Christmas was how many months ago?

When Wes was 2 weeks old we flew to Denver for Christmas. We had so much fun spending time with both sides of our family. Since I have about 5 minutes before Wes wakes up from his nap, I'll skip ahead to pictures and let them explain our trip.

I can't believe how teeny he was.

Mom and Trev's first time meeting Wes.

Mike is so happy we had a boy. He can't wait until Wes can wrestle like this.

We got to hang out with Allison. Wes loves her.

Niki came to visit too. It was so great to catch up! Love you Nikis!

Britt "surprised" us and came for 2 days. It was the best.

Jas needs a baby.

Christmas is the best!

I can't get over how tiny he is. I want that little nugget back! Laura needs a baby too.

So happy we got to see my cousin Teisha at the baby shower!

Aunt Mary is the cutest.

Jen holding my little tiny man.

We were able to do Wes's baby blessing while we were out there with all my family. 

I love that the cousins wanted to hold Wes. They were so cute with him! Riley kept calling him "baby weth" and David called him "West David".

Dad's first time meeting his first grandson. Wes was over it.

My birthday was the best. So happy I could spend it with these girls!

This doesn't quite capture Wes's cuteness enough. He was so dang cute every time Mike would burp him. He was seriously as big as Mike's hand.

We had an amazing trip and got to see all the people we love the most!

We love San Francisco

A couple weekends ago one of my best friends, Shannyl, came to visit us. We loved having her here. She came Saturday night and we went to dinner in the city and came home and just caught up a little. Sunday we went to church and while we were there Shannyl, being a cute little mom in training, cooked us up some amazing homemade chicken noodle soup with all the fresh veggies she found at the farmer's market. We spent the rest of the day driving around this beautiful place we call home. We have loved living here so much. 

When we moved out here in July of 2012 I thought that I was going to be counting our days until we moved back to Colorado. As much as I love Colorado, I could honestly live here for the rest of my life and be happy. I love the area we're in. We're just north of the Golden Gate in a little town called Corte Madera. It's a cute little quaint town full of happy people and green trees everywhere. 

Since we moved here Mike has been scoping out surf boards every single day on Craigslist and on the weekends we go to surf shops in the city and see if they got any used boards in that week. Mike finally found "the one" a couple weeks ago and we've spent our past two Saturdays at the beach. The first day he went out he was so cute and happy, it made my day seeing his cute smile as he waxed up his board and walked down to the water. Don't worry..I documented the whole thing like it was his first day of school. He hated it. I loved it. Oh yeah, I got a picture of every moment..except of him surfing. It was so bright and when I looked out into the water I could only see the silhouettes of the surfers so I totally lost track of where he was. Then I went to the car to feed Wes and took some pictures along the beach. When I got back Mike was getting out of the water. What the heck. So I took pictures of him getting out..haha! He wanted to kill me!

Wes was not all about the kisses.

cuties

This is one reason why I didn't get any pictures of Mike surfing. This graffiti was so cool!

For a while I was taking pictures of this guy. Turns out he's not my husband.

Oh hi!

Glad Wes was a content little babe.

Love this little guy!

My Birth Story

Now that my baby is 2 months old, I am finally finding time to update this baby. I have been wanting to share my birth story since the moment I came home from the hospital. I had the most amazing experience. I hope you're all ready for my longest blog post...probably of my entire life. Here we go...

On the morning I knew I was in labor...

As a typical pregnant lady would be, I was up for probably my 4th or 5th trip to the bathroom at 4am and I noticed something was different. I quickly took care of bidness and went back to bed. I woke up again at 5:30 (because of course the few drops of pee I had in me couldn't wait one more second) and this time I KNEW something was going on. I ran back into our room and woke Mike up and told him I might be in labor...or something. I had been through the new parent classes and birth classes and all of that but really, how can you actually be prepared for that moment when you just know you're in labor and it's actually happening. Mike told me to go back to bed and that everything was fine. So I tried. Then I started getting really mild Braxton Hicks contractions. I never got contractions in the morning. I always got them around 10 or 11 at night for an hour or so.  

