The weekend and counting my blessings.

Cory and I had a fun such a fun weekend. We drove all over Idaho visiting his parents and brothers. We first drove up to the new Twin Falls temple to see his cousins be sealed. It was such a sweet sealing, I love going to the temple with Cory (especially sealings) and the new temple was so beautiful. I'm glad that Bobby and Kelly invited us and we had the opportunity to go to the temple together. We met Cory's mom and dad at the temple, it was nice visiting with his parents, meeting their two exchange students and playing a couple rousing games of UNO. The next day we drove over to Idaho Falls to see Owen, Gena and our nephew Eli. After visiting with them we drove back through Pocatello for dinner with Craig, Heather, and our nieces Peyton, Mylie and our new little nephew Holden. All the kids are getting so big! I couldn't believe how much Mylie and Eli were talking. I wish I would have remembered to take pictures of everyone... next time though at Thanksgiving. We spent a lot of time in the car, but it was so fun. I'm so glad we were able to see everyone and hang out for a little bit. We always have so much fun hanging out with "the brothers," my sister in laws and our cute nieces and nephews. And I love those long car trips with Cory. It gives us lots of time to talk and we always end up laughing really, really hard.

Devyn posted this great TAG before we left for Idaho to think about all the things I'm grateful for. I haven't had time to do it until now. I'm so grateful she did this fun tag. I get so wrapped up in the chaos of everyday life and I forget to remember all the things I have been blessed with.

I am so grateful to know how much my Father in Heaven loves me and that he always answers my prayers. I'm thankful for all the wonderful blessings that come with being a member of the church.

I'm thankful for such a sweet, patient and supportive husband. He is so, so patient with me and all the things that I often stress about. I love him so much and I'm grateful we are going to be together forever. He is going to be such a great daddy and I am so grateful he has been with me to all of my doctor’s appointments. He works so hard to provide for us and he always makes me laugh. No one can make me laugh like he does. He is my very best friend. I love you Cory!

I'm so thankful that I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a mother. I'm very grateful that even though this pregnancy has had its hard moments, Hayden and I are both healthy and he is developing and growing. I love feeling our little Hayden move and kick around in my belly. I'm excited to meet him in a few months.
I really like this picture of him, because I like to think he is waving at us. :)

These are some old ultrasound pictures. The newer ones are on a CD that I can't figure out how to use yet.

I'm so lucky to have such a loving and supportive family. I have such an amazing mom that is such an example to me. She has been with me through thick and thin, and always encouraged and pushed me to be my best. I hope I can be a great mom like her. I love my sister and brother so much. I am so proud of them.




I tag everyone and anyone who wants to remember all the things they are grateful for.

Sarah had a really fun tag too that I will get to soon!

Packages, and Pictures!

I ordered some things from Old Navy Online Maternity. They were having a sweet 40% off sale so I bought some pants, a dress, and a sweater. I was sooo excited for them to come! I haven't bought clothes or anything really just for me in a long time. I always almost get something, but then guilt myself out of it when I convert however much the item is I want into formula, diapers, etc. But my belly is out there now, and nothing fits so bring on the maternity clothes. I knew my special package was coming yesterday, and I waited all day till it came. I didn't want to leave in case I missed the UPS man. I thought I heard the truck 3 or 4 times and I'd race up the stairs as fast as my wobbly body would let me and open the door to find... nothing. But finally it came, I was so excited to open it and see all my new things! I ripped into that box like a kid on Christmas morning. Just about everything fit and was SOO much more comfy except this one pair of pants, I was so paranoid nothing would fit and all my hopes for this package would be crushed. If anything most of the things were a tad big, but the belly is still growing so I'm sure they will be perfect soon. I wish I could have a package come to me every day! It totally made my day yesterday. Now that I know how things fit from there, I can’t wait to order a few more tops to get me through these next 4 months.

We get the keys to our house this weekend. I’m so glad we can finally be settled somewhere. Friday night after we get our keys, Cory and I are driving up to Idaho to visit his parents and go to his cousin's sealing in the new Twin Falls temple. It will be nice to see his family and visit with everyone for the weekend.

