Bring on 2013!

2012 has been a whirlwind of activity!  It started out slow and picked up momentum with every passing month.  It is funny to look back and see all that we've been through and then to think of all there is to still come.  I feel like we're ending 2012 with so many unknowns, it's ridiculous.  But I know that we are on the right track.  We have followed the promptings from Heavenly Father to start expanding our family and have a baby, then we got a very strong one to buy Jordan's house up in Smithfield and move.  I sure wasn't expecting that one!  It's all happening at once and sometimes I don't know if I can do it all, but then I remember that we're doing what the Lord wants us to do and He will provide a way for it all to work out.  I don't know how or when it will all work out, but it will.  I'm so grateful for my knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ that can give me the peace I need when I start to freak out.  My faith is being tried and tested in many ways this year, but it's only through those times that we can really learn and grow.

Right now we're playing the waiting game with EVERYTHING.  We're waiting for our home loan to be processed and hoping it will all go through without any problems.  Like our loan lady told me at the beginning, if it's supposed to work out it will and if it's not it won't.  We're waiting (STILL) to know what is going on with Landen's truck...that is just a big mess.  But we are blessed that Landen's parents are helping us out and letting us use their extra car.  We're waiting for me to find a job.  I've been done working at the chiropractic office since the middle of December and I've been applying for as many jobs as possible with no luck so far.  I've had one interview that I haven't heard back on yet.  It can be quite frustrating, but I know things will work out in the Lord's timing.  We're waiting for this baby to grow healthy and strong and grace us with her presence in April!  And I'm loving every minute of it!  So far I have loved being pregnant!!!  It has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life up to this point.  Waiting, waiting, waiting...that's the name of the game. 

I'm sure one day I will look back at all of this and laugh at how easy this all was.  But right now it's hard sometimes.  That is what life is all about I guess.  I've tried to see the blessings in the midst of trial and there really have been so many!  The other day we bought some new locks for the house with the Home Depot giftcard we got because they were a day late installing our carpet.  I remember being so mad and frustrated when they didn't show up and I waited for over 5 hours for them to come.  As I was thinking about this I realized that it was a tender mercy from the Lord!  We were able to purchase those locks (which was the #1 thing I wanted to have for the day we sign our papers) with the giftcard which was a huge blessing since I dont' have a job right now.  Funny how things work out.  Anyway.  Random tangent.  All in all, it has been a good year with many ups and downs.  There are great things to come, bring on 2013!

Let it Snow!

We have been getting a lot of snow lately!  It's been crazy!  But we need the moisture. Today I went over to our house to shovel because it finally stopped snowing for awhile.  There was so much snow!  Pictures just don't do it justice.  Anita was so kind and came over to help me.  I was so grateful :)  Shoveling while pregnant was not the funnest thing I've done lately, but it had to be done.  We worked our little hind ends off.  (For the record, Landen was not being lazy and making me do this!  He works nights so he had to sleep during the day and it is much easier to get it done in the day light.)

Merry Christmas ~ 2012

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already!  This season was kinda crazy with everything that is going on right now in our lives.  We started out the season by taking Wayne, Anita and Adri to see the Forgotten Carols.  It was so wonderful!  I love the spirit it brings and the reminder to remember our Savior during this holiday season. 

We actually got to have a white Christmas this year!  We were hit by a big storm just in time.  It was beautiful, even though I'm not loving the cold.  It was fun to spend the day with family here in Utah and I enjoyed talking to my parents on the phone.  Hopefully next year we can be in Indiana!  I'm just grateful for all the many blessings we have and the time to be together with those we love.  I don't have a lot to report about the holidays this year, it was pretty relaxed and I'm grateful for that.  I'm just glad we had the time to be together.

The weekend before Christmas Landen and I went down to Springville and spent the weekend with Jared and Megan and the kids.  We had a blast!  Those kids are so fun and crazy!  We played lots of games and read books and ate great food and talked a lot, fun was had by all!  We watched the kids so Jared and Megan could go out on a date Friday night.  We hardly took any pictures from the holidays, but these ones are priceless.  I love these girls with all of my heart and they are so dang cute!!!

This last one of Maya is one of my favorites!  I was making funny faces at her and she was trying so hard to do them too...and that was the result.  And this next picture is the only one we have from Christmas day (lame, I know), but it is totally worth it!!!  Best wrapped present EVER!  It is a scarf hanger and a really awkward shape to wrap.  After I got it wrapped Adri said it looked like a Christmas tree...so we decided to decorate it!!!  Yeah, I made that star out of a pipe cleaner :)

22 weeks and 5 days

I finally look pregnant.  It took awhile, but there it is!  This is my first pregnancy picture at 22 weeks and 5 days :)

Weirdest feeling ever.

Last Friday, November 30th, I felt the weirdest feeling ever.  My baby girl kicked me, twice!  It was crazy!  Totally caught me off guard.  I was sitting at work at the end of the night and it had been a really rough day.  All of a sudden it felt like something was trying to break out of my tummy!  It was so cool!  It was the very first time I felt her move and it couldn't have come at a better time.  It was a little tender mercy from the Lord that day :)  He sure knew what I needed, a swift kick to remind me of what is important in life. 