Even though Mike wanted me to go back to bed and stop worrying, I got out a notepad and stopwatch and started tracking my contractions. I felt a little silly because this was about a week before my due date and everyone told me I would go past my due date with my first pregnancy. Well guess what everyone..I didn't. I sent a text to my cousin and told her what was going on because I needed someone to tell me I wasn't crazy because I think at this point Mike thought I was. 

I would have called my doctor but I had my 39 week appointment that day so I figured I would keep tracking contractions and see what she thought when I got to the office. My appointment was at 11:40 and Mike decided to come with me "just in case". I told my doctor what was going on, she took a look and said, "Sweetie, you're in labor. We need to get you to the hospital. You're going to have a baby by the morning." I KNEW IT! I immediately started crying. I couldn't believe it was actually happening. 

Since Mike came to the appointment he drove me straight to the hospital. I had left the house with my hair wet, right out of the shower, thinking I was just making a quick stop at the doctor's office then I'd be back home to get ready. I left our apartment a complete mess. I was in the middle of at least 43 projects, I had piles of laundry I was planning to get done and dishes piled in the sink. Oh well, those things needed to wait. I was having a BABY! 

I was having contractions all morning but the really uncomfortable contractions started around 3pm. This is when I sent Mike home to grab my hospital bag and, of course, chocolate covered pretzels. He had to stop by his work too to grab his laptop so he could finish up some work while he was at the hospital with me. He was gone for at least an hour and a half and it seemed like the longest hour and a half of my entire life. 

Well, contractions were NOT fun. I'm hoping that was the worst pain I'll ever be in in my life. It better be. I was doing OK without any medication until about 7pm. When the nurse told me I could get an epidural and sleep through contractions I basically would have done anything for that nurse at that moment..seriously anything. I had been up since 4am and had no energy and I could feel my energy draining quickly with every contraction. My contractions were lasting about 1.5 minutes each and I only had 1 minute or 1.5 minutes in between each one. I was exhausted. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing husband. He was there through every miserable contraction, holding my hand, breathing with me, rubbing my back, telling me how amazing I was. I just kept thinking to myself, "how could I do this without him?" I honestly couldn't have. He is the best.

The nurse moved me from the labor room to the delivery room around 8pm. I was alraedy 8cm dialted. This is when I got the epidural. The nurse told me to lay down and said they would be coming in to check on me. She told me I would wake up on my own when I felt the urge to start pushing. This was the best I had ever felt in my life. Seriously. At that moment when I laid my head down on the pillow and let my body do it's thing, I looked over at Mike and told him I thought I was in heaven. I also told him I would want 10 kids if I could just get the epidural right away every time. I kinda take that back now. 

So I laid down. Mike made me turn off my phone because I was texting my family and letting them all know the baby was on his way. I can't even describe how amazing I was feeling at this point. The doctor came in and broke my water around 11:30pm and said everything looked good. A nurse came in around 1:30am and said I was ready to start figuring out how to push so I would be ready when the baby was. Mike was right there, holding my leg, and foot and hand and whatever else I needed him to hold. He was so sweet. Counting for me and telling me how great I was doing. Have I mentioned how sweet my adorable husband is? I love him so much. 

Well I had a great time talking with Mike and the nurse as I pushed and we talked about our lives. At one point the nurse looked at me and said, "Stop pushing, you're going to have this baby. I need to go wake up the doctor and get the room ready." As soon as the doctor walked in I asked her if I could start pushing because I knew I needed to. She told me to and I pushed a few times. She grabbed my hand and made me feel the baby's head coming out. That was enough for me. Holy cow. I have a weak stomach and couldn't really handle that. It was amazing nonetheless. I can't remember exactly how many times I pushed or how long it was. It felt like everything was in fast forward. Before I knew it the nurse was handing me my perfect little boy.

