A Baby Story

So this Summer we left for Ghana on May 18th - about a week after we got there I started to wonder/suspect that I was pregnant. It was a bit of a scary thought being in Africa and all and I knew that I needed some questions answered real quick. Luckily, for our first week and half there was a group of nurses from BYU staying next door to us. I pulled the head nurse aside and quickly asked what I would hypothetically need to do if I did happen to be pregnant. She immediately told me to immediately get off the malaria medication I was currently using, doxycyclene, and pick up some "baby safe" pills called Larium.

I did as she said and about a week and half later I pulled out the pregnancy test I had luckily brought with us on a whim as we packed up or apartment, and sure enough... POSITIVE!

I was nervous knowing that I didn't have much access to medical help if anything went wrong - I worried about getting malaria or some other sickness and what it might do to our baby - but with a lot of prayers and faith I didn't come down with a single illness while there. MIRACLE! But really, other than being quite nauseous with the normal morning sickness and pregnancy symptoms, I was the ONLY one who didn't come down with anything while we were there.

We feel so grateful and blessed to have a healthy baby so far and know that God's hand was in this pregnancy 100%. We thank Him everyday for everything He's given us and everything He's done for us.

When we got home some our first tasks were getting everything set up and ready for me to see a doctor. Since I was already 17 weeks along when we got off the plane in Utah I was getting pretty anxious to make sure everything was okay. We weren't able to get me into a doctor for another 2 1/2 weeks after that, which was a little discouraging, but somewhat expected - and you better believe I was thrilled to walk into that office last Thursday, the 19th, to see that doctor.

He gave us our first quick ultrasound, told us it was a girl and that everything looked great and sent us on our way. WAHOO!!! It felt good to know it was all going to be alright, and especially good to know that if anything from here on out does go wrong, we have a doctor and quick trip to the hospital to get it all checked out.

So life is good! We are so excited to be having a baby girl!

On Tuesday, the 14th, we were scheduled for our 20 weeks scan and Spencer got to go in again and get a better look at our daughter. I loved watching AND feeling her do flips in my stomach while the ultrasound tech did all the fun measurements. She made sure to let us know that she is in fact a girl and even waved to us on camera.

Here are some of the more recent shots we got of her. We already think she's adorable (even if the ultrasound pictures make her look like she has weird things coming our of her head).
We thought she was chewing on her hand at first

Then we caught her waving to us and the tech made sure we noticed that all 5 fingers are, in fact, present. YAY! :)

Then she went back to resting.

As we got in the car to leave Spencer said, "I wanna hold her NOW!"

I smiled and enjoyed the thought of Spencer being completely wrapped around her finger when she's born. And upon mentioning that our baby needs to cook a little bit longer, but that he would be able to hold our friend's baby really soon he frowned and said, "But I don't want to hold THEIR baby! I want OUR baby! It's not the same!"

He's going to be such a great daddy! I can't wait... hopefully the next 191/2 weeks go fast ;)

BABY GIRL!

I left one thing out of our first year together - I'M PREGNANT! Here's the first baby pictures of our little girl.

You can see her spine in this one and then apparently right between her legs.
Here's the cute legs all stretched out - The little feet there on the left make me really happy.
Her profile
The 3D image of her. No, her hands are not just nubs - in creating the 3D image the doctor had to cut off her hand... not sure why - but she actually does have cute little fingers to go along with the stubby arm there.
So there you have it! Our baby girl! I'm 20 weeks along today and we are so excited for the new addition to come into our family.

A Whole Year!

Spencer and I were married exactly 1 year and 2 days ago! CRAZY! Saturday was our 1st, yes, FIRST anniversary. In memory of such, I have decided to go through the archives and post some pictures from some of our many memorable events from before, during and after the wedding.


DATING LIFE

Spencer and I started dating on February 21st. The next week, February 28th, we attended the Draper Temple open house and upon coming home attended an 80's dance. It was so much fun and warranted the first pictures ever taken of the two of us together.
We had so much fun together!

After the dance at Spencer's apartment - I was falling pretty fast and it had only been a week :)

We wanted to surprise Spencer with a birthday party, but weren't sure we could make it a surprise if we actually did it on his actual b-day, so we opted for the night before. He was very much surprised and quite happy!

The morning of March 21st (his real bday) we went to Golden Corral, his birthday choice :)

That night I made him dinner and we watched George of the Jungle - a movie we'd been planning on seeing together since before we actually started dating.

Not exactly sure what the date of this hike was, but neither of us had ever hiked the wind caves up in Logan (something every Aggie needs to do before leaving this school), so we set off when the weather was warm enough.

It was on this hike that we both talked about our summer plans for the first time and Spencer admitted that his plans original plans were quickly changing on account of our relationship.

I wasn't going to argue with him. The two of us at the peach days demolition derby. I still haven't decided if I can handle the purposeful crashing and munching of those cars with people still in them.

