Oh What A Day!

Pictures!!!

Yesterday was GREAT! I had a wonderful birthday. Ryan took me out to dinner to a really nice restaurant and the food was wonderful! I even let Ryan do what he has been wanting to do forever now... get the restaurant staff to sing to me... I got a cute picture out of the ooober embarrassing serenade. We spent the evening with our good friends Sam and Melissa and to top it all off... I was in for a huge surprise when we went to pick up Ryans wedding band and find out that mine was ready as well! So here are some pictures I took of my complete wedding band and my baby bump. I figured my birthday was a good day to take a picture of the growing baby. By the way... I am sticking it out a little just so you all know.



Yes I am wearing capris... very excited that it is warming up... FINALLY! I tried to look as pregnant as possible for this picture.




Well worth the 2+ year wait... I guess they were right... good things DO come to those who wait! Ryans wedding band is pretty spiffy too... very rugged and many and a giant step up from the sterling and gold CTR ring. The CTR ring surved us well for the first little while but we were ready for something new.


--Dani

Being Prego...

Man I will tell you what... I am tired all of the time! I never knew how much I could sleep at once. CRAZY! But hey I guess if lots of sleep makes a healthy and adorable baby at the end... the hook me up to an IV and put me in a coma cause I would love to have an abnormally healthy bunch of kids that all grew up to be super adorable!

Yesterday was a good day I had the privilege of spending time with one of the YW in my ward and she helped me make my FAMOUS Chicken Enchiladas. There are few things in life more rewarding than watching people eat food that I have made and worked hard on and for them to enjoy it... it is so rewarding to me. I was pretty excited when people were asking for the recipe... must be good if they want to make it themselves right?!

As for today... it is pretty darn good. Today is my birthday and I got a wonderful phone call this morning from my dad wishing me a happy birthday. My lovely husband was trying to pull a fast one on me by pretending he didn't know what day it was and has been really reserved as far as handing out birthday wishes... one can only assume that he is up to something... as usual.

It is barely noon and I am so grateful from all of the cards, phone calls, text messages and emails wishing me a happy birthday. Can I just say I feel so blessed. This has been an amazing year for me... thank you so much for those who have taken time out of their day to make my day a little bit more special... trust me I was in dire need of the boost.... it is hard being so far away from home on a day that all you want to do is see your friends and family... so thank you!


The Birthday Girl,
Dani

Welcome Spring!!!

I welcome you with open arms!!! I only wish you looked and felt more like spring than winter...

Current temp. 32 degrees... sunny with patches of snow still on the ground... At least it is sunny!!!

I Love To See The Temple

My Birthday Comes Early This Year...

As many of you know... I am a spring baby and with the 25th just around the corner I am pretty excited to see what this year holds for me.

After over two years of no wedding band Ryan & I finally get our very own wedding bands. With him deploying three days after we got married and the financial stretches of starting out a life together the practicality of buying wedding bands was low on the list. Although my ring is beautiful and I couldn't have asked for a better ring I am very excited to finally have a wedding band and even more excited that Ryan will have the wedding band of his choice not just his CTR ring.

I am very grateful for all of the wonderful things I have been given this year... a beautiful wedding band, plethora of pickles from home and a baby in my belly. I cant complain... it is a pretty dang good Birthday so far and it is still a few days away.

It's The Baby "Bump"

So I finally took a few pictures of me with my baby bump. What do you think?! And yes... that is one of two Maternity tops I now own.

20weeks 3days
Same day I found out that we were having a girl! Pretty good day in my opinion!

--Dani--

Its A GIRL!!!

I t s A G I R L ! ! ! !

WooHoo... How exciting... I have never actually seen an ultrasound in person where there was a baby on the screen so it was pretty special when it was my baby up there movin around like a crazy person.

As you know by the title "it" now has a gender... our little girl is growing very well and dispite my lack of baby bump, it is very small still, she is growing at a normal pace. We got to hear her heart beat and it continues to grow stronger and stronger every visit.

She was a little camera shy so our pictures of her are not the best but ... we think she is cute... she even has my nose. Can you see it?!


Dani & Ryan

20 Weeks!!!

Yay I am so excited to be at the 20 weeks mark. As of the moment the baby is still and "it" but hopefully on Tuesday "it" will have a known gender! YAY! I am pretty excited and get more and more anxious as the day and time gets closer. I would love to personally give everyone a phone call to share the good news but with so many people and so few cell phone min. lol... many will have to stay tuned into my blog. Yay for Tuesday!!!