Wes was born on November 29 at 3:14am. (5 days before my due date) He weighed 7 pounds one ounce and was 19 1/4 inches long.

Those three days we spent at the hospital were the best 3 days of my life by far. Every single moment seemed to last forever. I think I shed more happy tears than anyone ever has in their lifetime. Every time I would look over at Mike holding little Wes my little heart would melt and the tears would just flow. (and they are now as I'm typing this remembering all those sweet moments). 

My little Wes is a miracle. We feel so blessed every day. These past 9 weeks that he has been here with us have been heaven. I was sitting in a church meeting recently just thinking about how much my life has changed since he was born. My perspective on life has changed so much. I feel like  my heart is at least a million times bigger and is overfilled with love for my husband, love for my beautiful baby boy and my Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this amazing blessing that I get to enjoy every day of my life. 

we love his funny little faces

Sometimes when I put him in his car seat he gets so excited he can't control himself. You can tell by the blurriness of his little hands. He moves them a million miles a minute and makes the cutest sounds.

When I run out of the manly bibs I have to use the girly ones. Wes lets me know when he's not happy about something. He was not havin' it.

He's like his momma. We loooove taking baths. 

I wish I knew what this funny little boy was thinking sometimes.

Just a happy little kid.

We love you so much Wes baby.

And we will love you forever!

Happy Engagement Day!

Mike decided to surprise me and propose 4 years ago today. He always gets mad when I say I was completely surprised by the proposal. He reminds me that we had been talking about getting married for a while and we had even gone ring shopping. When we went "ring shopping" I thought he was just introducing me to his aunt, who happened to work at a jewelry store. Ok..I guess we had been talking about marriage but I thought I still had a good 3 months to make up my mind about who I would spend the rest of my life with. Apparently Mike had already made up his mind and was ready to make some life changing plans. 

Mike and I met on my birthday, December 31 2007. He was 23 and I had just turned 20. We met through some mutual friends. Mike thought I was a CSU cheerleader the night he met me because I came with my friend, Kristal, who actually was a CSU cheerleader. When he found out that I wasn't Kristal's cheerleader friend but that I had met her through church, he was stoked. He always tells me that he loved me the night we met. I believe it because he told me he wanted to marry me the same night we met. (I told him that I was a twin and he said he wanted twins so we should get married and increase his chances of having them)

We spent New Years Eve at a church dance then we headed to Mike's sister's house and had a crazy Guess Who tournament with some friends. (where did we come up with this idea?) It was so much fun though. By the end of the night I had given Mike my phone number. He texted me early that morning and told me he wanted to take me snowshoeing when I got to Utah. I still remember being so excited when I opened the text on my pink razor phone. 

I was flying out to Utah to visit family on New Years day with Britt (my sissy). Mike was headed back to Utah too to get ready to go back to school after winter break at BYU. Instead of spending time with my family that week I spent every day with Mike. Britt was in Utah with me and she came along for every adventure, including our first date. (love you sister!) 

Well some people think it took us way too long to get engaged but Mike proposed almost exactly a year later on January 9th. Mike and I had spent 2 semesters dating long distance. I was going to school at Colorado State and he was going to BYU. We saw each other nearly once a month. He would either drive out to see me or I would fly or drive out to Utah to see him. We spent the first summer together in Highlands Ranch. (we're so grateful for the Shubins, Deb, and the Rossbergs for letting me live with them that summer!) By the end of the summer Mike was trying to get me to commit to marrying him. I still wasn't ready. So we kind of broke up. I called Mike two weeks later and told him I was moving to Utah at the end of the semester and that I knew I wanted to marry him. So what did he do? He proposed a few days after I moved to Utah. Here's how it happened..

