Of economics and of soul mates

I've sold more than one item second hand. Have you? I've sold unopened water filters and shoes and cars and mattresses, etc.

And there's one thing I've learned. (Aside from that sometimes people are flaky and the worst) And it's that not everything has a huge market. And sometimes, even with the things that you love most or have the most value, it may take a while to find the right buyer. Almost always, you just have to wait.

Example: after Jay and I got married I inherited this GORGEOUS black BMW. You guys, I'm talking black, sleek, gorgeous coupe. I felt like a million bucks in that car, and it drove like a million bucks. Black leather, great sound system, fast-- the car was a dream. Then we started feeling like we wanted to have babies and start our family.

You know what doesn't work with a carseat? A low, two-door, beautiful coupe.

So we looked up what it was worth, I detailed it by hand, we took to-die-for pictures of it on a mountain top, and we listed it online. And then....

*crickets*
  and.....
*more crickets*

We couldn't figure out why nobody wanted this car. It was legitimately perfect (I will forever mourn having to sell it in the first place) and I would have kept it forever and ever-- yet, it seemed like nobody wanted it. We waited and waited and waited some more. We received some interest without offers, and some offers that were laughably low. We took it to carmax, only to walk out with an offer so insulting my dad swore he would never do business with them. The whole thing was incredibly disheartening.

It made us question... was the car not worth what we thought it was? Was the authority we referenced to find its value wrong? But we hoped that wasn't the case, we stuck to our guns, and we waited. And you know what? It took a long time, but we found a buyer. We happened to be out of town when they came, and they asked my mom what our lowest price was. She told them a few hundred below list price, and they snatched it right up. And do you know what my mom told me later? She told me she thinks they would have payed full price. Maybe even more. This car was just what they were looking for, and they knew what it was worth. When you find someone who recognizes the value of what you have to offer, you don't have to cut them a bargain for them to want to take it home.

Now on to dating/marriage/self worth/the bigger picture here. Gosh, we all have so much inherit worth inside of us. And our hearts are on the market there for a little while, and sometimes longer. And it's tricky. It's all just really tricky. There's people telling us there is no such thing as a soul mate, and 'you can make things work with anyone'. But you date and date and date and there's still this nagging feeling that you just couldn't make do with what you've been handed so far. And if you feel like there's a soul mate out there for you it can be overwhelmingly heavy concept to carry. And it's just downright hard to reconcile all of the ideas swirling around on the subject with real life and how your heart feels while you're living it.

Basically, it's the worst. But I think our hearts are all a little bit like a precious item for sale-- in the midst of a bunch of other unique, precious items for sale. We're all different and look and feel and sound different and are made up of different stuff. And we're all worth a lot. But not everybody is looking for exactly what you're offering, or maybe they value you a bit under you're worth. Or maybe they would take you for half price but somewhere inside of you it sits wrong. You're worth more than that. And you sit... and you wait... and you wonder if you're worth what you thought you were, or worth anything at all. Maybe you're wondering if there's anybody out there that's looking for, well... you. And you wonder if whoever or whatever told you you were worth something was wrong, or maybe didn't know you well enough.

And here lies your option. You can take a lowball offer, a lot of people do I think. You can lower you price and take less because you think that's what you're worth. Or you can go to the source and the one who knows you best and ask. Ask what you're worth. Ask if you're loved. Ask if someday someone will come and see you and know your value.

You can find somebody looking for you. For some people maybe there's only one buyer in the world that's looking for what we have to offer, but I think for most of us there's probably a few who would see you and you see them and you both know exactly what the others worth, and are willing to pay the price to take that home with you. Sometimes it takes a long time, sometimes there just isn't any interest coming in, sometimes there seems to be a ton of insulting low ball offers, maybe somebody is interested but with some hefty changes here and there. And you may question what the heck you're doing here, or if it's all worth it. But wait. Be patient. I implore of you. The right one will come and jump at the chance to give all they've got to have you.