Spring formal.

Summer came and I had surgery on my feet to get my bunions removed. Spencer came to my parent's house in Centerville to visit while I recovered a little. He brought me the most beautiful flowers! I was so excited to see him!

ENGAGEMENT!

On June 10th, just before Spencer left for New Hampshire for 10 days, the ring Spencer ordered finally came in and he proposed!

All the stuff I'm holding was part of the proposal he had planned out. It was perfect!

I was so happy and I LOVED/still LOVE my ring!

The wedding date was planned for September 4th - less than 3 months away. We had a lot of work to do, apartment shopping being one of them. Spencer ruled this place out the second he realized he couldn't even sit up straight, let alone stand in the shower.

Spencer came with me to our Cox family reunion (my mom's side of the family). It was the first time he'd met a good majority of my extended family. He was a great sport and I was thrilled to have him there with me! We even got to take a ride around Wendell Idaho in this awesome little plane. I loved it!

Engagement pictures by our friend Tim Jordan. We went to first dam here in Logan for these ones.

This picture was taken by our photographer, Sarah Hatch, at Woodland Park in Farmington.

THE WEDDING DAY - Friday, September 04, 2009

Spencer and I coming out of the Bountiful Temple after the sealing. It was the most perfect day of my life!

More pictures from the wedding day.

My bouquet! I loved it!!!

The Bountiful Temple

Married for time and ALL eternity - How did I get so lucky!?

Outside the reception center, just before the reception started.

MMM... He's Hot!

My family. Korbin, Casey's cardboard stand-in, Josh, Mom, Dad, Me, Spencer, Aimee and Oaklee, Porter and Sadie and Sydnee in front.

Spencer's family! I'm not even going to try and name everyone right here. I actually could - I promise - but it would take a LONG time right now :) We were so lucky to have so many wonderful family members come to support us. We love them all!

Our car... :-P All covered in toilet paper, oreos, glow sticks and flour. Yes, a year later there still is the rank smell of flower in our ventilation system. Thanks guys!

At least we didn't have to drive away in the dirty - we got the sweet car that Spencer's brother-in-law, Blake, provided for us! The perfect ending to our perfect day!

HONEYMOON

We went to Wolf Creek for our honeymoon. Real exotic huh? We had a lot of fun though! This was the only restaurant in town. Good thing we enjoyed it!

Spencer especially enjoyed the Apple Beer.

The next Monday we took the 4-wheelers up to Monte Cristo for a ride. It was the most beautiful day and I found the most spectacular cloud formation, I just had to take a picture.

Spencer loved the 4-wheelers. He would have ridden them like this if he was flexible enough.

Before Spencer decided to eat me we decided we'd better take a break for lunch.

That was our last day of the honeymoon - it was short and sweet and unfortunately we needed to get back up to Logan for school on Tuesday. We still found many fun and crazy things to do though to keep life exciting and interesting!

AFTER MARRIAGE LIFE (A year in a couple minutes)

Homecoming dance, October 2009

Christmas morning at my parents house. Casey had come home from the mission and all of us kids were all back together at last (with a couple extra additions).

New Year's Eve party at Spencer's parent's house. They sure know how to throw a party there!

Date night with some of the couples in our ward. With it being winter - the decision was made to roast hot dogs on the gas-powered stovetop. Creative!

Spencer's birthday breakfast - March 21, 2010

He got a new watch and bright yellow earbuds - he was a happy camper.

Yes, we are still in love! :)

Pictures skipped: Anything after I started the blog, which is basically everything after this point. Our summer adventures, graduation and everything in between there.

We're so excited to be back in our same apartment though. It was so much easier to get things unpacked and put away this tim around. We already knew where we wanted everything, so it was just a matter of unloading it and placing it in it's designated spot. We even made a few long-awaited improvements to the place, including drilling a hole in the desk so we could string cords through it and not clutter up the desk anymore. Spencer did such a good job!

1st ANNIVERSARY! Saturday, September 4, 2010

Because we had such an adventuresome summer and already had quite a few outings that cost a significant amount of money for us, we decided to have a low-key, but enjoyable anniversary.

We started off by going to the temple. It was so wonderful to sit with Spencer in the temple exactly a year from when we had started our journey together. I couldn't help but feel so blessed and loved being there. It's so wonderful to know that I get to be with him forever!

After the temple we changed our clothes and decided on El Toro Viejo for dinner. Yummy!

We then went to the Wellsville Rodeo! It was Spencer's first rodeo EVER!

The bull-riding was Spencer's favorite. Can you see the man getting thrown off here?

We actually enjoyed ourselves quite a lot!

Love this guy!

We have been so blessed and so lucky to be together. It's been the most wonderful year of marriage and I'm excited that we have so many more wonderful years ahead of us!