!

10. We have watched one episode of the 6th season of Lost. We are finally on the last season, but we are behind.

11. We went to the Festival of Colors at the Spanish Fork Hindu Temple. We got dirty.

Pre-dirtiness.

The results.

Close ups are very flattering.
The crowd.12. We are going to Mexico in a month from tomorrow!!!!
We are staying here.

13. We went up to my Grandparents' house. We went sledding and snowmobiling.
We found a moose antler
Cousins.Their animals love each other.
14. Brandon went to St. George with his family to play golf. He left me love notes. I really enjoyed them. This one I discovered when I pulled back the covers to go to bed:)

Please notice Brandon's sweet golfing pants. They have golfing penguins on them!15. We like to mini-golf. We went this past weekend. Brandon likes to mini-golf to practice. I like to mini-golf because I win every time :)

I won!

We went with cool friends DJ and Kyra.
Tough shot?16. Brandon and I decided on our first boy's name. But we will not disclose it until we actually become pregnant. Maybe we think about this subject too often?

17. We got gym memberships. But yet, we can't seem to put the ice cream down!

18. We are still waiting on my work to decide about Africa. So no update. Just waiting.

I think that is all. Peace, Love and Harmony.... Steph and Brandon.

Fun Weekend

2010-03-07T21:08:00.009-07:00

We had a fun weekend! I stole Brandon from Big Bertha (Brandon replaced Bessie, his computer, with Big Bertha... an even bigger computer who is his second girlfriend), and we spent a lot of time together. This is rare since he is so busy with homework, so I REALLY enjoyed it!

Friday we went to our friends' cabin near Brighton and went snowmobiling. The machines were so fast and it was all so fun. We got stuck several times which was embarrassing, but overall it was a blast!

Me and Jessica Bingham Kehl

Bryan, Jessica, me, BrandonFriends Austin and Anna

It snowed so much on Friday. Look at all the powder! And this isn't just snow piled up. It is the actual depth!

On Saturday I got to to hang out with my best friend growing up, Leslie! Loved it. We went shopping and had lunch with another mutual friend Shelli.

On Saturday we also got massages! Brandon has never gotten a professional massage. Can you believe it?! So for Valentine's Day I decided I wanted to get him a massage, but then I got sick and didn't have time to get the gift certificate, so I ended up just telling him my plan. Then we decided together to wait 3 weeks so then I could get one too and we could get them buy one get one free! So we went to the Utah College of Massage Therapy and got 2, sixty minute massages for the price of one! Let me tell you... we both were very satisfied!

Sunday we had my cousins over for dinner. My cousins Taylor and Colton are freshman at BYU. And they have been going to school since August, so I am embarrassed to say this was our first time having them over. But I hope they will forgive me! They requested Lasagna and dessert. I was super worried about the recipes I used, but it turned out great... well at least that is what Brandon tells me. He is so sweet when it comes to my cooking. He says everything is delicious :)

Anyways, I didn't take any pictures of the food, but here is the table set up! I just love our dishes.

We played Bananagrams after. It is like Speed Scrabble. Super fun! I think I want to buy it!

Now Brandon is hanging out with Big Bertha again and I am typing this. Can't wait for next weekend with my hubby!

my husband, the hobo

2010-03-02T22:38:00.003-07:00

Once upon a time there were 2 boys named Brandon and Chris. Brandon was older than Chris and always gave him such a hard time. Chris, being the youngest and the picked on brother, would sometimes lash out and get back at Brandon. One day, Chris decided to use an innocent children's toy named Elmo to show Brandon he wasn't messin' around. That day, Chris decided to throw that Elmo doll at Brandon. It changed Brandon's life forever. His front tooth cracked in half and fell out because Elmo's hard eyeball decided to hit Brandon's tooth perfectly. He had to get a veneer put on to cap his tooth. Since then, Brandon's tooth has fell out 4 times. Well now it is 5. Apparently I made the pizza crust a little too crunchy. Brandon took a bite and his front tooth went flying!

So now, I am proud to introduce the one... the only... Brandon Marcum! Careful ladies. He is taken!He is still Idaho's Bachelor of the Year EVEN without a tooth! And he is still dreamy to me:)

Oh and FYI, Elmo is not allowed in our house..

Chris and Julia Have a Baby!!

2010-03-02T22:13:00.004-07:00

I have to admit, I am very jealous of Chris and Julia. On February 13th, they welcomed their first little girl Greta in to the world. She is adorable. And tiny! Chris is Brandon's younger brother and Chris and Julia got married 3 months after us. And they already beat us to the whole baby thing! Anyways, we went to visit them in the hospital. Thought I would post some pictures. We are so happy for them!

ew Steph, that is really gross.

2010-02-18T12:06:00.004-07:00

So I am sick. How this disease made it in to my body is a mystery to all. Last Wednesday my throat started to hurt really bad. Then the muscle aches came. Then I was super tired. Then my throat stopped hurting and I started to cough. Then my nose became stuffy. I gained a fever and it likes to break mid-day and make me sweat like a freaking pig. I went home from work early last Thursday and I slept for 16 hours straight. But I still have to work every day because some odd reason the mortgage industry doesn't want to go on hold when I am sick. Weird. All of my co-workers have to listen to me cough and blow my nose all day. Yesterday a co-worker told me, "Ew Steph, that is really gross." She was completely serious and I think she wanted me to leave this planet.

I taught Relief Society on Sunday for my first time. I am 24 years old and the average age of my ward is probably about 85. So I felt a little out of my league. I have only taught primary and my calling is Activity Day Director, but a lady who teaches Relief Society asked me if I could sub for her while she went out of town. I asked her if we had substitute teachers in our ward and she told me yes and waited for my response. Of course I couldn't say no! And of course I had to get sick right before I had to teach. You may think I need to be struck by lightening right now, but just hear me out. The lesson was on Jesus Christ, but the material was VERY limited. It was about 5 paragraphs, so I started to freak out. I had no idea how I would teach for an hour! And the lesson from the previous week covered some of the material and the lesson from next week covers some of the material, so I didn't want to repeat or take away from anyone else's lesson. But then I started to do research and WOW! There was so much. It took me probably 10 hours to prepare my lesson. I had to figure out a way to cut down the material I had. My fever decided to break right before I started the lesson. I was wearing a thick sweater and I couldn't take it off. So pit stains were definitely evident and so were the extremely red cheeks and the sweat droplets dripping from my forehead. Overall, the lesson went really well. I wasn't nervous, and I felt very comfortable in front of everyone. I learned a lot from my research. I knew someone was helping me plan that lesson. I felt like I was supposed to say those things to those women. So I thank her for my experience. It was a great Valentine's Day and I am thankful for it.

And now Brandon and I will be speaking in church in about 3 weeks. Wish us luck:)

Oh and P.S. We did nothing for Valentine's Day. Being sick doesn't exactly put you in the mood for much activity.