Dave and Brienne Shumway

Ummm....

2011-10-05T11:25:00.001-06:00

There are a billion things that I should be writing about but I have just a few minutes and want to share just one thing.

My sister and I are recording all of our family videos onto DVD and it has been so fun! I love seeing myself and my family as we grow through the years, how we interact with each other and the experiences that we shared. I am grateful to my parents for the hard work that put into raising us 4 kids. There was much laughter and learning.

As I watch the different stages of my growing up years I have been able to have such a different perspective on life. I look at little Brienne and I know exactly what is going to happen to her that year in school, or what she will do that following summer. The friends that she will meet, the place that she will move next and the fun times she will share with family. But I also know of the tough times that will come and bad decisions that she will make. I have thought often what I would tell little Brienne at the age of 6 or 9 or 16. What advice would I give her about life and what would come? Would I warn her about things? Would I tell her to stay away from certain boys or be more involved in a sport? Crazy to think about.

While I would love to change things up a bit throughout my growing up years so far I also love where I am today and I know that the experiences that I had have brought me to this exact place.

What would you tell the little version of yourself?

5 days late...but just on time!

2011-06-12T22:53:00.005-06:00

In the interest of time I have decided to post what Dave had posted on our family website about the birth of baby Wesley. He did a really good job.

So, now that we are home and I don't have to type news on my phone, I will be happy to provide the long version of Wesley's birth. Here it goes...

So, there we were waiting for Brienne to pop. Her due date was supposed to be the 30th of May, but because Luke was born 10 days early we had no idea what to expect this time around. Thus, for the last few weeks we were just twiddling our thumbs and waiting for the contractions to get painful. And they did, here and there, but they would always stop. Brienne had to start a regiment of walking, jumping, and even jogging just to keep them going. After many days of frustration however, Brienne decided to take a break and just wait for him to come in his own time.

So, Memorial Day weekend came and we were once again hoping and praying that this little guy, who was at this time unnamed, would just come out. But when the due date passed without much of anything, we weren't really sure what to do. We knew we wanted to do this totally natural. We didn't want to do any drugs at all. So, when we went to the doctor on the 31st, we allowed one of the midwifes at the clinic to strip the membranes, which consists of separating the amniotic sac from the opening of the cervix. This has been known to get labor going. So, we did that and then just waited for the baby to come. We also had several tests done to make sure that the baby was alright. Sure enough, he was just happy as a clam in there. So, we went home from spending half the day in the hospital, and waited for the stripping of the membranes to take it's course. Nothing happened.

So, at this point, Brienne is frustrated. And I am frustrated right along with her. It is now Thursday the 2nd. Brienne's mom, Debbie came down for a special class in Pleasant Grove, and stayed the night at the house. It would have been a perfect time for the baby to come. But when Brienne wasn't having any consistent contractions, Debbie suggested that maybe a change of scene would help Brienne to relax. She suggested that Brienne come up to Idaho for the weekend. When the idea was presented to me, red flags started popping up in my head. You're overdue, looking like you're going to burst, and you're going to travel out of state where you will be at least 2.5 hours away from the hospital you were planning on delivering at. So, I expressed my concerns, and Brienne decided to stay home. And it's a good thing too.

Brienne had another doctors appointment scheduled for Friday the 3rd where they would repeat all the tests that they had done previously. We decided that this was overkill at this point though, so we cancelled. As long as he was moving around inside there, Brienne was sure everything was fine, other than the fact that he was several days overdue. Brienne bought Evening Primrose and Clary Sage, two natural oils that can help to start labor. So, at about 12 AM on Saturday the 4th, Brienne couldn't sleep because she was starting to have contractions. Also, she had started to have some blood come out and was worried about the safety of the baby. I did a quick google search and confirmed that blood and mucus is a totally natural discharge when you are going into labor. So, there was no reason to freak out and rush into the hospital. We spent the night timing contractions and helping her to relax. She sat in the bath for a while which really helped. After that, we were in the family room watching movies to pass the time. The contractions were getting more painful, but generally consistent in timing. She was also having more bloody discharge.

Our plan all along was to stay at home as long as possible, because there is really nothing comfortable about the hospital. And the longer you are there, the more pressure there is to take drugs. So, we were going to keep Brienne comfortable at home as long as was safely possible. We called Debbie at 3 AM and told her she should probably come down if she wants to see this baby born. She left shortly thereafter. Because we couldn't leave Luke at home alone, and didn't want to drag him out of bed, we waited for Debbie to arrive to take Brienne to the hospital. This happened at about 6:45 AM. I called Duane and this point and we arranged for him to come and pick up Luke, so I could get to the hospital. He arrived at around 7:30, and I jumped in the car and headed for the hospital.

I got a call on my way to tell me to hurry up, because Brienne was dilated to a 7 and they were going to break her water because they were sure that the baby was going to come soon, and all the blood was starting to worry them a little. When I got there, they broke the water, which was very uneventful. Come to find out that all the blood was her water breaking, so nothing else really came out when they broke it. The placenta was so close to the opening of the cervix that it had started bleeding. The baby's vitals were good though, so they were more worried about Brienne losing too much blood. She was hooked up to an IV at this point.

So, now the contractions got really painful. Brienne could barely open her eyes. One after another, they just kept going. The nurses and midwife seemed supremely confident that this baby was just going to slide out quickly, but it was a bit more complicated then that. At about 8:12, Brienne started having the urge to push and push she did. She became a woman possessed with one thought. "Get this baby out of me." For the next 30 minutes or so, she pushed, and changed positions, and then pushed some more. The little boy was turned in a weird way and it made the whole process take much longer. The skin on his head was terribly scrunched up when he finally crowned. But, after all that pushing he finally popped out. He was a big boy. They had to suck bloody fluid from his lungs, and monitor his oxygen intake for a while, but he was good and healthy. 8 pounds 13 ounces, and 21 inches long. Quite a bit bigger than Luke was.

So, baby Wesley was whisked away to the nursery to be monitored and I went with him, leaving Brienne behind. A short while later though, Brienne couldn't wait for him to come back to her and came down in a wheelchair to nurse him. He was breathing well enough for them to let her nurse, and he latched on like a champ. From then on, everything went well. Because of how slowly Wesley had made his descent, Brienne hadn't torn at all, which meant that she didn't have to have any stitches. All in all, the recovery was ridiculously easy compared to Luke. A little fluid discharge, but in general just soreness. Brienne even found the energy to clean up the hospital room.

Anyway, later in the afternoon I went and retrieved Luke and brought him to see his baby brother. He was a very gentle big brother, and it seemed to finally dawn on him that mommy actually did have a baby in her tummy. We spent the rest of the day hanging out as a family. Coincidentally enough, my coworker and close friend Kade was at the hospital at the same time. They had their baby girl at 8:30 AM on the same day. Crazy. Brienne stayed in the hospital Saturday night, and into Sunday. Once we realized that Brienne's recovery would be the same at home, and all of Wesley's tests and circumcision were done, we decided to check out. So, we left at about 2 PM on Sunday.

It was amazing how, after all that waiting, the labor itself had progressed so quickly and Brienne's recovery had been so easy. We felt very blessed. We chose the name of Wesley David, because he just didn't look like an Ezra. We had been partial towards Ezra for some time, but Wesley was a better fit. He is now at home, nursing away and being as cute as he can be. He is a big boy, but many of his features differ from Luke's. He has a more prominent nose, and upper lip. Both of which are synonymous with Brienne's family. Instead of having big hands and feet like Luke, his are more petite. They will grow though. And he has dark hair, and much more of it then Luke had at birth. They are definitely different, but Luke is excited to be a big brother.

So, that's pretty much it. Is that detailed enough? I suppose I could have filmed the whole thing. Thanks everyone for your support. We are so happy that Wesley finally decided to come, even if he did take his merry time.

Yay! After going 5 days over my due date I was pretty sure that I really was going to be pregnant forever. But it turns out there was a little baby in my tummy and he did decide to come out. What a blessing and a miracle babies are. Straight from heaven. I love watching him have dreams and smiling. People wonder what they could be dreaming about but I know it is about heaven. What else does he have memories of? I have felt so close to my Savior and to my Heavenly Father this past little while. My testimony has been strengthened of families and love and the Gospel in general. What a blessing to know what we know. The church is true. The Savior lives. Families are forever.

Dave is the best daddy I know. He loves his boys and he loves me. He took this week off of work and I don't ever want him to go back! I love having my best friend and companion at home all day with me. I have completely fallen in love with him all over again.

I am so lucky and blessed to have such precious boys in my life.

And here are some pictures of us all...

Quote I just found...

2011-05-06T21:56:00.002-06:00

"Mothers, when your children begin to ask you questions, even about the delicate things in life, don't turn them aside. Take time to explain to their childish minds, or as they grow up, to their older minds. A successful mother is one who is never too tired for her sons and daughters to come and share their joys and sorrows with her." President Harold B. Lee

My mom was never too tired to hear about my life. Even at 2 in the morning.

I hope I can be (and am) this kind of mom too.

Good News!

2011-04-26T13:18:00.000-06:00

I had my 4th ultrasound to check on the location of the placenta and my need
for a c-section as my due date gets closer. The technician took all the measurements of
the baby and then the doctor came in. She looked for a minute and then let out a laugh
and said that I had no need to be there! The placenta has moved from the very bottom of
my uterus to the very tippy top. A serious miracle.

So I don't have anymore ultrasound appointments and I don't need a c-section. Yay! It
was such good news and I wanted to let everybody know.

