October & November

We have been busy this October and November! I'm a little shocked that in a few days it is already Thanksgiving. Some days I'm a little worried about how fast the time is going because that means we are getting closer and closer to our baby girl getting here. I've spent most days staying late at work doing sub plans and then coming home to work on baby projects.  Luckily Mark helps me a ton with everything and doesn't complain when there is no dinner on the table. The poor guy hasn't gotten very many real meals in the last 31 weeks! 

Mark and his brother got elk tags this year. Unfortunately they were for my birthday weekend. When I told my mom, she decided to give me an early present and buy me a ticket to California for the weekend. I was so grateful to be able to go home and see my family and be able to stay busy while Mark was gone. We shopped, played, had a baby shower, and celebrated my birthday. To say baby girl and I were spoiled is an understatement. 

Yummy Mexican food to celebrate!

I love my sweet family! Glad the whole gang could come to dinner!

Cami and Allison threw an awesome shower. I was so lucky to spend the morning with everyone! Here we are trying to suck apple juice from a bottle.

26 weeks 

My shoes don't fit anymore, but luckily my feet aren't super sore.

My hips hurt at night so I'm getting less sleep.

I started to waddle a little bit... 

Halloween! Mark and I had a blast carving pumpkins this year. We decided everyone in the family needed one this year. 

I decided to be Cat in the Hat this year at school. It was comfy and I already had most of the costume!

30 Weeks

I'm using the bathroom a LOT more.

Still not much of an appetite.

I'm thirsty all the time! Slurpees are my favorite!

Mark decided that Lorenzo really needed a friend and that baby girl wasn't going to work. He surprised me with a new snake one day. It was more of a happy for him and not so happy for me thing, but Macky is part of our family now and settling right in.

I went to the doctor on Friday and baby girl is doing great! She is 31 weeks and has a strong heartbeat. I love going to the doctor and I'm actually excited I'm going to start going every 2 weeks. I just can't believe we are getting so close. Hopefully this week we can tour the hospital and continue working on the nursery. My parents are coming tomorrow and we are excited to have them and Mark's family to spend the holidays with.

Time Flies

I can't believe that it is already October! I'm not sure where August and September went, but I'm happy to be having some cooler days and loving Fall in Utah. Here is a peek at what we were busy with the last couple of months.

We were super excited to welcome baby Micah in our family! He is one cute nephew!

We went for a quick hike up to Cecret lake a few weekends ago. It was a gorgeous day and the fall colors were out. I've loved having nice fall weather. 

Our favorite fall tradition is going to the pumpkin patch. We squeezed it in between conference sessions and rain storms. We found the perfect pumpkins and can't wait to start carving!

 

In August my Grandma Hoppes passed away. We knew her health wasn't great, but it was unexpected that she went when she did. She had lived a good life she said and was ready to be done. I was glad that the last time I spoke to her I was able to tell her we were having a baby girl. She was so excited for us. I know we have an extra angel looking out for us now. I'm very grateful that Mark and I were able to make it home to be with the family for the weekend.

Baby Girl

Long before we knew we were pregnant I think Mark and I both realized we would be having a girl. I'm not 100% sure how we came to that conclusion, but whenever we talked about our future baby it was always a sweet little girl. Once I became pregnant that feeling didn't change. It was interesting to sit in and have appointments about the gender of the baby because we already knew. There was no surprise. Our doctor at 16 weeks said he would try and check. He couldn't get a clear view because our baby is VERY modest. He said if he had to take a guess based on what he saw, it would be a girl.  At 18 weeks Mark's cousin was kind enough to have us come and take a look at her work.  Before we went we stopped by Target and found some girly things to take pictures with.  Once at the appointment we could tell pretty clearly we were having a girl. Once again, she is VERY modest. Little one loves to have her legs crossed and it is the cutest thing ever. I could have just watched her move around all night.  We were both happy to have a confirmation that it was in fact a girl and not just what we think. We do have another appointment next week to do the big gender reveal. It will be very shocking if we suddenly find out it's a boy. Ha Ha! 

 I love this picture because its just of her little crossed ankles!

After our appointment Mark and I went to get a little treat to celebrate.  We were sitting eating and I randomly said I'm a mommy. It hit me like never before. I had a baby girl in my belly. I was really going to be a mommy to that sweet little girl. I got a little teary eyed as Mark giggled over the fact that I was just now realizing this. It's a wonderful feeling to know that I'm going to have something I've wanted my whole life. I can't wait for this little one to get here so Mark and I can love her more and more.

There's a baby in my belly...

Mark and I had been trying for a little while to have a baby. When it actually happened I was shocked! I had told myself not to get my hopes up, because I had already done that in the previous months. I woke up early and finally just decided I better take a test. I really had set myself up that it would be negative. Mark was still asleep so I was trying to be very sneaky and quite. 

This was officially the hardest secret I've ever had to keep. I really wanted to surprise Mark and had been collecting items to make it special for him. I'm pretty sure I texted him multiple times that day just to say I love you!

I had this thought though that what if it was a fluke. What if the test was wrong? So on the way to work I bought a few more. I tested all throughout the day just to make sure that there were still 2 lines. 

I made the banner and got balloons after work. It felt like the longest day. Those 2 hours waiting for Mark were the worst. I had gathered the shirts, book, and rattle in the previous months to help with the surprise. I anxiously waited for Mark to get home. I stood under the banner waiting....

I wish now that I had taken a picture of his face! He read the banner and said, "REALLY??? REALLY? OH MY GOSH!" I loved being able to see his excitement in the news as well.  

We kept it all pretty quiet because we knew we had a trip coming up to California. We had our first appointment and heard the heartbeat at 6 weeks. That was such a relief to me to hear that little sound. We had another appointment at 8 weeks to hear it one more time before we told our families. 