Dani

Things That Go Bump In The Night...

So I have been feeling some crazy activity lately. At around 15 weeks I was starting to get questions like "So have you felt your baby yet?!"... my response was " I dont know... am I supposed to?"

Well of course I knew babies kick and move but I have never been this far along in a pregnancy and wasnt really sure what this movement was supposed to feel like.

About two weeks ago I started to feel my baby move around. At first I just thought I was hungry and my stomach was making noises but as the strange feeling became more frequent and more intense I was satisfied with the answer that ... those werent hunger pains.

It is a strange feeling having something swimming around inside your belly... Our baby gets so active that it feels like a tennis match is taking place with the baby just bouncing all over.

It is a sigh of relief to feel the movement, both Ryan and I have had the pleasure to feel it move around... I gotta say this baby loves Pop Tarts... every time I have a strawberry Pop Tart it freaks out! I had Ryan get me a serving of ice cream so I could get the baby to be a little more active needless to say I think it favors Pop Tarts over ice cream.

Just to let you all know we have our ultrasound on tuesday... we are hoping to walk away with some good pictures of our little jelly bean baby.

So what do you think we are having?! Let us know in our poll... Poll ends on the 18 with the results!

Dani

Turning The Other Cheek...

I have a strong voice and a hatred for being walked on by others.

As many of you know once again the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints is yet again being misrepresented...

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma

I find it hard, but not impossible, to continually be in the cross hairs of crude stereotypical jokes or at the wrath of someones ignorant anger. It isn't easy turning away from such hurtful remarks but I guess what does not kill you makes you stronger. If anyone is a representative of that it would be me.

For all of those who have some sort of grudge against my church and what we as a whole believe in I pray for you. I pray that you might have a greater understanding of this life and where you are going. I hope that one day your mind might be opened and you will see for yourself the things that you have said, thought and/or done to hinder the work of the Lord by taunting those who have done nothing but turn the other cheek is something that you will have to deal with on your own. I am sure in your moment of despair when you realize what you have done the ones lifting you up and taking care of you wont be those who reside in a great and spacious building but were the ones that were in the cross hairs.

I am not afraid to stand up for what I believe in... I will not cower because being virtuous and modest might not be the most popular thing to do. I do have a testimony of the true and living gospel of Jesus Christ. If anyone would like to challenge my belief in Jesus then I dare him... I will never say that He does not exist and that He is not who he says He is or that He cannot do what He says He can do.

As for me I know where I came from and I know where I am going not only in this life but in the life to come. I go to bed every night never regretful of the things that I have done that day and I wake up every morning look in the mirror and am proud of the person staring back at me. She might not be a beauty queen and has her worldly flaws but in the eyes of my Savior she is beautiful because she is a good person who is continually doing His work on this earth.

At the end of the day can you say you know where you are going and be proud of that answer?

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love thee other; or he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matt 6:24)

Who do you serve? As for me and my house we serve the Lord.



--Dani--

Showin off the "belly"

Well I hate to break it to everyone but... I dont have much of a belly to show off BUT I did go shopping for official maternity clothes yesterday.

I found some super cute clothes that I can wear now and the next few months and hopefully on into the very end.

If there is a demand for baby bump pictures I will take some but I am telling you in order to tell I have to have a full stomach and totally relax my abs in order to see anything. lol.

I think it is interesting how different peoples bodies are... Ryan and I frequent a subway near by and one of the lady's that works there is about as far along as I am and looks 7 months along where as I just look like I am pulling everyones leg. My mom didnt start showing until she was 7-8 months pregnant... you never know maybe I will luck out.

Anyhow I was really excited to purchase my first maternity clothes and cant wait to wear them! It will be nice to wear clothes that dont hug the body... mainly the mid section... as much, YAY for comfortable but cute clothes.

--Dani

Very Tired...

It is the beginning of a new week and we have once again another snow storm... it is March and I just want to see some warm weather.

I have been super tired lately and having Ryan on Swings wont help much he gets home so late at night.

So I have started Physical Therapy for my back... very painful I tell you... It feels so good in the beginning but then from the workouts and massages I usually end up being sore later in the day.

So far this week has started out... ok. I hope it picks up a little.