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.

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!!

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!

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.

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!

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!