Father's Day was around the corner and we were going to be out of town. We got both grandpas shirts to help tell them. 

Rob and Stephanie were very excited to learn that once again they were going to be grandparents!

We headed to California for Camden's baptism and to tell my family. It was so hard not to tell them, but I had made a quilt for my mom to tell her and really wanted to be in person to see her open it.

My mom is the one who taught me to sew and kept asking when she would be getting her own quilt. I thought this was the perfect way to surprise her! She was just so excited to get the quilt and then when Mark helped her turn it over he said and guess which baby love you??? She instantly lost it. It really was a great moment. I wish the whole family could have been together to see it. 

We had plans to meet up with the rest of the family and I slowly whispered it in their ears. The best reaction came from Jayden who just kept looking at my belly. He said, "In there? Right now? A Baby??" It was pretty cute. It was nice for everyone to know finally!

We were able to tell the rest of Mark's family once we got back from vacation. I loved being able to share with everyone and just be excited!

I decided to tell my students a couple of days before school got out. These kids were so good to me the last couple weeks of school. I had started to be sick and tired a lot more. They had no idea it was because I was pregnant, but were so helpful with everything. 

We played hangman and the last sentence they guess was the picture above. It was the BEST way to tell them. I loved seeing the look on their faces as they started to figure out what the words were. I told them not to say anything out loud and just let everyone figure it out on their own. Finally, with all the letters up there they yelled, YOU ARE HAVING A BABY!!! Hugs were given and squeals of excitement. 

We had our 12 week appointment and this picture melted my heart! This was the first time that you could really tell there was a baby in my belly. That little profile made me feel like such a proud mom for the first time. 

With many of our friends and family already knowing, we decided to make an official announcement to the social media world. I just grabbed a few things I had around the house and snapped this cute little photo. 

We are THRILLED. We love this little baby so much already. It has not been easy. Really that is an understatement. I've never been someone who gets sick very often, so it has taken a toll on my body to feel this sick all of the time. Luckily I'm hitting that 2nd trimester and it seems to be helping some. I still have a bad day here or there. I will say that Mark is the true superstar of this all. He has been so patient, loving, kind, helpful, etc. I love him more and more every day. He has never gotten frustrated when dinner wasn't made, house was a mess, or I'm still in pajamas at 6pm. He loves to talk to baby and tries to explain that baby really needs to be nicer to mommy :) I'm feeling very fortunate to have married such a wonderful man who takes such good care of us.

Right now we both really think it's a GIRL! We will find out in the next couple of weeks for sure and then we will start planning, naming, shopping, etc!

Summer Time

Summer finally came and we have been loving the vacations, extra time together, and visitors!

We started our summer off with a visit to California! Camden turned 8 and we wanted to be there for his baptism.

We went to an A's game to celebrate the birthday boy. We even did it Bushey style and tail-gated before. We had a really good time being with the whole family.

 Just a little backyard basketball for the Hoppes Family!

Once back in Utah we had a few things planned to keep us entertained. Of course it was hot for most of them, but we made it work.

We went to a Bees game for FHE with the in laws.

4th of July we were pretty low key this year. We went for a swim at the lake and then met up with some family. I love having family close by so we can spend the holidays together.

Of course we had to watch the fireworks!

We celebrated our 1st anniversary! 

I honestly can't believe it has already been a year. I feel like we got married and got right back to normal life. It has been an amazing year and I'm so lucky that I married such a good man. We have so much fun together and LOVE our time together. 

 We stayed close to home and spent the weekend in SLC. It was nice to get out of the house, but not have to travel very far. We ate, slept, watched movies, walked, swam, and laughed a lot. It was a perfect weekend for just us.

 We even tasted a little bit of our left over cake!

Mark LOVES Rush! He bought tickets so that I could experience it for myself. We had a good time and they put on a really great show.

Cami and the kids were able to make a visit to see us! We loved having them here. We play the Wii a lot, swam, ate, and snuggled. It was nice to have our house full of people for a couple of days. Hopefully they will come back again soon!

Pioneer Day! Mark had the day off so we were LAZY! We stayed in bed late, got lunch, napped, and then watched the fireworks from afar in Herriman. It was just the kind of day that we needed.

The next day the family decided to head to Donut Falls for a little hike and then campfire afterwards. I really love this hike because its quick and easy and the reward is so amazing. Last time we went there was a ton of water and you couldn't really see the Donut part. This time Mark and I were able to climbed up the waterfall and go into the little caves to see it all. The other perk was that it was so nice to share it with family. We love having everyone close by and getting together to just hang out and laugh.

Lately...

We have been having a few adventures lately. It finally has stopped raining and we are able to get out and do more! I'm praying it doesn't get much hotter, otherwise I won't ever want to leave the house!

Here is what we have been doing:

We spent Saturday with some of the Urry's at Silver Lake up American Fork Canyon. We fished, ate, and kayaked. We had a blast being outside and couldn't believe the views.

One Sunday we decided to drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon and do a short hike to Donut Falls. I have always wanted to go, but never have. It was a quick and easy hike, with a beautiful view at the end. 

Since Silver Lake ( a different one) is just a few minutes drive up the canyon we decided to walk around it as well. This lake never disappoints! 

 I was off track and had a few days to finish up a quilt for my friend Melanie's new baby girl. I really loved how this one turned out.

 Lorenzo is getting to be a little fatty!

 We had a fire one night with the family. These kids crack me up!

 Ellie (my friend Alex's little girl) turned one! We joined in on the circus themed party!

Reptile Expo with the hubby! 

I could spend all my nights next to Mark by the fire!