We decided to take a spontaneous road trip to San Diego and Mike thought it would be the perfect place to propose since I grew up there. We were headed to dinner at the Chart House. We parked the car and I wanted to walk down by the beach and take some pictures before dinner. Mike was totally ok with this idea (I was really surprised because usually he hates taking pictures) As we were walking down the beach I saw a big heart made out of rocks and rose petals. We walked toward it to look at it and as we got closer, Mike got on his knee and started telling me how much he loved me. So what did I do? I started pulling him up back on his feet! I had no idea he was actually proposing. For the past two months Mike had been "practice" proposing and dropping to his knee the minute we walked into a store. I thought he was just doing this again. But no, this was for real. After about 20 or 30 minutes I finally said yes. I knew how much I loved him but I was just so shocked that it took me a minute...or 30 to get my thoughts straight. 

I'm so glad everything worked out the way it did. I love this guy more than anything. I'm so glad Mike was so persistent about marrying me even though I was a chicken and it took me forever to commit. Love you forever babe!

Mike setting the ground rules for the Guess Who tournament.

 It got intense

Best sister ever. This was right before we met Mike. Look at how baby she is.

The beautiful set up. Thanks to Ashley and Jeremy Smith for going to the restaurant early and setting all this up. I had no idea what was going on.

Part of the reason why it took me so long to say yes was because Mike didn't even know where the ring was. His friends had set up the whole thing before we got there. I totally thought he was faking this proposal. Who proposes without a ring?

I had no idea what was going on here.

So glad Ashley and Jeremy captured these. 

Me probably asking Mike if he was serious...

Thinking about saying yes..and still thinking...

And it was official. Best decision I've ever made.

Happy due date, Wes!

Yesterday was the big day we had been waiting for for 9 long months! Wes decided to surprise us and come a little earlier than expected. We were definitely not expecting it because I wasn't showing any signs of early labor but we were more than excited to have him arrive 5 days earlier than planned! I want to write a post about my birth story but that's going to have to wait until I actually start getting some sleep at night and can piece together the details. I just wanted to quickly share some pictures, because I have at least a million on my phone and have been dying to share with the world. 

First, I woke Mike up in the morning with little Wes laying by him and had to get some snuggles in before he left for work. As I laid Wes down by Mike, Mike started cracking up and wouldn't stop laughing. Mike NEVER remembers his dreams so I had to wake him up and see what the heck was so funny. He was having a dream that he was playing soccer and Wes, Grammy Lisa and I were all watching him play. He came over to the sideline to say hi to us and give Wes some snuggles. He handed Wes back to Grandma and Wes just stuck out his tongue and started licking her all over her face. Ok, maybe it doesn't seem like that funny of a dream but seriously Mike was laughing so hard he was crying so I was laughing so hard I was crying and Wes was just laying there like WHO THE HECK ARE THESE CRAZY PEOPLE!!?? Haha..love it!


We have had way too much fun these past 5 days. Everyone always told me that a love of a parent is indescribable. Totally is. I never knew I had so much love in my little heart. I also never knew I could love Mike any more than I did before Wes came. I love him at least a million times more and honestly couldn't ask for a sweeter guy to love me and my baby. I have never laughed as hard with him as we have since Wes has been here. Even though he's such a tiny little babe, he seriously does the funniest little things and we have laughed until we cried at least a few times already. I don't even know what we're going to do when he actually starts talking. 

Here are some pictures to help you understand my love for our newest addition, hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

10 minutes old and he had already stolen our hearts!

Mike could NOT get enough snuggles!

I have a million pictures of this little peanut yawning!

One of the only pictures of me and Wes at the hospital. I look good huh!

Daddy was so stinking tired. Look at those blood shot eyes. Such a cutie!

There are not a lot of things cuter than a little swaddled up babe.

Little arm snuggle.

He obviously wasn't as excited as we were to go home!

But then he realized that he really loved his car seat. 

Little feeties

So grateful to have Grammy Lisa here! (Mike's mom) So nice to be able to get in the shower and not have to worry about anything!

One of the little onesies I had to add a tie to. Wes is a little embarrassed about it I guess. 

I just love him.

Figured out that Wes got my little nose. 

Wes's little twinner nose. He has Mike's ears and I seriously think it's the cutest thing EVER!!!