I love looking at old pictures of when Cory and I were little. And I always try and picture what our little Hayden will look like. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Cory and I back in the day. I think we were pretty cute kids and I think Hayden will be pretty darn cute too.
(the "thing" on my head is a birthmark. I think it's called a hemangioma. I was able to have it removed right before I went to kindergarten)

My ABC's

A- Attached or Single: Attached

B- Best Friends: Cory, My mom, Mandi, and the original roomies: Em and Erin

C- Cake or Pie: Cake... no Pie, Cake? Both? If the pie is hot with ice cream then pie.

D- Day: Saturday, Cory is home from work and it’s usually our date night.

E- Essential Items: Tums, lip balm, and water

F- Favorite color: Pink

G- Gummy bears or worms: mmmm Gummy bears

H- Hometown: West Point, Ut

I- Indulgences: Diet Coke, but I gave it up while I'm pregnant. And anything chocolate or peanut butter.

J- January or July: January! That’s when Cory and I got married and that's when my little man will be here!

K- Kids: One little boy on the way, Hayden David Hamilton, I'm due January 6, 2009

L- Life is incomplete without: My family

M- Marriage date: January 11, 2008

N- Number of siblings: 3, Mandi 19, Travis 16, Brooke 13

O- Oranges or apples: Apples

P- Phobias or fears: Spider, of any size!

Q- Quote: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind..."-Dr. Seuss

R- Reason to smile: I can feel Hayden kicking like crazy in my tummy, my belly shakes he kicks so hard sometimes.

S- Season: Fall! I love all the cute sweaters and clothes. I love the weather and it's the beginning of my favorite holidays.

T- Tag: Erin and anyone else who wants to do this funny little tag

U- Unknown fact about me: I've lived in Utah almost all my life and have never skied or snowboarded. And I really want to go to Disneyland for Halloween Time!

V- Vegan or oppressor of animals: I love meat! Hamburgers, Steak, Bacon.... I crave it even more ever since the beginning of my pregnancy.

W- Worst habit: Worrying and stressing out to much about anything and almost everything.

X- X-rays or ultrasounds: Ultrasounds, I can't wait for my next one!

Y- Your favorite food: Sushi! I'm so sad I can't have it till after I have Hayden. It's so yummy! Any kind of dessert and my Grandma Nelsons Roast with mash potatoes and gravy.... mmm

Z- Zodiac sign: Gemini

My Obsessions.....

Soooo... I kinda have a problem looking online at baby stuff all the time! Cribs, clothes, nursery themes, nursery accessories, really anything nursery, cute baby bedding, strollers, all possible baby things.... But the bigger problem is I can't ever decide on anything! Either because I’m naive, or I’m ignorant on the "best product," and sweet features I think I should maybe, possibly have... Or I am too picky and really have no idea what I want to do for Hayden's nursery anyway. I know there is the typical jungle, animals, sports and stuff... but none of it makes me say, "YES! That's it!" Also, whenever I go to Cory for his opinion, he is the typical sweet husband who says, "Whatever you want dear. Whatever you like and will make you happy." Now really I should be saying "Ahhh, that’s so sweet, thanks hunny." But really it frustrates me to no end! I asked his opinion for a reason! Because I have no idea what I want! The only rule I have form him for the nursery or really anything for our little man, is that it absolutely in no way can be any shade of RED! Why you may ask? Because Red=Utes, U of U, "the enemy"..... We are hardcore BYU fans over here folks, true blue all the way to the core BYU fans. We'll my husband is anyway, yay for BYU but it all really makes no difference to me. I only got away with having red as one of my colors for our wedding because it wasn't "Ute red," more of a super dark rich cranberry red and again, he just wanted me to be happy. I really do have a sweet husband..... Anyway, enough of the red stuff.... So, can anyone think of a cute little boy nursery theme or color combo or has seen some cute bedding from somewhere I can decorate a nursery off of? I do really like blues and browns together, but who knows what I'll end up doing. OH, and what features really are necessary for cribs, strollers, high chairs, etc.... ESHHH, so much to choose from, it really is so much fun though picking out cute baby things. Especially clothes, they are sooo cute, and tiny!