We know that lots and lots of people have been praying and fasting for us and we are so
grateful. The power of the Priesthood is evident here as well and my testimony has been
strengthened.

The technician said that from his measurements he already weighs 6 1/2 pounds (give or
take a little). She took some 3D pictures and you can see that he already has chubby
cheeks. The measurements moved my due date up to May 17th but my midwife said that
they won't officially change it. I guess I will just be ready starting mid-May for this baby to
come.

Thank you for all your love and prayers.

Now we just need to pick a name...

Cheers to being a mom for 2 years!

2011-02-26T16:38:00.005-07:00

Luke is 2!

I can't believe it.

We gave him 3 different birthday parties. We love birthday cake and will make any excuse to have some.

One with the Shumway cousins, one with just Dave and I and one with the Hales cousins.

He has been obsessed with basketball lately (probably because his dad plays so much of it!). So I tried to make him a basketball cake. I looked on the internet and I don't have a prayer of making a fancy cake. But orange icing and chocolate topping works for me.

I could write a huge post about all the things that he is doing but I will put the top 5 that come to my mind:

1. He repeats everything you say. My mom says he is like a little parrot because you can always count on him to say what you just did. As we left the house the other day I said "dang it" because I forgot something and sure enough a second later I hear Luke say "dag it".

2. He LOVES his daddy. As soon as I mention anything like "daddy's coming home soon!" he will wait by the door until he comes home.

3. Whenever we leave or anybody leaves the house, or just the room for that matter, he always says "back!" He wants to make sure that we are coming back.

4. If I ever leave and come home from something he runs through the house with his arms open wide and a huge smile on his face until he finds me. That sweet sound of "mommy!" is so precious to me. He does it for his daddy too. Precious boy.

5. Whenever we talk about his upcoming baby brother he will kiss my belly. He is going to be such a sweet big brother.

6. He loves Buzz and Biddy (Woody).

Okay so I added one more.

The pregnancy is going well. I have an ultrasound coming up to check on my placenta. I will let you know what happens.

And here are some pictures of what we have been doing lately.

I love this boy.

111 days

2011-01-31T11:38:00.002-07:00

I just looked at my friend's blog and noticed that on the side where it lists her friend's blogs it showed that I haven't updated our blog for 111 days.

That's a long time.

And honestly a lot has happened since then.

I am 5 months pregnant with a boy. I would have bet money that we were having a girl. For some reason I just felt like we were. So when I saw the "evidence" on the ultrasound I let out a laugh. We are having a boy! And I am more thrilled than ever. It will be a while before they can wrestle but I know that they will be precious together.

I feel like I have a best friend-in-the-making for Luke.

We had such a hard time finding a name for Luke that I don't think there is any hope for this one. It's interesting to me how we like completely different names when I was pregnant with Luke and those ones just don't seem to fit with this one. I can definitely feel his little Spirit.

The day after we found out the gender I was had an appointment with my doctor who told me that I have "complete placenta previa". I had no idea what that was (placenta what?). It means that the placenta is completely covering the cervix. Which means the baby can't come out the normal way and I will most likely be getting a c-section. That was at first my biggest concern but after researching it and talking with the doctor I was informed that pre-term labor is highly likely as well as bleeding.

If I was a pioneer I would be on a countdown to my death.

And I wouldn't even know it.

That thought keeps coming to my head and I am so grateful for modern technology and science that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with. Because of the ultrasound we can know so much and prepare.

The doctor didn't put me on bed rest but she did put me on pelvic rest. And if you don't know what that is I will let you look it up. When I lay down to go to sleep at night I usually have 2 contractions with high pressure but never any pain. I just need to take it easy.

I have another ultrasound on March 7th to check the placenta. If it is still complete than I will being meeting with the doctor who will do the c-section. And things will get more intense after that.

I am having faith and I know that Heavenly Father is in charge. I feel very protected and I know that we will have a healthy baby boy at the end of all of this. The journey might be a little crazy until then but we will be blessed with an addition to our family.

We moved into Dave's parent's house as they are leaving on their 2nd mission on April 5th to the Mexico City Mexico Temple. I LOVE the space and having a house that is more than fully furnished. They are such sweet people and Luke loves them dearly. He calls them Papa and Amama.

And Luke.

He is my precious little boy! And he is turning 2 on February 18th. He makes my life have so much meaning and laughter. He is my right arm and loves just being wherever I am. He is starting to talk so much. Sometimes he will say something to me and as I try to guess what he is saying he will cock one eyebrow and look at me like I am crazy. And he is all about basketball. If he knows his daddy is going to play basketball somewhere (and he does most nights) Luke just gets his hat and jacket and says bye to everyone. One night Luke and I weren't going to go because the game was later in the evening but when he saw Dave in his playing clothes Luke wouldn't take no for an answer and got dressed and walked out the door without me.

Everyday I plan on beginning potty-training but it only goes that far. I have no idea what to do.

My sister comes home from her mission in June! Yay! I am so excited. I miss her like crazy.

And my older brother leaves for Iraq in a couple of weeks.

I think I have been trying to deny it and pretend that it's not really happening. But I need to face the facts and just pray for him. And all the rest of the soldiers out there.

Us Lately

2010-10-07T10:09:00.006-06:00

I've been really bad at updating our blog. It's hard for me to find time these days because we are having so much fun! Luke really is a fun kid and is always going and going.

I took a trip up to my parent's house and they just happened to have a baby kitty there. Luke loved her and wouldn't stop chasing after her. As you can see, she was patient enough to let him actually pick her up sometimes.

We even took a walk with the kitty cat.

Luke and his buddy Rylee trying to fix the vacuum.

Luke actually fell asleep in the bathtub once. The tub was empty and he had his feet in the slowly running water. He was playing with his car for a while but then next thing I knew, his eyes were closed.

We went on a trip to Farm Country with some friends and Luke had so much fun he just didn't know what to do with himself.

We had a new cousin added to the family and Luke loves to hold her when he gets the chance. He points out her toes and her fingers and would poke her eyes if we let him. He'll be a good big brother someday.

Dave has a ritual of laying on the ground after he eats dinner. Luke has caught on and will join him sometimes.

I took a trip down to Delta, Utah with my parents for an uncle's retirement dinner. Every time I see my Grandma Hales I plan to take a picture but never do. This time I did. So we have a 4 generation picture now. My grandma, my dad, me, and Luke.

For Family Home Evening the other night we learned about the Armor of God and we dressed Luke up. So there is the Helmet of Salvation, Breastplate of Righteousness, and his Sword of the Spirit.

And we have started a tradition of having smoothies for our Family Home Evening treat. Luke has always loved them but this time he especially did. I can't get it into his mouth fast enough.

The summer has been fun but I can't wait for Fall! I love the feeling in the air and the upcoming holidays! Hope all is well with you all!

Oregon Trip

2010-08-11T01:15:00.005-06:00

Before we begin, I think it's funny that the only time I have to post on our blog nowadays is at 1:15 in the morning because I can't sleep.

Now to the good stuff. We just got back from a trip to Oregon to Dave's sister's house. They live in Beaverton and just got a new house. It made me incredibly excited to have our own house someday, but I have to realize that ours will probably be 1/2 the size of that one. I am excited nonetheless. Quick summary and then to pictures.

Day 1 - drove 10 hours to Pendleton, OR. Luke did so much better than I expected.

Day 2 - drove 4 hours to Beaverton. It might have been shorter but we got lost in Portland. We arrived at the county fair where the family was and participated in the festivities.

Day 3 - went to church and only lasted through Sacrament meeting because Luke was CRAZY.

Day 4 - drove 10 minutes to Portland and spent the day with one of my best friends that I haven't seen for 7 years. It was fantastic.

Day 5 - drove 45 minutes to Mcminnville to see another best friend that I haven't seen in 1 1/2 years. It was also fantastic.

Day 6 - went to Haag Lake where Luke had a blast. The water wasn't too bad but I had a really hard time walking through the mud and feeling it squish between my toes. I didn't last very long in the water but Dave did and Luke didn't want to be anywhere but in the water.

Day 7 - went to Cannon Beach. Dave and I can't stand being that close to the ocean and not driving out to see it. We are definitely coast people.

Day 8 - started the trek home. Stayed at a hotel in Boise. Swam in the pool. Slept in a wonderfully big king size bed.

Day 9 - finished the trek home. The drive went by much faster than expected.

The trip was a fantastic one. There was craziness along with the enjoyment and we are so glad we went.

We need to move to the coast.

A Life Change

2010-07-28T13:54:00.002-06:00

About a month ago I had a miscarriage. My intent in posting this is not to make everyone feel sorry for me, instead I want to share with everyone the fact that I am incredibly blessed – not because I had a miscarriage, but because it opened my eyes to how blessed I really am.

