My Baby Does the Hanky Panky...

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

And I am fully aware that the song title above is probably not talking about a fetus, but in my world it does these days. For heaven sakes, every time I have an ultrasound our baby is having its own little dance party! Love it :)

I probably took three or four of these suckers until I was convinced that a baby was really in there. Ya know, I am experiencing faith on a whole new level here because they keep telling me that I have a baby in my tummy and although I have seen it a few times, its hard to remember that day after day when you haven't quite felt it in there yet. Even though I can't feel our baby yet, I love him/her... it. :) We are SO excited for our new little one to come. This is when we found out a few weeks ago:

It was October 30th and Spencer and I were getting ready to head over to the ward Trunk-or-Treat. I had some pregnancy tests underneath my sink in the bathroom from a few weeks before when I was sure that I was pregnant. The test a few weeks before came back negative, so I just thought to myself, "Kelsey, get a hold of yourself. You don't need to take another one of these tests for a while. You just keep psyching yourself out."

So I put them under my sink so I wouldn't have the urge to take another one. I have realized from this experience that I have a lot more to learn about patience. It had been about a month and a half and Spencer was downstairs watching a football game. I decided that I would just take one really quick and get over the thought that I may be pregnant, although I had no symptoms whatsoever.

Two minutes later... I was screaming for Spencer to get upstairs ASAP! Later he told me that he thought I was screaming for him to come kill a spider or something (I really don't do that on a regular basis).

We went to the doctor about a week later and found out that I was already 9 1/2 weeks along. Holy smokes, I couldn't even believe it!

Here's our little peanut...

I just love its little nose and its cute little foot sticking up in the air.

Although, every once in a while I feel a little under the weather, I haven't truly been sick at all. What a blessing that has been. When I feel a little nauseous, I just eat a little snack and usually I'm fine. Saltine crackers and tomato soup have been my best friends so far and I despise onions. Which is such a shame because they used to be one of my favorites. Maybe one day we'll grow a liking for one another again.

We find out what our little peanut is just after Christmas! I'll keep you all posted :) Belly pics and family reactions to the news soon to come...

Cirque

I have always wanted to see a Cirque show. When we found out that they would be coming to Phoenix and that Spencer's school was offering discounted tickets, we decided it was time to give in to the ridiculously high prices and buy two tickets to the show! I was beyond excited!

Before we finally bought the tickets, we were offered four box seats to the show from a friend in our ward... major blessing.

Not only did he offer the four tickets (we gave the other two tickets to some friends that we were planning on going with),

but....

He said he had two more available if we wanted them! We were lucky enough that both of our Mom's were in town that very day. So we brought them with. :)

The show was amazing and it was so fun to have great company as well!

White Coat Ceremony

A few months ago Spencer had his white coat ceremony, which welcomed him into the medical field. He took an oath that sounded very important, but honestly I can't remember what it all said or meant. :/ All I know is that he vowed to be the best dentist that he could be.

This is the auditorium where Spencer has his lectures. They have these huge dividers that separate the auditorium into smaller sections, which obviously were not present that day. All first year students in any program at Midwestern sat in the first 20 rows or so.

Yahoo!!! He was pretty excited. :)

Taking their oath...

Here's the handsome guy with his new white coat! Turns out that Midwestern was not very pleased with the way the white coats turned out this year, but they did not have time to return them for a new batch. After the ceremony, the students returned their coats and they will receive new ones once they arrive.

These boys were pretty funny together... great photo session follows:

In our golf cart on the way back to the parking lot! I love free valet parking! :)

UPDATE: Spencer just brought the program to me that explains the white coat ceremony. It says:

The White Coat Ceremony is a symbolic rite of passage for students of the healing arts. It signifies the students' initiation into the clinical phase of education and toward a career as a health care professional.

This ceremony reaffirms the academic community's support of the educational process that prepares future health providers for practice. On this day, students pledge their commitment to their professions and to the health of the patients they will serve.

Contributing to the care and healing of others is a privilege and an awesome responsibility. The White Coat placed on each future health care provider today is more than a familiar lab coat: it is a cloak of caring, compassion, and service.

Best Surprise Ever!

I came home from school today and found a present wrapped so nicely on the counter! Come to find out, it was for me from my sweet hubby! This is what I found inside:

I've always wanted my own.