We went and looked at the house we are gonna rent yesterday! It's just right for what we need. It's a cute little, older, blue home in Clearfield of 300. The front room has new carpet and the rest of the carpet in the house is in pretty good condition. There is newish paint and is a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, front room, living room, etc....everything we could possibly need and ever want for now. I really like the neighborhood, the ward is supposed to be really nice, and friendly and I am so ready to be settled somewhere. The people we are renting it from are sooo nice and chill. They don't care if we paint the bedrooms or anything. I don't know if we(or Cory really since I can't paint right now)will paint any of the bedrooms though. But hopefully one day soon we will re paint the bathroom! It's sooo ugly. So everyone, when you come over, be prepared to see an ugly blue, sea shelled bathroom. We will get the keys next weekend and should be ready to go! I'm so grateful for prayer! This past month has really strengthened mine and Cory's relationship and our testimonies.

Now it's time to get back to my quest of trying to decide on some sort of baby stuff, which will probably turn into just browsing again. All the guys are at the BYU game, I know, shocking right! :) So I will finish the laundry, do some grocery shopping, and venture into Robert's to possibly find something crafty to make for Hayden's room. Hopefully I'll be able to find some cute things to make for his room and our new place so I can stay cost effective and busy through my new desired craftiness. I will probably get myself a treat too of whatever I am craving at the moment. Any ideas from you thrifty, crafty, inspired women on nursery things or any baby accessories, let me know! I'll keep you posted on my nursery and crafting adventure!

cars, my husband, houses, other exciting things and some shout outs :)

So sorry to everyone, I haven't blogged in forever or given any update on anything. It has been one crazy month to say the least. So get ready, cause I have a lot to report on….

CARS
So first off... the stupid car situation. Well, the overheating of the thing is probably because a head gasket is broke. Now I knew absolutely nothing about head gaskets, or cars for that matter... but I now know that fixing one head gasket is at least $1500 and if one is broke, than more than one probably is. So the grand total of fixing the car would be AT LEAST $2000 to start and AT LEAST a week to fix. So my hate for mechanics carries on even stronger. Cory and I were stressed with the dilemma of a couple things: 1. Do we try to fix the car and hope it’s only $2000? And what if it’s more, which chances are it would be. 2. I was really tired of him being away from me since it had already been about 3 weeks AND I had a Doctor's appointment coming up with my new doctor that I really wanted him to come to. 3. If we wait to fix the car do we leave it in Texas, or ship it here? But if we ship the car, and our stuff AND fly Cory here we might has well paid to fix the car. Needless to say we researched hundreds of options...including selling/trading the thing. But, weird, no one wants to sell/trade a broken car. We ended up leaving the car at his work's office in Austin. Shipped 5 BIG boxes of whatever was left at the apartment, that hadn't already come in my car. And he flew to Utah to be with me. PHHHEWWW! What a crazy couple of days that was. I was totally stressed out! So now we have one car, which we were planning on doing any way to save on gas and stuff. And no one really wants to hire me to work now anyway since I'd be out on maternity leave in about 3-4 months. One car will work for now. I'm so glad I have family close to help out. We have a bunch of people that Cory worked with that are in Texas all year round, so when we save up a nice chunk of change we will get the car fixed. We will see if we bring it up to Utah or leave it there since chances are we will go back to Texas in 8-9 months anyway for Cory’s work.

MY HUSBAND
YAY I finally have a husband here! WOOOOO! I missed him so so much. Poor guy had HUGE burn up his arm and a huge one on his finger that will leave quite the scar, from trying to fix the car.(question: why do guys love scars so much? In their mind it’s the bigger, the uglier the better.) I’m so grateful for all his hard work this past summer and trying as hard as he could to be with me as soon as he could. He’s been here almost a week and has been interviewing and looking for work. It will nice to have that little bit of extra change coming in since we have a crib and car seat and stroller and all sorts of fun baby stuff to find. I love you Cory! I missed you! I’m glad you’re here safe!