Let me run you through it really fast. It was a Saturday. I was about 9 weeks along when I noticed some blood. I know women who have had miscarriages and, like everyone else, I knew that there was a risk of it happening to me. I knew that it would be sad but I didn’t know just how sad. I was shocked. I told Dave and he was shocked too. I was having slight cramping but nothing compared to the stories of what other women have gone through. I called the midwife and she said it could be the start of a miscarriage or it could be the implantation of the egg in my uterus. There was no way to know for sure until I had an ultrasound which we couldn’t do until Monday. She told me to call on that day and schedule one. But that wasn’t going to be necessary. I continued to bleed lightly through Sunday. I wasn’t going to tell anyone until we knew for sure but my emotions don’t always follow my plans. I just knew that it was a miscarriage. Somehow I had known for a long while. The pregnancy just didn’t feel the same as Luke’s but I was clinging to the hope that everything was normal. In Relief Society that day I couldn’t control my tears. The women sitting next to me, including my mother-in-law thought that I was crying because of the love that I have for my dad (it was Father’s Day). But my mother-in-law knew different and I told her that I had started bleeding the day before. I could feel her love and sorrow without her even saying a word. We had a family party that day. I tried my best to be calm and act normal. I just wanted to get everything over with but my sister-in-law (who has gone through some miscarriages of her own) told me to take everything slowly. She said that it’s a blessing that the process doesn’t take one day because we are forced to go through the grieving process so that we can move on. She told me to let my emotions be what they are – cry if I feel like crying, be alone if I want to be alone, stand up and be strong if I feel like it, talk to somebody when I need to talk. She was a huge blessing and help through the whole process. I have grown closer to her than ever before. The slight cramps were starting to get worse and worse. I asked Dave to give me a blessing on Sunday night and he did. It was beautiful and comforting. It really prepared me mentally for what was going to happen. On Monday morning I woke up and had pretty bad cramps. Similar to how contractions feel in the very beginning. I had to run to the store that morning and while I was there, things got pretty bad. I had to hunch over because the pain was so much worse. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Eventually I did. Poor Luke had no idea what was going on – or maybe he did. When I got home I did the first thing I could think to do – I called my mom. She lives in Idaho but that didn’t matter. I needed to talk to my mom. She told me she was coming down (a 3 hour drive) and told me to call the midwife and Marsha (Dave’s mom). So I did. The midwife told me to go to the emergency room and Marsha told me she was coming right over. I then called Dave and sobbed. I was having horrible contractions and couldn’t breathe. He was my support. He talked me through it. He told me that everything was going to be okay. Marsha came, we got in the car and picked up Dave from work and then dropped Luke and Marsha off at her house so we could go to the emergency room. We were there for 4 hours until everything was over. They took lots of blood and charged us lots of money. I was glad when it was over. I bled for the next 2 weeks and cried for about the same. It raised lots of questions as to what happens to babies who are miscarried. Did a Spirit enter the body? Was there a body? Will that baby have another chance at receiving a body? Was that the earthly experience? I have said lots of prayers and had lots of thoughts. But the one thing that stands out in this whole thing is that I know I am incredibly blessed. In the emergency room I realized that Heavenly Father created our bodies to know what to do in the event of something being wrong with a pregnancy. My body knew just what to do with it and did it efficiently. He created our bodies to be able to do this; therefore, He knew that it was going to happen. So, He knows how to comfort me. He knows what I am going through. I have a wonderful and supportive and loving husband. He grieved with me. He lost a baby too. He wrote a song a few nights before it happened called “Goodbye Little One”. It was his way of grieving and processing. I have a precious little boy named Luke. He is a miracle. Every little baby born is a miracle. Babies are born all day long every day, and yet they are still a miracle. Each and every one. I really slowed down since it happened. I don’t try to fill my days with projects to feel productive, but I just sit on the floor and play with Luke. We play outside, we go swimming, we read books, we laugh, we wrestle, we sleep, we hug. I am not so up-tight about the little things. Life is to be enjoyed and not worried about. Dave even said that he’s gotten the “old Brienne” back. I have realized that I have so many supportive and loving friends around me. Whether they are family, friends, or just acquaintances, people care about me. We care about each other. Nobody is ever truly alone. Sometimes it feels that way but if we reached out a little, there is always someone who knows what we are going through. Most of all, I know that Heavenly Father loves me. I know that He has a plan for me. In the blessing Dave said that “it won’t be long before I hold another infant in my arms.” That gave me great comfort. It took me a few days to realize, however, that my time is much different than Heavenly Fathers. I need to be patient and faithful. I need to put my trust in Him and know that my life is in His hands. He loves me and I have nothing to worry about. We will be blessed with more children. I feel it. I’m not grateful to have had a miscarriage, but I am extremely grateful that I have been changed forever. I am grateful for what it has shown me.

This is much longer than I meant for it to be.

Luke and I went to a water park yesterday with our friends Aimee and Oaklee. Aimee just found out that she is having a baby boy in December! So exciting! Luke had so much fun at the waterpark and even got his first sunburn. Sweet boy.

I'm not going to say it...

2010-05-11T08:56:00.009-06:00

I am just going to go ahead and skip the part where I mention how long it's been since I have posted (Wow, It's been so long since...), and just get to the good stuff. We have such a fun little boy. Well, I actually have two wonderful boys in my life but for now I will just speak of the little one. He is very verbal and is just dying to talk. When he falls down or he gets mad about something he really sounds like he's complaining in his baby-talk and just goes off on something. He says uh-oh for everything. He will even raise his voice at the end like he is asking a question. Uh-oh? And I taught him how to say whoa. He loves that one too. But right now, his number one love is to watch the birds. As soon as he wakes up in the morning he points out to the window and makes his little chirping sound for a bird. He will just sit and watch and wait so patiently to see them come. I have started, probably much too late, trying to teach him baby sign language. He is extremely interested but hasn't signed anything yet. He has started to quietly roar like a lion and he loves listening to animal sounds. He knows where our candy drawer is and will point to it until I get something out of it. I have to distract him pretty heavily in order to get his attention off of it. He got his fist bloody nose recently. He fell in between two people and hit his nose on Dave's knee.

He loves playing the piano with his daddy

He looked so cute in the hat but I hope we didn't instill in him a lifelong dream of having his career at In-n-Out. But maybe we could get free food...

Dave recently had his 25th birthday. Luke sure enjoyed the cake.

Look at those cute baby cheeks, and hands, and eyes, and eyelashes, and...well, I just love him.

I discovered that he likes to wear my shirts because they fit him perfectly. I have to tie it in the back to fit around his neck but other than that, it looks perfect. Eating strawberries and playing in flour.

Oh the joys of being a kid.

Still enjoying daddy's birthday cake. I think Dave had one piece and Luke and I ate the rest.

We had lots of fun dyeing eggs for Easter. We even had a little Easter Egg hunt around the house and Luke had the time of his life. We got it on video.

We discovered that he had filled this water bottle up with baby carrots one at a time. He was so proud of himself.

Look how skinny he's getting! It's all the running around.

Speaking of running, Luke loves this pose of his. He will run into the room and strike this pose. Sometimes his legs are so far apart that he can't get up and he has to sit down in order to get back up. And sometimes while striking this pose he holds his hands in the position of holding a guitar. He's our air guitar baby and he hasn't even seen Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure!

As much as he loves his box of toys, he also loves to get in his box of toys.

Wants to be just like his daddy.

He doesn't always like to sit on his car. He also likes to lift up the seat and stand in his car.

He also has this adorably cute curl above his neck. It seems like that is the only patch of hair on his head that is growing and as it grows it makes a very cute curl. Hopefully I will get a picture soon.

And we...

are just as happy as ever. Dave finished up the semester with two A-'s and is excited for a summer of no school. He is loving his full-time job and wants to play volleyball every chance he gets. I am just enjoying the busy life of staying home with Luke. I have decided to better my talent of sewing and am currently working on my second skirt. The first one turned out pretty but is skin-tight. Hopefully this second one will be better.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all!

A birthday and a vacation

2010-03-05T19:32:00.008-07:00

Luke turned 1! We had a small party at Dave's parents house and Luke enjoyed it. He definitely loved his cake and insisted on having a fork.

Last week we went on vacation! This is seriously our first vacation as a married couple. Besides the driving to California to visit my parents. So it was VERY fun and enjoyable. Dave had a work convention in Las Vegas and when his boss said that Luke and I could go along we jumped at the chance. We stayed two nights in Las Vegas and walked down the strip on the last night. We visited the Bellagio, saw the water show 3 times, let Luke walk around and then shielded our eyes as we ran back to our car. Sin City for real.

The day after Dave's convention we made the drive to Southern California. Being so close to the beach made it hard to resist a trip out there. So we got a hotel in Newport Beach that was 1/2 the price of the Hilton in Las Vegas and at least 100 times better. Luke hated the sand at first but cried and cried when it was time to leave.

We went to Hollywood the next day because it was raining on and off and didn't think Luke would enjoy that at the beach very much. We went to the Kodak Theater and the Chinese Theater and paid $8 to park for an hour. You gotta love being a tourist.

The trip was so much fun. It was quick and we weren't able to spend much time in one place but it was well worth it. We aren't very spontaneous and this trip was extremely spontaneous for us. And we loved it! Luke did great in the car too. Not bad for a 1 year old.

Hope all is well with you all!

18 days

2010-01-31T23:07:00.002-07:00

Luke will be one year old in 18 days. How is that possible? He has rolled off of one bed (it was a high one), and two couches, has had numerous bumps and bruises, been left once with strangers only to cry for his mom the entire time (the strangers were family members), fallen in his bath twice, had suntan lotion rubbed in his eye, has been sick twice AND he has been kissed billions of times by his mother, held and snuggled after every bump and bruise, squeezed tightly after being left with strangers, and loved so much that it makes me cry. What would I do without him? He is a part of me that I cannot live without. He is my sidekick through my many adventures which include folding the laundry and doing the dishes. We go to battle together when cleaning the house by holding him while I vacuum and sweep (he is secretly scared of them both), and when driving anywhere, I keep an eye on things out the front window while he keeps watch out the back window. We are unstoppable.