I was there. I remember. I remember the ones who were interested but fickle. The ones who thought maybe I was worth it, but changed their mind on the subject from day to day. The ones who just took a look and weren't interested in what I had to offer.

It's economics, people. If there's one buyer out there for you it's just bound to take a minute. If there are two or three that could work it will still take a minute. Every once in a while, fate smiles on people and they find each other right away without a lot of searching, but I think it's much less common. The rest of us must soldier on and exercise patience and try our best not to take our hearts off the market because it hurts to keep it up when it seems like there just aren't any perfect buyers out there.

A Quarter Century

This birthday was one of my favorites yet.

I slept in a little and Jay made me breakfast in bed after I nursed Rory. 

The weather was crazy, but Rory was fascinated with the massive snowflakes like her mama, 

and we spent most of the morning watching them fall through the window. 

I didn't have a car, so I stayed home with my baby like a normal day. 

But honestly I really enjoy my normal days, 

so add anything extra and it's bound to be a good day.

I enjoyed the phone calls and texts and sweet sentiments all morning, 

and especially enjoyed Rory's unprovoked slew of kisses before her morning nap. 

That sweet guy of mine brought Thai food home for lunch, 

and a friend and my little brother both brought cupcakes!

Jay stopped to grab some steaks so he could grill and I didn't have to cook dinner, 

and we topped off the night by watching Pride and Prejudice. 

(bless Jay's heart- only an act of true love could make that boy watch that movie.)

Aside from cupcakes and Diet Coke (you're the best, Chlo and Zane!)

my sister sent a darling package, I got cards in the mail from both grandmas, 

a gift card from my in-laws... and will you appreciate that Harry Potter book set from my mom?!

Jay topped it all off with some watercolors and candles I really wanted.  

Grateful doesn't begin to cut it. I have such good people in my life.

I felt so loved and appreciated and comfortable in my own skin this birthday.

And the lighting was that harsh late-afternoon stuff  by the time Jay got home, 

(and we obviously didn't coordinate outfits)

but I decided I want a picture of my family on my birthday each year so we did it anyways.

I love those guys, and if I just had them it would still be a great birthday. 

So here's to choosing joy and chasing dreams this year. 

I couldn't be more excited. 

*not pictured: amazing oak rounds from my dad for a project I'm working on!

Rory Ann: The birth story

I had most of this post sitting in draft form and today I came across my hospital pictures and couldn't remember why I never posted it. Regardless, there is so much about Rory's birth I want to remember and I enjoyed reading about other people's experiences before I went through it, so here it is. 

I was overdue, (as you all knew) and dying to meet my sweet girl.
Then I went to the doctor's office on Monday to get a check up.
The office ladies were rooting for me hoping my labor had progressed substantially. [I was huge...]
It had- but not substantially, and I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced.
I hadn't really made up my mind on the whole induction option yet.
My mom was induced with all four babies because she just didn't go into labor on her own,
but then there's people that hate pitocin, and others that had dying placentas because they were overdue. I felt comfortable with the idea of being induced, but part of me wanted that experience of going into labor on my own (for no other reason than I wanted it).
So when my doctor offered, I asked his opinion. I love and totally trusted my OB, he was this sweet old man that had been delivering babies for years and this was actually his last year practicing.
So I asked. He was totally polite and didn't push me either way, but did say he really prefers not to let women go more than a week overdue because of the complications that can come after that point.
I told him I thought that would be just fine if he thought my body was ready for it. He assured me I was a prime candidate for an smooth induction and had his sweet nurse call the hospital to see what they had available.

So six in the morning two days later it was. It was not exactly the way I had it pictured. I was totally calm, and walked into the hospital with my hair and makeup on, in no pain, to tell the lady at the  desk I was there to have a baby. They got me set up in the labor/delivery room and after a couple of hours they started me on pitocin. My labor didn't progress much those first two hours or so, but then my doctor came in and broke my water.