HOUSES
We also are pretty darn sure we found a house to rent. I'm so relieved! We found out about it the same day all the car stuff came crashing down. I think Heavenly Father knew I was gonna snap if one more thing happened and I needed some happy news, I'm so grateful for prayer..... Things are looking sooo much better now. We have a house we will most likely move into in October, that is totally a SWEET deal!(As soon as we are all moved in I will have to have a little get together with everyone)

OTHER EXCITING THINGS
I went and saw my new OBGYN yesterday. I absolutely LOVED my doctor in Texas, so I knew I would be a little bummed or disappointed no matter what. But he is really nice and definitely knows his stuff. My next visit is my test for gestational diabetes and he only makes his patients drink a cold Sprite 30 minutes before. AWESOME! I was worried I wouldn't keep that other nasty stuff down and would have to do it again. The baby and I are doing well and everything is going how it is supposed to. I’m so grateful that Hayden and I are healthy. My belly has definitely popped out the last couple weeks and I feel him kicking around in there all the time. It’s the neatest feeling. I think he will definitely keep me on my toes when he is here.

I also got a new hair cut and color! Thanks to Morgan Weaver at Mild to Wild! She did such a great job, and it was fun to catch up with her. It's so awesome to get a new hair cut and feel pretty again... I still feel kinda chubby and swollen, but I really like my hair :) I also bought my first maternity clothes last week. I am SOOO much more comfortable! I have a few more things coming from Old Navy that I got online. I love fall, it’s when I can wear cute sweaters and things. Even though September isn’t quite over, I’m gearing up for October! I LOVE Halloween decorations, it’s such a fun holiday. I’m not a huge fan of dressing up myself, but I love seen all the cute kids dressed up in their creative costumes.

SOME SHOUT OUTS :)
And last but not least, I’ve been thinking about a lot of you while I’ve been running around…

Congrats to Devyn, she had a beautiful baby girl recently, Abby Jade Spencer. She is so darn cute and such a cute addition to their fam.

So many girls are gonna be mamas soon too! Kami, DeeDee, Melanie… I’m so excited for you guys and am excited to see pictures of your new little ones. :) (sorry if I forgot anyone, I totally have “pregnant brain” and forget things all the time.)

My cousin Michael just got his mission call to Jackson, Mississippi. And my cousin Shawn just returned home from Honduras! I’m so proud of you guys.

And my sister Mandi, you did such a great job last weekend! You guys looked so cute out there.(She is on Snow College's dance team and did a great job last weekend performing at halftime during the football game. I'm very proud of her.)

And to everyone: Have a WONDERFUL, FABULOUS rest of the week!

Frustrations of broken cars and house/apartment hunting...

Cory's car has been acting up for a long time now, it seems like FOREVER! He’s supposed to start his drive out to Utah tomorrow but his car will overheat and then cool back down quickly and then get super hot again. I don't really know anything about cars but I do know overheating=BAD... especially when its been doing that for so long and nothing seems to fix it!! So the car is going into see yet ANOTHER mechanic. I now have a really bitter feeling to all mechanics; I think they totally are just there not to really help, but to totally rip off. Hopefully this new place the car is going to tomorrow will change my opinion. Hopefully this new place will fix it, the problem will be simple and cheap to fix and my husband can drive to be with me. I just really DON'T want to be afraid the entire time he is driving, worrying that he might blow up along the way, or be broken down in the middle of nowhere.