I love being a mom.

11 months? Really?

2010-01-27T11:32:00.006-07:00

I cannot believe it. I know every mom says that "time flies" and they can't believe their little one is so many months old. Well, I join that group of women because I can't believe that Luke is coming up on 1 year. Wow.

(He really enjoyed a piece of bread with strawberry jam on it)

Christmas was a blast! We stayed here with Dave's parents and even spent the night at their house. There's nothing like enjoying the holidays with people that you love.

(Thanksgiving at my parent's house)

(Opening his first present in his special Christmas pajamas with grandma)

Luke is a walking maniac. Just give him an open space and he will take advantage. Our apartment is small so he doesn't get the chance to do that very often. But when we are at his grandparents house he just walks and walks and walks. Such a cute boy. He weighs 21 lbs and is 31 inches long. His favorite game is to have someone chase after him. The funny thing is that he gets distracted as he is running away from you and has to stop to check out the ball on the ground or the shiny magnet on the fridge until he remembers that he was being chased. It makes me laugh every time.

My aunt got Luke this adorable Sunday outfit for Christmas. Unfortunately, he is a rather big boy and didn't fit into the 12 month shirt. We rolled up the sleeves and didn't button up the shirt so that we wouldn't choke him. But we did find another use for the tie. It looks rather cute with a onesie.

(Just another day at the office.)
Wow. This picture really makes him more like a little boy than a baby. I don't think I am ready for that yet.

OTHER NEWS:
Dave got a full-time job on campus at UVU. He loves it and even has his own office. He plays "nooners" basketball on campus as well as with our ward. Luke loves to watch him play and wants so badly to go out and join him on the court. My sister is serving a mission in the Maryland Baltimore mission and I miss her terribly. I am expanding (or discovering) my cooking skills and trying to give Dave more of a variety for dinner. It's fun! But expensive. So I try not to get carried away. I am going to the temple once a week with my friend Aimee (I started last week), and I love it! I am so excited all week long to go again. Dave and I also went last Saturday after quite a while of not going together and it was spectacular. I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for baby Luke. He was sent to me specifically to be his mother and Heavenly Father has so much trust in me to take care of this little spirit. What a privilege and joy.

He woke up. I am needed elsewhere. Thanks for reading!

Merry Christmas from the Shumway Family!

2009-12-24T00:36:00.002-07:00

Some of Luke's First Steps...

2009-12-11T20:34:00.002-07:00

We are so excited

Family Pictures 2009

2009-12-03T22:52:00.007-07:00

My cousin Natali kindly offered to take our family pictures this year. I think she did a great job and I am so happy that they turned out well. I know there are many, I apologize, but I wanted to put up all of my favorites.

Still more...

And more...

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. I definitely have much to be thankful for and I pray every day that my behavior will reflect my gratitude to my Heavenly Father.

Cutie Patootie

2009-11-12T20:04:00.005-07:00

Some fun with the diaper box

Dave watched Luke while I went into the temple. My sister went through for the first time and it was great.

I think that almost every baby is a pumpkin for their first Halloween.

A time for firsts

2009-10-30T11:54:00.010-06:00

I am not even going to mention how long it has been since my last post. What I am going to do is tell you guys about some "firsts" for Luke. He is adorable by the way. I just wanted to throw that in.

First sickness - Luke and I went to my parents house in Idaho for a few days. It was so much fun. Except for the fact that Luke got sick the day after we got there and I got sick two days after we got there. We had to extend our stay because I was still feeling so yucky. Without giving too many details, I will mention that I passed out while I was sick and didn't feel in a healthy enough state to drive 3 hours by myself at 9 o'clock at night. But eventually I did and we made it home safely. My mom also got sick but tested negatively for the swine flu. So I am pretty sure that we just had a normal version of the flu. Yuck. We are happy to say that we are officially better. Mostly.

First tooth - Yay! Did I mention that while he was sick and fussy and not sleeping and had an earache that he was also teething? Yep. Oh I hope his next tooth isn't as bad as this first one. But it was so exciting to feel that little tooth poke up through his gums. It makes me feel like progress is being made.

First "pulling himself up to the coffee table from a sitting position" - No, he's not crawling yet but this kid can get to where he wants to be. Dave was sitting on the couch one day and all of a sudden Luke's face popped up on one side of the coffee table. He had pulled himself up all by himself. And now he is not content just sitting. He will grab onto anything he can if it will help him stand up. He can walk around the coffee table using one hand to balance himself. Needless to say there have been an added amount of bumps and bruises since the discovery but he is sure proud of himself when he stands up. He smiles really big and makes a big proud yell to anyone in the room so that we can see what he is doing. I hope he starts crawling soon but it appears that
walking may come first.

First sleeping through the night - Just kidding! He's not even close to this yet. Yes, he is 8 1/2 months old now and he still wakes up at least 4 times a night. And those are the good nights. It's when he wakes up 8 or 10 times that I question every action that I take as a mother. And that's not fun to do at 3 o'clock in the morning. And then again at 4, and 5 and 6....you get the idea. Plus, maybe by putting this on his list of firsts the angels might help me a little bit and help this little guy sleep through the night. Which in turn would help his mother greatly. (Please?)

First rash all over face - Poor boy has a red face right now. So I mentioned earlier that the doctor told me to stay away from dairy because it has a negative effect on Luke. Well, I have gone practically 8 months without too much dairy and I thought that I should test him to see if it still bothered him. Well, he's not spitting up every 20 minutes and he's not crying in pain from his tummy hurting anymore. Nope. But he does have a rash all over his face. It started small but when 4 days went by and it only got worse I decided to call the nurse and see what she said. She told me to stay off milk because that is probably the source of the rash, and to put hydrocortisone cream on his face. And then call her next week to let her know how he is doing. No change yet, but we hope for the best. Poor boy.

Well, that's it for me now. Whenever I post now I think of my friend Tyler who once told me that my posts were way too long and therefore hard to read. So I try my best to keep things to a minimum. Sorry Tyler. I think this one is still pretty long.

Truth is, I haven't posted in a while because we are waiting to hear back about something. No, I am not pregnant, and no it isn't anything that we are dreading. It's actually happy news if all goes through. So hopefully I will have some happy news to post in the next few weeks.

Until then, here's hoping for a good night sleep!

19 pounds and 6 months old!

2009-08-19T23:23:00.010-06:00

Yep that is right. Baby Luke is 19 pounds. Well, we unofficially weighed him at Dave's parents house but we will have a more accurate weight when we go the pediatrician next week. Baby Luke is 6 months old. Wow. I can't believe he has survived this long. I guess that I am okay at the whole mother thing. I sure love him.

He has really grown leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. He is now rolling over to one side and he is getting pretty darn good at sitting up on his own. He has also discovered the fact that he can scream and he practices and practices. The first time he screamed was in the middle of the night and I have never seen Dave run so fast in my life. He jumped out of bed, ran over to my side of the bed and picked him up. He was patting his back and saying, "It's okay baby, it's okay." It was pretty shocking. But, surprise, surprise, baby Luke was asleep within seconds. Nothing was wrong. But he has come to learn that when he screams, he gets more attention than usual and he uses this to his benefit quite often. But what can I say, I love the kid.

We have experimented with rice cereal and he seems to like it. He loves pineapple, apples, cantaloupe, rootbeer freeze, pickles, bananas, squash, carrots, celery, and mommy. Okay, I had to throw that last one in. Most of these foods he just chews on a big piece of it and doesn't actually eat it. But I still count that as him liking it.

He giggles when I hold him upside down and at his cousins when they act goofy around him. Oh, the sweet sound of a baby giggle. So cute. His naps during the day are still out of wack but he seems to be sleeping well at night. In bed around 9 or 10, up at 1 to nurse, up at 6 to nurse, and once again at 8, and then he is up for the day. But, this has been his schedule for the past 3 days. Before that he was getting up between 5 and 8 times a night to nurse. Huge change. One that I can say I am definitely enjoying.

Dave is working hard at work at doesn't even know what day school officially starts. You can tell that he is looking forward to it. His leg wound is healing nicely and all he has is a nice Frankenstein looking scar left over from the gaping wound. He seems to be having injuries every 6 months or so. I wonder what the next one will be. I sure love him though.

I have been able to go exercising and I love it. By "being able" I mean that I have taken the time and made the effort to do so. Luke usually sleeps through the whole thing as I do my running and walking alternations pushing him in his jogging stroller. I love it. A good chunk of time to think and ponder and get out of the house. I have also tried to a better job and making good home cooked meals. Some nights I definitely do not feel like taking the time to create something special but I am putting a little bit more effort into our dinners. I think Dave is enjoying it. I hope he is anyway.

Well summer is coming to a close and more adventures are coming our way. I am looking forward to the cool nights in the Fall. Taking walks is especially wonderful during those nights.

I am off to another nights sleep. Hopefully Luke will continue this new schedule of sleeping. Cross your fingers.

Our cute little chunk

2009-07-01T17:17:00.010-06:00

So we had baby Luke's 4 month appointment yesterday. Dave and I had guessed that he was around 14 or 15 pounds. We were wrong and found that he weighs 16 pounds and 4 oz! Wow. And yet my biceps don't seem any bigger than before. Darn. He is 26.5 inches tall and is growing everyday. He is in the 89th percentile for height, meaning he is taller than 89% of other babies his age, the 81st percentile for head size and the 64th percentile for weight. We sure love our "big" little boy. He has learned to blow bubbles and gave the pediatrician quite a laugh while doing it during his appointment. Here are some pictures of our munchkin boy.