He's the best. :)

In Honor of the Hagia Sophia

Spencer made a replica of the Hagia Sophia for his History of Creativity class a few years ago. He is SO proud of this thing and has kept it in his parents house for a few years because he just couldn't see it go.

Well, we knew we were moving to Arizona, and it just didn't make sense to me to lug the huge Hagia Sophia all the way down here with us. Although there was some heart ache, he finally let it go. I know... I'm a mean wife.

I just could not have that thing take my place.

You see, he threatened that if I didn't agree with him to take it down to Arizona, he would just put the Hagia Sophia in the front seat of the moving van instead of me.

That would just not do.

He finally agreed to part with it as long as he took some good video coverage. My kind of man. ;) Of course I couldn't get the video to upload today, so some pictures will just have to do although they do not do it justice.

So in honor of Spencer and his long lost history of creativity project, I present to you...

...the Hagia Sophia.

See that little slit in the front? Well when you look through that slit, you will see all the little people that Spencer so meticulously created. He drew them all by hand. I wish I had his artistic abilities sometimes. I'll send our kids to him if they ever need a drawing of a horse or something. Mine would be very scary... and probably wouldn't look at all like a horse.

Which by the way reminds me of a really funny story that is kind of off topic. I'm teaching second grade right now and one of the little girls in my class is obsessed with dragons. Every chance she has free time, you will find her drawing dragons on her whiteboard.

Well one day she just couldn't get the dragon's head right. She tried and tried and was a little frustrated and walked right up to her all-knowing teacher, Mrs. Hill, ;) and asked her to draw the dragon's head. I laughed to myself and told her that her dragon head would probably be more impressive than mine. She refused to do it herself and waited patiently until I finished the head.

It was hideous.

I can't even tell you what it really looked like because it looked as far from a dragon head as you can get.

I showed her the head and her face kind of crinkled up in this "Mrs. Hill, I'm surprised you can't draw at all" kind of way. It was HILARIOUS. As she walked away with her white board, not knowing what to say, she just quickly erased the head that I had drawn and started on her own yet again.

And she has never asked me to draw a dragon head ever again.

Back to the point of this post... the Hagia Sophia. Spencer lit up the inside with Christmas tree lights and had a spread of people that he had drawn and had stood up vertically inside.

See that horse below? Way good. Way good.

Knights at the round table. He put something from every chapter of his textbook inside.

Long story short, he's amazing. And although it is awesome... I'm sure glad that he chose to put me in the front seat of the moving van instead of the Hagia Sophia.

Pictures and video footage will do.

Dental School

This handsome guy started dental school almost a month ago and has been doing so well! Here he is on his first day. :)

Oh I just love him to pieces.

He seriously is doing so well and I am so proud of him!

Mom You Would Be Ashamed....

This was not posed. And yes, there are seven pairs of shoes sitting around our couch. And yes, only two people live in our house.

I couldn't resist.

Cookie Recipe

Due to popular demand... here is the cookie recipe that I talked about a few posts back:

Cake Mix Cookies

1 box betty crocker cake mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

1 egg

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chocolate chips and mix. Sometimes I don't even use the entire cup of chocolate chips, but it is something close to a cup. Roll the new creation into little one inch balls. Cover them in sugar ( I like to put my sugar in a regular sized bowl and just spin those dough balls around ). Place them on a cookie sheet. I can usually fit about 18 on one. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until the cookies begin to crack. Let them sit for about 45 minutes to about an hour so they don't fall apart while you eat them. Last, eat those delicious bundles of joy....... every last one of them!

Just Thinking About....

...these people today.

I often catch myself trying to figure out how I can become a better person than I am. My mind wanders to this picture. I have been so blessed in my life to be able to call these nine wonderful people my siblings.

By your example, I continue to learn:

how to maintain strong relationships, the importance of service, patience, how to treat your companion, how to put the Lord first in all things, how to parent, how to be passionate about what you love to do, how to be strong in difficult times, how to keep an eternal perspective, acceptance, compassion, the importance of an education, how to make good decisions, how to take care of one another, and most importantly, what love truly is.

I miss you all everyday and can't wait for the time when we can all be back together again.

Love you.

Paiute Trail

I have a confession to make.