We have also been looking for somewhere to live in Utah for FOREVER! We started looking clear back at the end of July. At that time everyone wanted their place filled before we got to Utah in September, I totally understand that. But we kept looking and our arrival date kept getting closer. And now I've been here for a few weeks and have been looking with even more determination and have been having the hardest time. Part of the problem is we will only be in Utah for 8 months, then its back to Texas for the summer for Cory's work. I don't mind the moving too much.If it means I have to see a little less of Cory for a few months during the summer and then after he can be home more often with me and the baby the rest of the year, I'm game. But not many places are too excited to do a lease for that long. Or if they are rent is through the roof! We don't need too much space, a 2 bedroom is plenty. I had no idea how stressful house/apartment hunting could be. It doesn't help either that I naturally get stressed out about things and tend to worry a lot. But add that with pregnancy hormones and everyone LOOK OUT; here come the water works and craziness! This crazy psycho chick emerges, and as fast as she comes a little while later, I'm fine, and feel ridiculous looking back at my freak out. I know everything will work out, it's just so frustrating. I have such a sweet husband. He is so understanding, and helps me so much. He is the most patient man I know. I can't wait to see him soon. Hopefully he will be able to leave tomorrow as soon as his car has the full 100% safe clearance to start the long drive back. So... tomorrow is a new day and it’s a new week. I have a few more new places I need to call. Thank goodness for family who always has a watchful eye for, "FOR RENT" signs and apartments or townhomes they think might work. If anyone knows of a good apartment, townhome, or house for rent please let me know. I am so anxious to be settled with Cory and start getting stuff for Hayden and his nursery. We haven't even really got anything for our house; this will be our 3rd move since we have been married (9 months). I just though why buy a ton of junk and decorations and stuff if we were just gonna have to pick it up and move. Finally Utah will be a finally destination. I can finally “nest.” I can finally decorate and get crafty around our place. So again, if anyone knows of anywhere, please give me the heads up. :) I hope everyone has a fabulous new week!

An update and stuff....

Well folks! I have finally landed in Utah! It worked out that I could fly back instead of doing that horrid drive from Austin to Utah. Unfortunately Cory will have to do the drive all by himself. I have such a sweet husband; he is always so concerned about the baby and I, and always wants what is best for us. At least the drive will take him a lot less time since I won't be with him to stop a million times! I'm so grateful for good friends that offered to help us out and drive my car back for us. Since our little baby boy is sitting so low and is breech it’s really hard for me to sit for a long time and makes my belly really achy. Hopefully he will turn himself around soon.

So, it’s already September! I can't believe it; the summer went by so fast. The wonderful fall weather is coming in, school is back in session and now there are new things for Cory and I to tackle...Cory and I are still looking for somewhere to live. Everything we find either doesn't have enough space for us, is too expensive, too dumpy, or just doesn't work out. It is sooo frustrating! I hate house/apartment hunting. Hopefully now that I'm back, it will be easier to find something. With moving comes the starting from scratch! Even though I grew up here I’ve been gone a really long time. There is the new place to live, new area, new ward, new friends, new job, new hairdresser, new everything.....Thank goodness my family is so close and is such a support to us. I have missed them so much. It’s so great to be close to family again. Cory will be looking for a job here in Utah and will be doing some classes online through Weber. I'm looking for something part time work and anything to keep me busy. We have about 4 months left till our cute little Hayden comes to join our family. We haven't got anything yet! I'm not worried about it too much yet because really we have no where to put everything. And I didn’t want to haul a ton of baby stuff from Austin. But babies need so much stuff and that is overwhelming. I'm so excited to be mom but hopefully it’s "normal" to have little stress, freak outs about it every now and then. Also, I am going to have to cave and buy some maternity clothes… NONE of my pants will button anymore, some won’t even zip the whole way up. Thank goodness for long shirts so I don’t give anyone a show. They are just expensive and I will only be able to wear them for a little while, plus its hard to find cute maternity clothes that fit right.

Oh, and I have been obsessing about starting the Twilight series! Everyone loves them! Especially this Edward fella... I need to find out what these books are all about ASAP.

I’m so glad to be in Utah and I can’t wait for Cory to get here in about 10 days! If anyone needs a lunch date or would like to come with me on a craving run let me know. I’m excited to hang out and catch up with old friends. Thanks to everyone for your concern, support and prayers for Cory and I. We are so grateful to be back and start our new life here.