Easter Pagaent At the Mesa Temple

General Conference

Boys Night Out

Weekend Getaway to Tucson!

Daddy/Daughter School Dance

Lily's school put on a father/daughter dance the weekend of Valentine's Day.

Lily immediately asked her Grandpa Harrington to go on the date with her, because she said Brandon probably didn't know how to dance. I just laughed because it is true.

My dad showed up right on time, rang the door bell, and when she opened the door he handed her a dozen red roses! She was so THRILLED to get flowers!! It was seriously like a real date to her.

The two went to the school dance and stayed the whole time. Lily said that grandpa was a great dancer and he danced most of the songs, so I guess she made a good choice to bring him. hehe

Pinewood Derby

Ashlyn Turns 5!!

We are PREGNANT!!

WE ARE PREGNANT!!

Our first baby together...#4 overall, is due September 6, 2012!!

Now, the story behind it.

Brandon and I of course wanted to have our own biological children, and so we knew early on that we would start trying to have kids pretty early in the marriage. Funny thing is that I have always been able to get pregnant really easily, but I worried 'what if that isn't the case now that I am married to Brandon.'

So, in December we forgoed birth control thinking, 'what are the chances of getting pregnant the first month?' And really, what are they?

Well...apparently really good! Because it worked.

I got what I thought was my period right on time, and continued to spot for a couple of days, so I thought we were definitely not preggo and that we could always try for real later on. Well after 3 days of light spotting, I started to question, 'could I be pregnant?'

I ran to CVS to buy a test, which I had saved a coupon for. Sweet...$1 off!

As soon as I got home I took it and I just stared down at the test as it showed up immediately with a PLUS SIGN!!

I WAS PREGNANT!!

It took a few seconds for it to sink in. It had been almost 5 years since I was pregnant, and I honestly thought at times in my life (like right after the divorce) that I might never have any more kids. Plus, that means that we were fertile!! One month of forgoing birth control and we were preggo!!

I of course immediately called my sister Janel...it is tradition. She screamed in delight for me and began her line of questions,

"are you excited?"

"Was it planned?"

"How did you tell Brandon?" 

Well...I hadn't told Brandon yet. And in fact, he still thought I had got my monthly. So, how would I tell him??

I found out on January 2 that I was pregnant, and for two days I didn't say a word! I couldn't get up the nerves to say the words. What would he do? How would he react?

I know that he would be happy and that this is what we both wanted, but I just have baggage from my previous relationship where saying that I was pregnant never went over well. So I pushed that anxiety onto Brandon and I's relationship.

What's funny is that on Tuesday night we were playing monopoly and we were making jokes about having a baby and I just bit my lip. The timing wasn't right.

But Wednesday night I had to say something! I had already known for 2 days!!

Brandon has always wanted a baby boy. So at a nearby boutique I found an adorable onesie with a tie sewn on it. I had it gift wrapped and laid on the bed with the pregnancy test when I got home. On top of the present was a handwritten note. I won't say what was on the note, but I will say what the last line read. It said, "You are an amazing father to the three kids that we have now, and I know that you will be an amazing father to OUR baby due in September."

I laid on our bed with the present and the letter on top of it. He came out of the bathroom and asked, "what is this?" I told him I wanted to get him a present to let him know how much I loved him. I seriously had no idea what else to say!!

He laid on the bed next to me and started to read the letter.

As I watched him read the letter my heart was pounding and I was on pins and needles. I watched his eyes so carefully so I could tell when he was at the end. Then, he started to read it aloud. He got to the last line and said, "...our baby due in September. (pause) OUR baby? (pause again) We're pregnant??"

I smiled and shook my head yes.

He just smiled, and then laid his head on my leg and said, "this is good news." He rubbed my legs for a few seconds and then opened the present. He just stared at the little onesie, and kept saying, "I am going to be a dad?"

So then I had to fill him in as to why I was so nervous and I had to confess that I had known for 2 days!! He kept saying, "why were you so scared to tell me, you know I would be happy."

I love that man! He got so excited and immediately started talking about baby names. Then on Sunday we told the kids, and he gave me a priesthood blessing. It couldn't have gone any better!!

This baby was meant to be here, and we were obviously meant to get pregnant this fast. So although the timing is a little funky (I am due in the hottest month of the year here in Arizona!!), we know that it was all meant to be.

(Oh, I have low progesterone (a hormone needed to sustain a pregnancy), and so I quickly got on a prescription of it, and then the spotting stopped, and me and the baby were fine.)

Brandon turns 34!

Christmas break with friends

Christmas

Family Night with Friends

Girls Dance Recital

School Christmas Recital

Christmas Tree shopping

My sisters wedding In Denver

Phoenix Zoo

Grandma and Grandpa Speth (Brandon's parents) came for a visit in November. They were coming for Brandon's cousins sealing. His dad Larry came for 3 days, but we were lucky enough to have Brandon's mom, Maxine, come for a whole week!

SHE IS A BLAST!! I really love her! By far, the best mother-in-law in the world! He is kind, helpful, understanding, funny, great with the kids, and she loves me and treats me like her own daughter. Mazine and I could stay up late laughing like we were best friends & shop all day like we were sisters! She is fabulous!

While Grandpa and Grandma Speth were here, we went to a baptism, attended a sealing, did a lot of shopping and eating out, and headed to the zoo for a day!

Once again, I slacked on taking pictures while they were here, but I did get a bunch of us while we were at the zoo.