I am addicted to chocolate cake cookies.

There. I said it.

My fabulous mother-in-law introduced me to these glorious cookies and every time I make a batch, they are gone in one day. No exaggeration people. I guess it probably doesn't help that my husband has the same addiction. It sure makes the cookies go a lot faster when there's two of us going at them like starving ducks fighting after bread crumbs.

I made some tonight to thank some people in our ward that have helped us out so many times since we have moved in. They are probably just going to have to wait until I make another batch... that we will try really hard not to eat.

Moving on to what this post is really supposed to be about: The Paiute Trail. Spencer's parents invited us to tag along with them as they rode the Paiute Trail this summer. We had a blast! It's been a long time since I camped without running water for three whole days. I forgot how much I really enjoy camping though. Call me crazy, but I don't mind sleeping in a tent and there is just something about being in nature that is calming to me.

Without further ado and in no particular order, here are some pics for you to enjoy.

My favorite pic of the whole trip:

He totally looks like the little boy on "Up" doesn't he?!

This kind of reminds me of Jurassic Park :)

My sweet husband decided that it would be only right that he collected a variety of wildflowers as we drove everyday. Here is my bouquet on the second day in particular:

The next picture was taken after we rode through a HUGE puddle. It was actually part of a river. If you look on Spencer's shirt on his collar, you will see a tiny spot that is a lighter gray color. That is the only spot that was left dry. A-mazing.

Last Call!

Ok friends, this is your last call. I'm going PRIVATE this week. If you haven't left your email, please do so now! That is if you want to keep on reading, of course.

More updates... coming soon. :)

Going PRIVATE

Alright, I have finally decided that it is time to make my blog private. PLEASE leave me your address if you would like to continue keeping up with us!!! Don't be shy!

The Video...

Ok folks... here's the video that I promised. Now, let me warn you of its contents. If you have an uneasy stomach, you may not want to watch. I am gutting a fish and something unexpected happens. :) It was SO cool!

Sigh...

I'm pretty sure this is the only movie I can put in to watch no matter what mood I'm in.

Sigh.

Best. Movie. Ever.

Fish Lake

Spencer's family had a family reunion at Fish Lake this past week and we couldn't pass up the opportunity. I missed a day of class and Spencer took four days off of work so that we could make our way to Fish Lake. It was so nice to relax, fish, play games with family and get to know each other a little better. I had been fishing with Spencer, his Dad, Uncles and Grandpa a few times, but I never had a fishing license so I was just a quiet observer. I made sure that I had a fishing license for this trip! For goodness sake... we were going to FISH LAKE!

We went out on the pontoon boat early Wednesday morning but didn't have very much luck catching any fish. I had never caught a fish in my life so I was determined to catch one. We decided to go out again Thursday morning with a different crowd.

Here's our cousin Heidi with her little boy Kase. He has been dreaming about fishing for the past two years and was SO excited to go! His energy on that boat made it so much fun! Kase decided that we were going to catch a fish and sure enough...

...there was a pull on my line!!!!!!!!!!!! A REAL fish! I was so excited, as you can tell. :)

I reeled it in...

...and Kase decided that we needed to keep it! I was secretly wishing that he would say that.

Sydney, Darren's girlfriend had never been fishing either so it was a pretty fun trip for all of us. She was enjoying her time at the back of the boat and sure enough there was a tug on her line just a few minutes after mine!

Her pride and joy :)

Kase wanted in on the action! He started to reel in on everyone's line that had a tug. Spencer had about four or five bites but they always seemed to get lost. The hook must have been dull or something. Kase decided that Spencer's line wasn't as fun as Sydney's or mine, so he moved right along. :)

He helped me reel one in, but there was no fish on the end. He moved over to Sydney and sure enough... he caught a fish!

After catching about five or six fish, we made our way back to the dock so we could go get some breakfast that was waiting for us back at camp. Here's the group!

But before we could go back to camp, we had to gut the fish. Syd and I are prepping for our turn. We got to watch the professional do one first.

Then we both had the chance to gut a fish ourselves. My video won't upload, but don't you worry I got it all on camera! :) And you won't want to miss it! I'll try it on another post.

It was the best fishing trip I've ever been on ;) and we had a great time with the family! I love camping and it was so great to get to know everyone a little better before we move down south.