This is when luke pulled my earring out. I looked around for it forever and this is where we found it.

Two years and counting...

2009-06-03T22:55:00.005-06:00

Dave and I just celebrated our 2nd anniversary on May 25th. Hard to believe that two years have gone by. I thought that the first year just flew by, but that is an understatement in regards to the second year. Our brother-in-law was so kind and offered to watch baby luke so that we could have a little bit of time to ourselves. It was hard for me. I had to take a deep breath as we were leaving and just know that luke was going to be okay. Sure there would be crying, but he was in good hands and we weren't going to be gone that long. We went and had a cookie dough ice cream shake at Iceberg. Whoa. Because of the way that milk effects baby luke, I am totally off of all things dairy. Or in the words of Brian Regan, "No more happiness!" Not to mention nuts and eggs. Luke was pretty fussy for the first month or so and since I stopped eating dairy and the others, he has been quite noticeably less fussy. Poor boy. ANYWAY, the ice cream shake was SO good. It was amazing in fact. And I figured that since it was our anniversary I could make an exception on the "no dairy" rule and splurge a little. So I did. And it was great. But now I am back to no dairy.

We moved! The day before Mother's Day to be exact and we LOVE our new place. LOVE it. It is a basement apartment of an older couple in our ward and I don't know of any sweeter people. When she left a receipt for our rent payment the other day she also left a box of freshly picked raspberries. And one day we found 2 ears of corn on our doorstep. DELICIOUS. And last but not least, they give us a discount on the rent if I weed for 2 hours every week. It is a little bit interesting with Luke because he only likes to be layed down for a small amount of time at certain times of the day. Those times are few and far between, and are never at the same time of the day. So as soon as I see that he is in the mood to suck on his hands for a while and is more interested in his surroundings than me, I will run outside and put him in his bouncer next to me for as long as I can. A half hour each day is the most that I have gotten so far. So far so good. Our apartment is so much more private, we have access to a huge yard, a porch swing (my favorite), and we have the option of having our own garden. Yes! And me, the one who hated weeding growing up, wants to have her own garden. And for Dave who doesn't like vegetables, I will mostly reap the benefits of my hard work. As soon as I can find a few hours to start up the garden. I bought my seeds the other day. Do you think Luke might lay down for a few hours this time? I will just have to wait for the opportune moment.

Something exciting happening in our family currently is that Dave's parents are coming home! They are coming home on June 9th from their 18 month mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We are so excited. I tell baby luke everyday about them and how excited they are to see him. He pretty much doesn't understand anything, but sometimes he smiles when I talk about them and I can't help but think that he is excited to see them too.

We are coming up on Luke's 4 month check-up. I can't believe that it has been that long. He is still as cute as a bug. He is easily around 13 pounds and I am pretty sure he has grown in height as well. He giggled for the first time the other day when I was tickling the inside of his chubby little thighs. I could listen to that giggle forever! Hopefully as time goes on he will continue to giggle at other things. We sure love him.

I have had tons of fun reading everybody's blogs lately but haven't been able to update ours until now. Baby luke usually will sleep in his bed for a 3 or 4 hour stretch each night, and I scramble to do all the things that I wasn't able to that day for one reason or another. And sad to say, usually the blog isn't on the top of the list. But I wanted to tell everyone that I highly enjoy reading about your happenings and hope that we will all continue to blog as much as we can.

Here is a picture to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. We finally took the money and the time to print out all of our wedding pictures that we love. We filled picture frames that we got for our wedding and the beautiful photo album is now full of pictures from the wonderful day. But here is just one to show how happy we were and how we are even happier now. Two years and still going...

Nothing to post

2009-05-04T17:24:00.003-06:00

So I sat here at the computer, baby Luke is actually laying in his bed to sleep, and I wanted to post. But as I thought about the last little while and all that has happened I couldn't think of anything exciting to post about. Not any exciting, life-changing, tell your friends on your blog - kind of a post. And yet here I am.

A friend of ours did his son's baby blessing in their ward yesterday and Dave was invited to participate. There is nothing greater to see than a circle of men holding the Priesthood standing over an brand new baby - straight from heaven. It is a powerful image to me. I can't wait for baby Luke's blessing. He will be 3 1/2 months old when it happens but we wanted to wait for Dave's parents to come home from their mission. Since they missed the birth we thought that it would be alright to wait a few months to have the baby blessing so that they could be a part of it. I would love for you all to come. June 14th. 11 am. 400 west 1200 south church building.

Baby Luke is still sleeping.

I love being graduated from BYU. It's kind of hard to describe because I never really thought about life after college. Life happened during college. I am so happy about where I am today. Now about who I am, that is still up for discussion but I continue to work on that part every day. Some days more than others. A while ago I said that I was going to start my Personal Progress again and so far I have finished the first requirement for faith. Read three scriptures on the topic, two conference talks, and say my morning and evening prayers for 3 weeks. I am still in the three weeks but what I am trying to say is that I thought I would be done with alot more by now. After all, I am at home all day, minus the times when I am out and about. I just hope to maybe work a little harder on it. But I also realize that my most important and enjoyable activity is taking care of my baby boy. My mom keeps reminding me that every step is a baby step and pretty soon the changes will be much smaller and farther between, so enjoy this time because in the whole scheme of things, the newborn period is very small. I hope to cherish every moment.

Every smile.
Every time he reaches out for me.
Every time he opens his eyes while sleeping just to make sure that I am still there.
Every little breath.
Every nuzzled face into my neck.
Every time I get to feed him.
Every second that the only thing he needs is me.
Every time Dave holds him and says, "Don't worry, daddy's here."
Every morning that I get to wake up and be a mom.
Every cry that ends because mommy came home.
Every little toe.
Every time I wake up in the night to feel his warm little body curled up next to mine.
Every moment.

He makes me want to be the best person that I can be and I hope that each day I get a little bit closer to that person. Mother's Day is particularly special this year to me. By becoming a mother, I have come to appreciate my mother a bazillion times more than before. I have always known that she has been the perfect mother, but now that I am a mother, I have come to realize all of the sacrifices that she has made for me and my sister and brothers. She is about to start her first semester of classes since around the time that I was born. She decided to postpone her education so that she could give her all to her kids. My dad was working two jobs and going to school so that my mom could stay home and he could finish his degree. I am so proud of her being able to go back to school. She has wanted it forever. Way to go mom. I always try to find the right words to express to her how I feel but I always comes short. Maybe in heaven we will be able to more fully express how we feel. I sure hope so because I really want to tell her how much I love her.

Life has been crazy. I am extremely interested to know the total number of hours of sleep that I have gotten over the last 2 1/2 months. I think the number would baffle me. I have never been so exhausted in my life and yet I have never been so happy in my life. Maybe Dave is right, sleep is overrated. I have never learned so much in such a small amount of time. Each day has been so precious.

Baby Luke is awake...

Some graduation pics!

2009-05-01T12:32:00.009-06:00

Here are some pictures from graduation that we took. It was a great day. This is posted by Brienne in case you were wondering.

Sick baby and a car ride

2009-04-30T10:16:00.003-06:00

So our little munchkin has thrush. For those of you who have never heard of such a thing, I don't really understand it either, but it has something to do with a yeast infection in his mouth. All of this loveliness means that with nursing it passes from him to me and makes nursing extremely painful. Not quite as painful as when he was first born - not painful enough to cry - but painful nonetheless. The best way to get rid of it is to use this stuff called Gentian Violet which you coat his mouth with using a q-tip. Needless to say, having a new taste like that in his mouth is a big deal since he has only tasted milk his whole life. And it stains. Everything. I had to have him wear old, grungy onesies for a while since he would always stain them. The worst part though is that it stains his face. In addition to putting the medicine on him, I have to put it on myself as well which, in turn, put it all over his cheeks also. We were calling him the purple people eater for a while. I stopped using the medicine yesterday and the stain on his cheeks is almost gone but the stain on his lips still lingers. Poor guy. He doesn't even know it.

And I have a few errands to run today. I always dread this because Luke loves being in the car as long as it is moving. As soon as I slow down or have to stop at a light, he freaks out. And he doesn't really like pacifiers. And when he does take one he always seems to push it out of his mouth which makes him freak out. So wish me luck my friends. This morning he only let out a few yells when I was showering, maybe he will sleep the whole time we are out on our adventure.

I could only wish.

"Before I Was A Mother..." Poem

2009-04-20T15:35:00.004-06:00

Before I was a Mom...
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors
could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom...
I never held a sleeping baby just because I
didn't want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom...
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so
important and happy.

Before I was a Mom...
I had never gotten up in the middle of the
night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The
wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

This is a poem that I found online. I edited the poem just a bit. I've really been wanting to write my own, and someday I will, but this will do for now.

I sure love being a mother.

Glorious Graduation

2009-04-19T21:11:00.014-06:00

Luke is 2 months old! I can't believe how fast time flies. Whoa. We sure do love him. He is smiling more and more and everyday there are a few more hairs on the top of his head. We learn new things everyday and definitely after we spend some time with my mom. I will ask her questions about things that have been happening and how I don't really know what to do about something and she always has this simple and obvious answer. Her knowledge is without end. I am lucky to have her for help.