Enjoy!

The kids watching a peacock getting fed...up close!

Turtles having sex...HILARIOUS!!! I had just given "the talk" to Noah, and so he thought this was disgusting! But us adults couldn't stop laughing...especially as the turtles moaning got really loud!! (The guy was on top and he was smashing the poor girl down into a muddy hole!)

Prairie dogs

For anyone thinking of visiting this zoo...which by the way is apparently rated #5 zoo in the U.S...DON"T WASTE YOUR TIME! Everything cost extra...the train, the carousel, petting the sting rays! They nickel and dime you for everything! And since we live in the desert, all you see are tons of  "plains" animals. No arctic animals, or sea creatures. It really made me miss the Indy zoo...we LOVED the polar bear and petting the sharks there!

Halloween

The kids each picked out their own outfits this year, without any promptings from me. What happens when they get complete control...our four year old decides to be 'Darth Vader.'

She is such a Tom Boy, and her costume totally shows it!!

Lily picked a cheerleader costume, and Noah decided on an 'Optimus Prime' one.

They were a cute bunch!

Did you notice the lack of Lily's candy bucket? Yeah, the little stinker was not nice all week! She got in trouble at school, and was less than agreeable at home. So, her punishment? No trick or treating. She got to get candy from grandpa and grandma harrington, but then the rest of the night she had to stay on the sidewalk with Brandon and I while Noah and Ash got to go up to the houses begging for candy. She actually didn't mind, and handled it very maturely. She walked hand in hand with us the whole time, and by the end of the night she had learned her lesson!!

Pathetic Children's Museum...seriously.

A friend from my ward and I took our kids to this "great" Children's Museum up in Phoenix.

IT
WAS
PATHETIC!

Oh, how I miss the Indianapolis Children's museum!

This place only had two rooms.

One for arts, crafts, and dress-ups.

And one for imagination play.

PATHETIC!!

Needless to say, I will not be going back! It took one hour to get there, and it costs $8 to get in. Neither of which was worth it.

Ash could certainly play dress-up and do crafts at home for much cheaper!

Lesson learned.

I did get a few cute pictures of Ash though...it's hard to believe she will be 5 soon!

Our beautiful girl!

Ash and her little friend playing dress up.

My LOVE/HATE relationship with Arizona

When I was first searching profiles on an LDS singles network after my divorce, I only searched locally...because

I.

DID.

NOT.

WANT.

TO.

MOVE!

I LOVED Liberty, Missouri. I loved my friends, my job, my ward, the kids school, my neighborhood, and even my little townhouse. 

BUT, there were slim pickings with the local boys!

So, I broadened my geographical search, but got more picky and tightened my search criteria for the men.

When I came across Brandon, and I saw he lived in Arizona I almost quickly dismissed him, but I then I remember thinking, 'as if anything will come of this.' I wasn't trying to be pestimissmistic, but who really finds there soulmate and their eternal companion online?? Well, I did.

Within weeks we were madly in love...yeah, we feel hard and quick.

When the topic of marriage came up...so did the topic of moving to Arizona. It really was more logical for me to move here, than for Brandon to move to Missouri. He had a great job that he had been at for 8+ years, he had a house, a rental house...moving for him would be much harder! I was only in a lease, not a mortgage. My job was part-time and I had only been there one month when we got engaged.

So, Arizona, here we come!

After being here 7 months, these are a few of the things I have noticed and that I either LOVE or HATE about being here...

the HATE list

*It gets so hot here in the summer that the large water tanks that are above ground heat your water of course. So what does this mean? For about 4 months of the year, you can't get cold water from your tap! It comes out of the tap steaming hot instead. Nice.

*The sand storms. I HATE THEM!! They are these HUGE, giant storms that blow sand. You can't even see the house across the street, and is covers your car, and everything outside in a nasty sand film.

*It's brown here! The only things here that are green here, is my yard, and the entrances into the housing editions.

*In the summer everyone keeps the house dark to keep it from getting too hot and your electric bill getting too high. That means that for several months of the year, I can't open any blinds and let the sunshine in!

*It's sunny everyday...boring! (although this is also on the LOVE list)

the LOVE list

*It's sunny everyday. The good thing about this is that you can plan parties, and picnics and not worry about getting rained out. The weather is very predicable. Sunny everyday.

*The winter is heavenly. I can still wear flip flops, and it's jeans and t-shirt weather everyday. That means no shoveling snow!!

*All the highways and shopping centers are so clean and so well kept. No pot holes. No trash on the sides of the highway, and no roadkill. I literally have never seen such a clean city.

*The large number of LDS people. They are building a third temple here in the valley, and just in our city there are 8 stakes!! There is a brand new beautiful ward building every mile, and each building has 3-4 wards in it. I LOVE it! It's doesn't have the 'keeping up with the Jones's' mentality. Everyone is just really easy going. Happy with where they are in life, and happy with where they are going.

*We are close to a lot of fun family vacation spots. We are 6 hours to Vegas (Hoover Dam), 5 hours to the Grand Canyon, 5 hours to San Diego, and 6-7 hours to Disneyland in Cali. All less than a days drive away.

*Having my parents just two blocks away...it's a heavenly perk!

I am sure this list will continue to grow the longer I live here, and hopefully I will remember to come back and add more. But, really, I just hope that the LOVE list gets bigger and the HATE list doesn't.

Our home sweet home.