Since then, I have felt her moving so much!  No more deliberate kicks like the first one, but it feels like she's swimming around in there.  She is much more active in the evening.  Last night when we were at the Forgotten Carols show she was moving around like crazy, I think she liked all the music!  It is still weird to feel her moving, but now I understand what people mean when they say, "You'll know!"  It is so special and I feel so blessed when I can feel her moving in there!  This is something that I will cherish forever. 

And Baby Hardy is A.......

That's right folks, we're having a GIRL!!!  We are absolutely thrilled!  I had my 20 week ultrasound and everything looks good and healthy.  It was so neat to see her all balled up in there.  It was 8:00 a.m. so she was still asleep I think, she wouldn't move for anything...and all that pushing and jiggling the tech was doing to get the last view made me have to pee!  But it was totally worth it.  We didn't end up getting the view of the umbilical cord so I have to go back next week, but I'm not too sad about it, I get to see her again :)  Luckily she was not being modest on the one view I wanted to see for sure.  The tech says, "You are having a little...girl.  Yep, there are no boy parts down there!" It is so fun to finally know, now I feel like I can start planning...  But seriously, it was one of the best moments of my life.  To see our little baby girl healthy and strong, it was beautiful!  It brought me to tears. It was funny to try to see what the tech was pointing out at certain times.  Like the kidneys...yeah, totally just saw something kinda circular-ish...I'm just glad he knows what he is doing! 

While we were waiting to get the CD made of all the pictures I looked at Landen and he had this really cute goofy smile on his face.  He said he was just really excited and that he was hoping it was a girl.  What?!  That was news to me!  I had no idea, he never once mentioned that.  He told me he didn't say anything because he didn't want to jinx it. Silly boy!  I'm just glad he's excited :) 

Our families are pretty excited it's a girl.  My mom is pretty excited...I think she's just happy I'm having a baby!  My dad is still convinced I'm having twins, which I am NOT.  He said that when a little boy comes out too he'll let him know that he was the only one that even acknowledged him.  HA!  He said he'll make a top 10 list of boy names for us because we'll be needing it.  He's so crazy! 

I have to admit that the best reaction was from Adri and Anita.  We went over to Nita's school after our appointment to let them know what we were having.  Now, to preface this, they really wanted a girl...REALLY badly.  But they said they would be okay if it was a boy.  There are a lot of little boys running around here and it was time for a girl.  So, I thought it would be fun to tell them it was a boy first to see their real reaction.  Landen told them it was a boy and they were both like, "Oh, we figured," with not much excitement.  But when I said, "Just kidding...we're having a girl!!!" they both jumped up and started screaming and crying, complete excitement.  It was pretty awesome!  So you could say it's probably going to be one loved little girl.

I'm just so happy to finally know!  It makes it even more real!!!  I'm so excited to see Landen as a dad too...that little girl is going to have him wrapped around her tiny little finger...I can already see it.  So many fun adventures to come with this little one!  We are so blessed :)

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving couldn't have come at a better time this year.  I was in desperate need of a break from life!  It was really nice to spend 4 days in a row with Landen too!  I went up to Newton for the weekend and it was great to have some time to relax and enjoy being with family.  The only annoying thing was that everyday we woke up at 8:00 am!  I wanted to sleep in more.  Life is hard, I know... 

We went to Brent and Stacy's for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  We had a really good time catching up and eating.  Stacy made her cream cheese mashed potatoes and they were delicious as always...that's why Adri and I go.  I just love Thanksgiving dinner.  It makes me happy.  It made the baby happy too. 

After dinner we were looking through all the Black Friday ads and I found some laminate flooring on sale and mentioned it to Landen.  Then Brent and Stacy told us they had a lot left over from when they did their floor and that we could have it!  WOW!  It was so nice of them to give it to us!  We are really excited to put it in the entry way of the house.  I'm so grateful for their kindness. 

Later that night I had my first real Black Friday experience...more like Black Thursday because it was Thursday night...but anyway.  I saw this leather glider/recliner chair with an ottoman on sale at ShopKo for $130, originally $350!  I couldn't pass it up.  I wanted it for the nursery, it was perfect.  So we headed to the store at 9 pm when they opened.  We waited and let the line get inside before we headed in.  It was C.R.A.Z.Y.  People are nuts!  But it was worth it to go home with this chair!  Brent and Stacy went with us just in case we couldn't fit it in the car...and we're glad they did, the box didn't fit.  But they got some good deals too, so it worked out.  We went back to their house and took everything out of the box and put it in the car piece by piece and it fit that way.  We're ridiculous.  But I'm so happy!  We put it together on Friday and it will be perfect for the nursery...as long as Landen doesn't take it over before then...

The rest of the weekend we hung out and enjoyed our time off work.  Friday we ran some errands and got some stuff for the house.  Saturday we went over to the house and did some painting and got some stuff done.  It was nice to work on it, makes me more excited to move in...we still have a lot to do though.  We made sure to be home in time to watch the Notre Dame vs USC game Saturday night because 1: I love Notre Dame and 2: it was their last regular season game and they were undefeated...and they won!!!  They are going to the National Championship game!!!  I am so excited!  I love football.  We had a great weekend!