And I am graduating! Officially on April 24th from BYU. What happy news. I even shared it today in Relief Society for the Good News moment. It was glorious. Today was our first day back to church if you can believe it. Two whole months of inactivity. I can't tell you how happy I am to be back again. The nurses and doctors always told us that the famous RSV sickness would be pretty heavily spread around until mid-April and that it would be safe to stay away from church and large crowds. And since we always do what the doctors tell us to...It was good though to fell ready for it. Luke has kind of made a schedule for the mornings and so we were pretty sure that we would know what to expect during the hours of church (11-2). He slept all through Sacrament Meeting, I nursed him in the car for Sunday School and he slept all through Relief Society like a good little bug. And then I discovered the secret nursing mothers room in the women's bathroom. Do I need to specify that it is in the women's bathroom? Anyway, it was like stumbling on happiness! To know that there is a cute little room hidden away that will allow me to nurse Luke while at church. Glorious. Overall it was a great experience. I was a little worried about little kids coming up and grabbing at him but there weren't too many of those. There were many squeals from older women in regards to his cuteness. How can we blame them? I am the lucky one that gets to hang out with him all day.

Wasn't I talking about graduation? Hmmm....can you tell that I love talking about him?

So I am graduating and my family is coming down, which I am extremely excited for. Since they moved from California to Idaho we have seen them at least once a month, or it seems like that anyway. I love it. If they still lived 9 hours away instead of 3, they wouldn't be able to see Luke nearly as much and the same for us seeing them. I very much enjoy it. My sister and I also happen to be in the same college, Family, Home, and Social Sciences and therefore our Convocation Ceremony is together in the Marriott Center. How fun! So our family only needs to go to one Ceremony, thank goodness. It sure is a good feeling to be done with school. But I will miss the opportunities to learn part. Homework not so much, but I do love to learn and read and I will have to make more of an effort on my own to set goals for myself in regards to continue furthering my education. But it does feel good to read a book with no connection to school now without feeling guilty about not doing homework. I started the Twilight series finally and so far so good.

Dave and I are also pretty seriously looking to move somewhere else. I honestly feel like we are being taken advantage of here at Remington Apartments and I hate the feeling. We have found an open basement apartment in our ward where, believe it or not, the landlords are going to give us a special discount on the rent because they have wanted to do something nice for the Shumway family for years. Wow, did I marry into the right family or what? So, in a couple weeks, after the current tenants leave, we are going to go over and check the place out. We definitely like basement apartments better than regular ones and I am hoping and praying that things work out for us.

I am excited to say that I am going to restart Personal Progress. I did receive my Young Womanhood Recognition Award in High School but I think it would be so fun to do it again. My mom is the Young Women's President in their ward and she is urging the girls and their mothers to do Personal Progress together. So, my mom and I are doing the same thing. All of the goals and exercises in the book are things that I want in my life anyway and with being able to set goals and have someone to report to (my mom), I will be better able to accomplish the things that I want to. I want to do better on my scripture reading and personal prayers and I think that this will definitely help me.

I also want to say that I miss my girls at work. I want to come visit so badly but I heard that with the end of the semester and finals going on, that a few have come down with some sicknesses and that it is better to keep baby Luke away for now. I sure did love my job. I LOVE my job as a mother but I sure did have fun working with those girls.

Well, I promise to be a better blogger. I have found this to be more fun than I thought and each time that I want to post but find that I am unable to it is a say day. So hopefully I will do much better from now on.

Here are some pictures of our cute little bug! And my niece Keeli and nephew Tel from our Easter trip up to Idaho. Enjoy!

No surgery required!

2009-03-24T21:48:00.000-06:00

I know that title probably surprised a few people. Just to summarize his kidney news...

At my 20 week ultrasound the doctor noticed that Luke's kidneys were both swollen. Because of this they wanted me to have ultrasounds every 6 weeks to keep an eye on it. This was a good and bad thing - good because we got to see the him so much! and bad because it was a constant reminder that his kidney was having problems. The right one eventually corrected itself, but the left kidney has been a little stubborn. The ultrasound that I had at 8 months confirmed the fact that his kidney was still swollen and the doctor said that the delivery should go fine and that we would just need to get an ultrasound on Luke after he was born to continue checking on it. The doctors would always explain to us that if it was bad enough, Luke would need surgery to correct the problem (which turns out to be a slightly constricted tube leading from the kidney to the bladder). But the hope was that it would just fix itself over time. Or right away. That would have been nice too. We did the ultrasound when he was 3 weeks old. Can you just see this little guy on that huge bed with the goo on his belly? It was again confirmed that his kidney was still swollen. So our pediatrician (I love her!) ordered a VCUG, a renal scan, and a visit with the urologist at Primary Children's Hospital.

For the VCUG they use a catheter and put a dye into his kidney and watch as the dye moves from his kidney to his bladder. This one was quite an adventure. They called me the day before and explained that they are going to sedate him in order to make things a little more comfortable for him and therefore would need to fast prior to his appointment. For a little guy that eats every 1 1/2 hours, this was a little bit surprising to me. They said nursing was okay until 8 am, and until 10 am he could drink only pedialyte. Well, that meant using a bottle and he did not go for that. He hated it in fact, which means that the last time he at was 7 am and his appointment didn't start until 11:30. I was so worried. Dave gave little Luke a blessing that morning that the Spirit would be with him to comfort him and that all would be well. We have never seen him so calm when he was hungry before. It was amazing in fact. He just sucked on his pacifier, which I don't like to use unless in circumstances like this one, and was just peachy. Well we got there and to make a long story short, they tried 6 times insert an IV for the medication. I hated every second of it. I couldn't hold back the tears. He is just too little for all of this stuff! In the end they decided to just stop trying and just give him a bottle of glucose water. Heavens. He was fine with just that. They inserted the catheter and got the pictures they needed and we were done. I was so excited to get out of there and feed him. Poor little guy.

Next came the Renal scan which we did today. For this they did the same thing - inserted a catheter and an IV. But this IV was used to put radioactive fluid into his bloodstream which would eventually end up in his kidney and his bladders. With this they could check the kidney from both ends, the filling up and the drainage. It took them two tries to get the IV in there and after they put heavy pillows on his legs and arms, we were able to sit there with him for 45 minutes while the fluid was tracked. We could watch as his kidneys filled up and then drained into his bladder. It was pretty cool to see, except that it was completely obvious that his left kidney was not draining like his right one. I thought that surgery was going to be the only option. With that test over we went upstairs to meet with the urologist about the results. He explained to us that the normal drainage time for a kidney is 10 minutes or below. Twenty minutes and above to drain is considered abnormal and requires some help. Luke's right kidney drained in 2 1/2 minutes and his bad one, the left one, drained in 11 minutes. The doctor explained that between 10 and 20 minutes is really the "okay" zone. It doesn't mean that we should worry about it, but it is good to keep an eye on it. He said that surgery is not required and all is well. Oh my goodness. I was so happy. I couldn't keep the smile back. I hated even thinking about his having to have surgery. Anyway, the urologist said that he would like to keep an eye on it and to have an ultrasound done in 6 months. He usually keeps an eye on things until they are potty-trained and then it's just nothing to worry about.

What a day. And to top it off I took the last final of my undergraduate career. I am graduating in April and can't wait. Again, what a day. We are definitely blessed. Heavenly Father is watching over us for sure.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Brienne

More Photos

2009-03-16T14:35:00.014-06:00

His little rat tail

His first real bath.

Toes

Time with mommy.

Our cute little bug

2009-03-08T21:25:00.001-06:00

We sure love our little guy. My mom was here for the birth, of course, and she stayed for a week and a half. She is my lifesaver. My heart goes out to any woman who has to go through labor and the recovery on their own. I wouldn't say that my experience has been horrible and recovery has been slow, but if not for my mom and Dave I would be curled up in the corner, crying, trying to nurse a baby. They cooked, cleaned, my mom taught me to nurse, held the baby to let me eat and shower and use the bathroom, and helped me recover. I have recovered as much as I have because of them and I am forever grateful for that. I had a couple of days of crying about everything but it was so good for me to release some emotions of what I had been feeling about the huge change that just came into my life and the huge event that I had just experienced. Other than that I think my recover has gone fairly well. Sleep, however, is another story. We discovered the other night that our little Luke loves to be close to us. Go figure. There were a few nights of Luke waking up for me to nurse him and then as soon as I would lay him down after an hour of feeding him, he would wake up 45 minutes later. All night long. That really took a lot out of me. Then the next night Dave thought that maybe we should sleep with him. And that night Luke let me sleep for 2 hours at a time. That is much better. But he is still eating like a little mad man. I call him the hungry hungry hippo because all he does is eat! But I heard that is how it's supposed to be so I can't complain :)

He is most alert in the late morning and has started to look at us longer and will just lay and look around at his surroundings. Dave can't wait until he can run around and play with him. But that won't be for a while. I am trying hard to enjoy every day with him because he won't be under 8 pounds for long. It's pretty scary to have someone be so completely dependent on me for his very life. But it is also very humbling to know that Heavenly Father has put so much trust in me to take care of one of His children. Quite a responsibility but quite an amazing thing at the same time.

He is 18 days old today. He has gained about 1 pound since we left the hospital, bringing him to 7 pounds 11 ounces. He was born at 7 pounds 2 ounces and 19 1/2 inches. He has grown one inch as well. It's good to know that the many hours of nursing is helping him to grow and be healthy. Everyone that takes a look at him says that he looks like Dave and my mom said that "he is all Shumway". But his little toe is a little hunchback looking like mine, so I guess that is what I will claim. He was circumcised a few days ago and I hated it. No nurses or doctors are allowed to touch him ever again. Only his mommy and daddy. During the procedure he was holding my fingers so tight that I just wanted to take him out of there and hold him forever. It's amazing how much love I have for this little guy, but I guess that is how Heavenly Father planned for things to be.

