Me crafty? Maybe...

So I am not one to brag BUT let me tell you, I worked hard for this pillow and I can't wait to put it in our new home (one day). Here are a few pictures to show off. Now I am not saying that I'm talented or anything like that but for me this is good. Heres to hoping that this crafty streak will continue...fingers crossed!

The Start of a New Year.

The start of a new year brings many new things into our lives. First, it brings all those resolutions that were made, Spencer starting school again, everyone getting a year older :( and hopefully a little traveling. I am so grateful for all the hard work Spencer does for our family. He goes to school fulltime (actually takes 18 credits..wow!), works almost fulltime (all so I can stay at home with Henry), takes care of me and most importantly is a great father to Henry. I am one lucky girl to have such a hardworking man in my life. So here is to a good semester for him...GO SPENCER!

Onto resolutions and New Year's Eve. We had an uneventful new years. We made homemade pizza thanks to our big helping Henry! We were asleep by 11:00..lame? you may say but let me tell you we were tired! :) So my big resolution this year is to run a half marathon. I haven't old many people this because I am afraid to disappoint them, but I have always wanted to run one and I thought this is the year! I am not a runner, never was, but I WANT to be a runner, always have. So beginning Monday I am starting to train to be able to run in the GO! St.Louis race in April. So if there is anyone out there...please tell me there is at least one person out there..if so I would love to get some feedback on what motivates you! Heres to a great 2012.

Christmas 2011....

So you would have thought me being a new mom with a new baby on his first Christmas I wouldn't have enough room on my camera for all the pictures I took! thought wrong....we took one picture of him Christmas morning opening one gift. That doesn't make me a horribl mother right? Well it almost does, at least we have one?? Anyway it was a great Christmas and the best thing about it is that Henry won't remember me not taking pictures! ha. No but it was a great holiday with great family. We did take a few pictures of Henry in front of our fireplace for our families. Since we have no money and can't afford for anyone to take our family pictures we fiigured Spencer would do a great job photographing Henry and wow did he do a great job! Pictures to come.....
I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and remembered the most important part, Our Savior. What did you and your family do this year to remember the birth of Christ?

Attempt number 2.

Ok, I promise I can keep to my word about things but for some reason this blogging thing is just hard to stick to! But before I continue I have to at least give myself 1 excuse on why it is hard for me to blog. Here it goes.....So we only have one computer and Spencer has to take that to work and school with him and all I am left with is the ipad which is great and all but I am unable to upload pictures to my blog so I think no one really wants to read my blog, they just want to see pictures. Soo...I thought that I can write a post during the day on my ipad and then once Spencer is home in the evening I will be able to upload pictures from his computer. Not that bad of an excuse right? Wonder why it took me 6 months to figure that out..hmmmm. So here goes attempt number 2 to keep to blogging on a regulary basis. So let me start off by saying I am soo grateful for my little man and I don't think I could have asked for a better baby. Henry has been sleeping through the night since he was 3 months old. Yes you heard it right 12 hours a night. How did I get so lucky you ask? Well I should say lucky, because I'm not really, I just read Baby Wise and it saved me! It is not about luck, it is about training your baby to be on this awesome schedule. Simple as that. I suggest every mom to read that book. Henry started rolling over at about 3 months but not on a regular basis. Henry started eating oatmeal, fruits and veggies when he was 4 1/2 months and loved it. He just looks like a little bird anxiously awaiting the next bite! Henry got his bottom two teeth 2 weeks before he turned 6 months and boy are they cute! He has been such a champ with the whole teething thing. Finally after 6 months he was able to sit up on his own which heled me out a lot! His last appt he was a whopping 18.9 pounds and 27 1/2 inches, he is one long boy. Last week he got his first front tooth and the second one is bound to pop through any day now. Man, I am so thankful I don't remember those days of teething, it can't be fun. Henry thinks Spencer is just so funny. Spencer will make a funny noise and he will just crack up so of course I try it out in hopes that he will do the same. nope, not a chance. I try to tell myself that maybe its because I am with him all day so he is just kind of bored by me and he doesn't see Spencer nearly as much, but there is NO WAY that Spencer is more funny, no way. That is just a quick update on Henry. He just makes us happy and are so grateful for him and his adorable happy smile :)

and he arrives :)

the time came when our little man was ready to meet us. June 25, 2011 changed our lives forever and we couldn't be happier about that. henry michael nothum arrived at 4:47 am at 7lbs 6 oz and 21 inches. he was perfect. so now i will tell the best 24 hours of my life. if you do not enjoy hearing someone's birth story then please don't continue, my feelings will not be hurt. So it all began at about 5:30pm on June 24th with mild cramping happening every 15 minutes. I thought that it would pass and i would continue on my friday night as usual, wow was i wrong. the mild cramping turned into contractions in about an hour and a half. the contractions starting coming every 5 minutes from then on. At about 7:00pm Spencer and I went for a walk outside (i wanted to make sure that these contractions were the real thing). the contractions started increasing in intensity very quickly. I got inside at about 8:00pm and Spencer was more than ready to head to the hospital. I had a different plan in mind. on a side note..you would have thought that we would have talked about our "plan" when the time came for the baby to come but i guess that slipped by us. My plan=me laboring at home before heading to the hospital. Spencers plan=going to the hospital immediately. Anyway, I won and I labored at home. Spencer rubbed my back, i got into the bathtub (which i recommend) and i continued to breath and walk until about 10:00pm. I think those hours were the worst couple hours for Spencer, poor guy! We arrived at the hospital at 10:20 and we were admitted to labor and delivery. I was a whopping 6 cm. and was not slowing down. My water broke at 1:00am and our precious henry was born at 4:47am. it was more than i could have imagined. So many emotions. I am so blessed to have been able to go through that experience and so blessed to be a mother.

sunny california

So I finished my last day of work and Spencer finished his last day of school (not forever :( just for the semester) and we were packed up and headed to California. This was my second time to the beautiful state of California, the first being with our bff's the Perdue's to their hometown which let me tell you was one of the best times i have ever had and am counting down the days until we reunite with them there! We were off to visit Spencer's aunt, uncle and cousin. They live in Hermosa Beach which is just a little south of LA. We had a BLAST! We went to the beach everyday which was heaven, i love the beach and could go there everyday..hmm...maybe that will be the next place we live? But anyway it was so much fun. Who said being 35 weeks pregnant wasn't fun? yes, i was huge on that vacation. Believe it or not I did take pictures.....well spencer did. I am horrible at taking pictures, but that too I will be improving on. So enjoy..

good bye beautiful mountains and friends....hello st. louis

After much thought Spencer and I decided that moving back home would be most beneficial to our little family. He would be able to work for his dad, go to school, and we would be able to live with my mom while all of this was going on so we could save money and i could stay at home with our baby who was arriving soon. At the time I was so excited to be back home and did not think twice about leaving the place we called home for a year. I now realize how much I miss so many things about Utah. Here is the list.....

first and foremost I MISS OUR FRIENDS, our apartment, the mountains, the temples, BYU basketball, how close everything is, burger supreme, mountain west burrito, cafe rio, summer days and nights, national parks, and believe it or not i miss work!

I know that we are suppose to be here right now but I do miss the west...maybe we will be back someday. So after much thinking I have decided that I love the west and love the midwest..so all in all i have concluded that i would love anywhere i lived as long as my little family was there. We could be happy anywhere and everywhere!