This is pretty much what my life is all about. I am finishing my last class for graduation and I get so much done at 4 in the morning. I am taking the midterm this coming week and have 6 more lessons to do before April 3rd. I can do it. I can. I just have to keep doing it. Dave is doing great. He has continued to help me tons and will take him for a couple of hours in the morning to let me get a little bit more sleep. He is great at burping (for himself as well as patting Luke on the back) and he probably never imagined that he would have to change so many diapers. It's good for him though. He's a great daddy and Luke will love playing sports with him.

I sure love my boys.

Love you all,
Brienne

Baby Luke

2009-02-18T18:02:00.007-07:00

So, we had our baby on Wednesday morning. We checked into the hospital on Tuesday night, and after a long and very painful process of dilation, Brienne was finally ready to push at 8 AM the next morning. Gratefully, the pushing only took an hour and a half, and before we knew it, our little Luke's head was squeezing it's way into the light. It was a very out of the ordinary experience. Not your usual, everyday type of occurrence, but a great one to have. We are grateful to have him with us. He weights 7 pounds 2 ounces, and is 19 1/2'' long. He did have some minor respiratory problems when he was first born, but being hooked up to a respirator for an hour did the trick and he's doing fine now. Mom is doing very well. She is happy that after a long wait, it is finally over, although a fair bit of soreness is sure to follow. We have decided to name him Luke Del Shumway. Luke because we like it, Del after my father, and Shumway because that's our last name. We thought of adding a Lupe-Fernandez on the end just for kicks, but then we remembered that we're not crazy. Thank goodness. Anyway, we love him. We think he is the cutest thing we have ever seen, and we have decided to keep him. Thanks to everyone for your support. Dave out.

Still no baby

2009-02-15T14:44:00.002-07:00

Well, there is still no baby. Not outside of me anyway. I know that I still have 13 days to go but I am so excited! We have all the clothes, the car seat, the diapers, the cute little baby socks....but no baby. We thought that this weekend would work perfectly as it is a three day weekend and , but alas, he has decided to stick around in my belly a little longer.

Oh, and we got in a car accident. I thought I would share that with everybody. We were driving to Pleasant Grove on Friday night to watch some nieces and nephews and some guy decided to pull in front of us really fast making Dave slam on the breaks. We were on the freeway going average freeway speeds, 65-70 (Dave never speeds, and in the situation I am so glad that he doesn't). There was a little bit of traffic and as this guy in the left lane, we were in the middle lane, decided that his lane of traffic wasn't moving fast enough he decided to change into ours. Well, he was much too close to comfort and Dave had to slam on the breaks. As he did this our car swerved some to the right and then to the left where we were hit (did we hit him or did he hit us?). The front right of this car his the back left of ours, right behind the tire. I remember the whole thing like it was in slow motion and we were only going 10 miles per hour. But apparently we weren't. Anyway, we pulled over to the side with this guy and then discovered that the car that was directly behind us had slammed on his breaks when Dave slammed on our breaks and was rear-ended from behind. Well, the car that hit him from behind was totaled and had to be towed away. Goodness. And the guy that started this whole thing? The guy who pulled in front of Dave and I? Long gone. He just drove on into the darkness never to be seen again. Does he know that 4 cars were involved in an accident because of his split-second decision to change lanes? Who knows.

Dave was pretty disappointed in himself and started going over all the different things he SHOULD have done to keep this from happening but I pointed out to him that he's okay, I'm okay, and the baby is okay. We can deal with a dent in our car. As long as we are all okay than he did a great job in my opinion. It has scared me a little bit more now when driving. I am definitely a little more tense and I just expect someone to pull out in front of us at any moment. What am I going to be like with an infant in the car? Whoa.

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully we will be able to post news that we had our baby here eventually. Hopefully. We are having dinner with our friends this coming weekend that consists of some famous "pregnancy soup". The night that our friend Aimee ate some of this soup she went into labor and had her baby the next day. So, we are all going to try it on me and see if it causes labor. That would be awesome. And then we could all market this soup to the world and become millionaires. Wouldn't that be nice.

Alright, that's really all for now. Hope everyone is doing great!

What Baby?

2009-02-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, that baby. Sorry, I forgot. It's not connected to my body like it is to someone else I know. Everything is great with the baby. Here is the official rundown. A few months ago we had an ultrasound where it was determined that one of the his kidneys is larger than the other one, because of a small buildup of fluid. From that time until now, Brienne has had monthly ultrasounds to make sure that it's now a problem. As it turns out, the doctors should have told us more, because a problem like this doesn't effect the birth of the baby at all. Thanks guys for freaking us out. Anyway, the build-up of fluid is probably due to a tube being slightly constricted, which can be fixed with a simple surgery after he is born, if the condition continues. So, that's the good news.
The bad news is, apparently we have to take care of this child after he is born. I know, I thought the government would do that. I'm pretty annoyed. If I knew there was responsibility involved I would have abstained. So, ya, our little man is set to come at anytime, although the due date is officially the 28th. Brienne is definitely ready to have him out though, and I must say I am too. We are looking forward to the day when that happens. Until then, Brienne is becoming larger and larger and much less mobile. One side effect of note is that with Brienne's lungs not having as much space to expand, there have been some very strange breathing noises during the night. Sometimes it's like I'm sleeping next to some strange animal, but then I remember that there's actually a reason for it. I am eager for the day when the baby is on the outside, and Brienne is back to her old self.
We do some new ultrasound pictures from this most recent one, so I'll try to throw those on later. Apparently getting good ultrasound pics is harder to do later one, because there isn't as much empty space in there anymore for him to move. Go figure. We will let everyone know, when there is more to tell.

Resolutions Die Hard

2009-02-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

So a while ago I mentioned that I would be changing my major to English. I made it about that far. Once I had officially changed it I was left with the nagging feeling that I had made a huge mistake. Turns out that I'm going to stick with Web Design. I'm a technical guy and peering over the edge of a field that doesn't require me to be technical is about as scary as it can be. While I still feel as though I must do some creative writing in my lifetime, I can't commit to entering a non-technical field. Just wanted to let everyone know. I'm back to web design and that's the way it's going to be, however, I will author more than websites someday.

My Newest Resolution

2008-09-25T13:11:00.000-06:00

So, just recently I decided to change my major. I know it's a big decision, and not one that I should make light of, so I was careful and prayerful, and thoughtful, and many other kinds of "ful" about it. The conclusion that I came to is that I hate computers. Sure I know a lot about them, and I use them fairly heavily, but I still hate them. I have been a bit wary of Digital Media for the past year, because of my fears about the cost of such a profession. Sure, you can work for a company and they will provide you all the hardware and software that you'll ever need, but what if you wanna do stuff on your own. What if you wanna be an part-time entrepreneur? That would mean that I would have to buy all kinds of stuff, and then buy more stuff every couple years so that I don't get behind on new upgrades. This may be for some people, but not for me.

It was under the weight of this realization and a few others that I decided to be an English major with an emphasis in Creative Writing. I will finish out this semester and then start up with English classes next semester. The good thing about it is that all of my digital media courses transfer right over, so none of my time has been wasted. I would look into a minor in digital media, but they don't have one yet. To make my change of heart complete, I have decided to read all the books of classic literature, and blog about it. Should anyone like to follow my journey you can find the blog at:

http://literaturejourney.wordpress.com/

So far, I have only read one book, but I will read many more so stay tuned if you care to see how things go.

We are going to have a baby :)

2008-09-05T21:37:00.000-06:00

Yay! I wanted to post what Dave had posted to onto his family's website. The first thing he did was post a picture of the pregnancy test with two lines (meaning that I am pregnant) with the title of "Enough Said." The day after that he posted a bit more and this is what he wrote.

When the possibility of pregnancy began around the beginning of the year, we learned that Brienne not feeling well would not be a sure sign. Actually, she had quite a few moments where she wasn't feeling well, and yet the tests were still negative. So, we gave up on testing for a while. When she didn't feel well we didn't bother testing because we figured that we would just wait for there to be more evidence. I would just tell her that when she started getting a belly, then we'd know for sure. A few weeks ago Brienne's sister in law, Meieli was here with us and she suggested to Brienne that she test again. So after they were gone we decided to go for it. It was on Tuesday, two days after my little eye incident, that Brienne went into the bathroom in the morning to perform the test. I was staying home from work, still recovering from my poked eyeball, and was on the phone with my friend Rhett at that moment. Within a couple of minutes Brienne came out of the bathroom with a happy look of shock on her face, and showed me the tester. Sure enough, it was positive. I was a little shocked too, at this point, because we had stopped thinking about it, and didn't expect it to happen anytime soon. So it was a really happy thing, but we had no idea when it had happened, because of some period irregularities. So Brienne went into the doctor on Tuesday of that week and he felt around a bit and came to the conclusion that she was somewhere between 8 and 10 weeks along, but he wanted her to have an ultrasound to be sure. So as it turns out, Brienne is 11 1/2 weeks a long, and the baby rather than being a little blob in her tummy, is actually formed in the shape of a human, and has a heartbeat. It was good news, and very exciting. So we just wanted to let you all know that the due date is on the 28th of February.

Yay again! As of right now I am 15 weeks along coming right up on 16 weeks. We will have an ultrasound around the beginning of October to find out if it is a boy or a girl. I think it will be easier to pick names when we know what kind of names we need to be picking. I still feel great. The most different that I feels is extreme tiredness, multiple, and I mean MULTIPLE, trips to the bathroom about every 1 1/2 hours, and eating has become more integrated into my schedule. It feels like my breaks at work are the times when I am working because I have to squeeze them in between my bathroom and my eating breaks. What fun. There are times when I think that I feel the baby move a little. But then it is still hard to tell. I am so excited for the days where I will be showing and can know for sure that I am feeling the baby move. Just another surety that all is well in there. Dave is so excited for this baby as well. I have my next appointment on Sept 8th and I will be able to hear the heartbeat once again. I am very much looking forward to that. I have also started to get just big enough that my clothes are getting tighter and tighter. And it feels like it changes on a daily basis. We are going to have to go shopping here pretty soon unless I can go to work in my pajamas. We love the idea of having a baby and look forward to the day. What a special and fun time this is. We are truly blessed.
Well, that is what is going on in our lives as of this moment. Oh, and I made yummy enchiladas tonight without a recipe! That's a huge step for me. I kindof added ingredients together that sortof resembled enchiladas and other things that I thought would taste good. And the pan is almost gone. I guess we all get lucky sometimes! Love you guys!

Dave's All Better...Basically

2008-08-06T10:09:00.000-06:00

So Dave is returning to work today after missing two days because of constantly having to keep his eyes dilated. He didn't think he could work very well since he could only see far away things. But he is officially returning to work today. The doctor told him to use the drops for 2 days and those two days are over. So no more dilated eyes. Yippee! That means that I am not just a fuzzy blob when we are close. That's a relief.
For me the job search continues. I was rejected by yet another job at UVSC. That's the 9th or 10th interview that I did that has ended in rejection. Maybe it's making me tougher...I don't know. So the search continues and I have been looking outside of UVSC for a change. I really just need a full time job somewhere. I would rather not result to Wal-mart as my last option. Anyone know of a good job available???
Hope everyone is doing well.

Dave's Eye and our New House

2008-08-03T18:16:00.000-06:00

Well, we have yet another incident to report that has happened to Dave. We have been married for about 14 months and already 3 potentially major incidents have come upon Dave. First was when he was playing basketball and was somehow pushed in the air so that when he came back down to the ground his teeth hit the court. Yeah. He had one tooth split in half and the other was just knocked back a little bit. After three months of dental work, two root canals, one fake tooth, and one bleached tooth, his teeth look just like normal. Second was splitting open his lip while playing football which required 3 layers of stitches in the muscle and on the outside from a very good Plastic Surgeon. 30 minutes of work and $2000 later Dave's lip was able to heal and now, about a year later, you can't even notice a scar. But for the newest happening it is Dave's eye that received the injury. We were sitting in Primary at Church, being the good primary teachers that we are, with our class of five 6 year olds just doing the normal things; trying to get them to stay in their seats, not letting the twins hit eachother, keeping Jacob's shoes on and trying to get Alexa to keep her legs down so people can't see all the way up her dress. You know, a typical day in Primary. Anyway, Dave had one of the boys on his lap and as we were singing one of the highly-action-filled songs that they kids love to sing, the boy brought his hands up to form a crown on his head and managed to get his fingernail into Dave's eye of which he scraped a good chunk of the top layer off. Dave at first was in the normal pain that comes when your eye is violated but after a few minutes it was hurting so much that he excused himself and went to the bathroom to see what happened. As more time went by his sensitivity to light was getting greater and greater and it was beginning to become difficult for him to even open his eye. So as we moved from sharing time with all of the young primary kid classes and got to our classroom where we would give our little lesson, Dave came to me and said that he needed to go home because the throbbing was bad and he needed to lie down somewhere dark and quiet. So he went home and I nicely tried to ask the kids why they are so irreverent all of a sudden. It was quite a Sunday. After church I got home and Dave said that he needed to go see a doctor because by this time he couldn't open his eye and his sensitivity to light was severe. We called the old Bishop of our ward and he so kindly told us to meet him at his office in Provo where he could check Dave out. We went down there and the Bishop/Optometrist put these drops in Dave's eye of which he said they could do surgery on his eye right then and Dave wouldn't feel a thing. Powerful stuff. Dave could then open his eye just fine and after putting more drops in Dave's eye and shining a blue light onto it the Bishop told me to look and I could see the cut. It's a pretty large cut. It's hard to describe except that it suprised me that it was so large. When your pupil is really small because there is alot of light around, that's about the size of the cut. I don't know if you can picture that but it's the best I can do. So, he has drops to put in his eye every two hours because the scary thing right now is if he were to get a second infection. With the membrane exposed then anything could get into it and cause serious problems. We have an appointment to go back in tomorrow for the Bishop to make sure that everything is okay. Phew. We are just praying that everything will be okay. Dave says that he isn't letting any of the kids sit on his lap from now on and I don't think that's a bad idea.
As for our new house things are going great. There are some problems that need to be worked out, one being a replacing of the carpet because the people who lived here before us owned a dog and apparently used the corner of our bedroom as a potty-area. And now we are living with it. So I made a fuss and they are replacing the padding underneath. Can't wait for that. But for the most part we love our new place, the convenience of the being so close to UVU(UVSC) and being so close to our friends.
Well that's it for now but I will update when Dave's eye is all better. Which will hopefully be in a few days. :) We hope that everyone is doing well and that no one is letting 6 year old children sit on their lap and while doing hand actions to a primary song. It seems to not be such a good idea.

First Post

2008-07-11T21:25:00.001-06:00

Well we finally broke down and created a blog for ourselves. It's pretty fun to put everything together and hopefully we will be diligent in our efforts to keep it updated. As of right now things are going rather well for us. Dave is working full time down at UVSC (now UVU) with Media Services. He played a huge part in getting all of the digital signage ready for the opening of the new library and things turned out very well. While he is majoring in Digital Media there are many different paths you can choose with each emphasis - such as Film, Audio, Web Design, 3D Animation, and I know there are others I just can't think of them right now. So, his task now is to pick which emphasis he wants to go with. He has and is taking a variety of Digital Media classes from the different areas to find the one he likes best. So far he is learning a lot and enjoying his time. He also received a private scholarship for 08-09 school year so that saves us on much worry and money. That's what you get for having a 3.8 GPA. He will begin classes this Fall and he has at least 2 semesters left of school. Maybe 3. He just finished Part I of our wedding video, just over a year later, and has much talent in the area of video editing. Plus it is of us on our wedding day so I especially like it. He is a team primary teacher with me and we get to hang out with the 5-6 year olds every Sunday. And yes, they are crazy. He is also, I can't remember what it is called, but it's like the district leader for home teaching. He keeps track of who is getting visited and makes phone calls and writes down the numbers and all that. He feels a little silly since he knows none of these people as he doesn't go to Elder's Quorum. He's always in Primary. But nonetheless, he is doing his calling and all is well. As for myself I am just trying my best to remain calm and collected as I try to handle everything going on this summer. I have been working part-time at UVSC in the Graduation/Transfer Services office where we get all the transcripts from people transfering to UVSC and I evaluate them to see which classes each one transfers for here at UVSC. If that makes sense. I very much enjoy it. However, it is only part time and Dave and I need more money and better benefits. So for the past 2 months I have been applying for full-time jobs at UVSC in hopes that one office will like me enough to hire me. So far, nothing. I had my 5th interview yesterday and I am so done talking about myself and my job experiences. Each interview is with a panel and so instead of trying to look good in front of one person, there are 8 other people watching you when you answer the question of the other person. It's pretty intimidating. So out of all of them that I have applied for I have two chances left of being hired. We are just praying 24 hours a day and we know that everything will work out. How could it when Heavenly Father is in charge? I am also finishing up my last semester of classes at BYU. I am amazingly lucky in that I can take the rest of my classes through independent study to graduate. Which means I don't have to go down to campus for classes. I am taking a piano class, a cooking class, a tourism class, and a jogging class. These are my electives that I have left. When these ones are done I have 3 more classes to do before December and I will be a BYU alumni. Crazy. So I am finishing my classes and hopefully will have a full time job here in a few weeks. If I don't get one at UVSC by the time school starts then I just need to look somewhere else. The benefits at UVSC are amazing not to mention they give free tuition to any full time employees and anyone in their immediate family which would mean free tution for Dave, even if he doesn't need it. And at other companies you usually have to work for 60 or 90 days before the benefits kick in and at UVSC the benefits start from day one at $15 per month for the best benefits in Utah County. So hopefully things can work out there. As far as news about both of us goes, we have just signed a contract for a new apartment to which we will be moving on July 19th. We are extremely excited for this as we have been living in the basement of Dave's parents house with Dave's sister, her husband, and their three kids. While we love this family, we are in desparate need of our own place where we can decorate how we want and after we clean things they will still be clean the next morning. This family was actually gone to California for 6 days and we forgot how quiet a house is with just the two of us. So we are moving into our own place. It keeps us in our ward, we living next door to our good friends and it is right across the street from UVSC which means we can continue to walk to work and school for Dave and still save money on gas. What a blessing. We are excited for the future and what it holds for us. Hopefully a full time job for me. We feel incredibly blessed to have each other and have felt our friendship and love grow as we experience new things as well as old ones. We love taking care of eachother and are grateful for the opportunity to do so. We hope that you like the blog and will refer back here often for updates on our lives.