I think because I had only progressed like a half centimeter the first two hours before my doctor broke my water, they assumed I wouldn't progress much and didn't check me for a while. Contractions were getting really intense and the nurse asked if I was ready for an epidural [I initially wasn't sure if I wanted one because i wasn't sure how the process would be for me]. I asked her how much longer she guessed I would be in labor. Because if this was going to go on for 5 more hours... then yes please give me some meds, but if I only had an hour left I felt like I could do it on my own. She kind of chuckled and said this was my first baby and it would likely be several more hours, so I had her order the epidural. By the time the anesthesiologist got there, I was a 7.5 and the nurse was shocked and began to refer to my labor as "fast and furious" as well as compliment me on my pain tolerance [she had no idea I was that far along].  I loved the little doctor who gave me my epidural, and it was actually totally fine for me. From that point on, I felt no pain until the end when Rory was about to make her debut.

At one point, Rory's heart rate started to drop more than they liked between contractions. They took me off the pitocin drip and gave me an amnioinfusion which is basically where they pump water back in with Rory due to relieve cord compression. I had never heard of this before, and obviously asked what was going on. The nurse explained that often the baby will press up against the umbilical cord [or grab it with their tiny hands] and cut off their supply, which puts them under stress. So basically they pump water back in to allow them to move around a little and hopefully release the pressure on the cord. The procedure works often, but she explained that if not they may have to take Rory by C-section. I was understandably a little nervous, but everything worked out really well in our case. Rory released the pressure, her heart rate stabilized, and labor continued.

My labor stalled for about an hour at a 9, but after some exercises and waiting, Rory was born at 5:30pm.  She was born screaming and feisty, as I have a feeling she will always be. And the nurses shouted, "that is not a small baby!" as they whisked her away to the scale.

We are sure glad she came, and that she's here, and for a smooth and [relatively] quick induction and birth. Birth is no joke [nor is recovery for that matter] but it's a worthwhile price to pay and I already have forgotten most of the pain and discomfort associated. Cheers to the pioneers who did this with nothing. Grateful we live in a day and age where amnioinfusion and induction are even possibilities to help us have healthy babies when things don't go as planned.

2 weeks young

This two week update is a little late [and by a little I mean she will be three weeks old day after tomorrow], but I guess that is what happens when you have to pack up everything and move in the first two weeks of your baby's life.

Rory Ann:
-hates being naked. My whole family teases that she got it from me, because all the way through high school I refused to change anywhere but behind a locked door. By myself. But I think it's more about hating being cold, Because she doesn't mind diaper changes as much anymore, but still hates the bath. Poor grumpy ducky.

-LOVES being swaddled. She also loves her hands by her face, but more often than not when she gets her hands out of the swaddle she's happy for about two seconds before she gets overstimulated and/or frustrated she can't find her thumb and begins to cry. It's actually a tender mercy that she likes to be swaddled, because she has the longest little fingers. Thus, she no longer fits in any of her newborn mittens to keep herself from scratching her face and the swaddle must do that job for her most of the time.

-speaking of long fingers, this girl is TALL. What!?! I know, you didn't think I had it in me. And to be honest, I didn't know was possible either. But she's in the 90th percentile for height as of her last doctors appointment, and has longer feet than her five month old cousin! And to think I bought a pair of size 6 1/2 shoes yesterday... Go figure.

-loves to cuddle. Best thing ever. When she's on my chest she nuzzles in so close to my neck that I have to check to make sure she can still breathe out of her nose.

-has a pretty good bout of baby acne going on. Poor thing.

-is a serious heater. We're lucky to be at the coast and away from the Central Valley heat this week because I'm pretty sure she was getting a heat rash. There were always sweat rings around the entire area her head covered in her bassinet, and there was more than once when I thought for sure she had a fever, but my mom calmed my poor nerves and assured me she was fine.

-loves her car seat, and the car, and stroller. This has been a total lifesaver, because with loan paperwork to send and sign, packing our house, doctors appointments an hour away, and an impending move, I don't know how we would survive if she didn't. Aside from the first few minutes where she decides whether not she likes what's happening, she sleeps the whole time.

-is fantastic at naps. She can seriously sleep through anything. The blender, movies, the dishwasher, squealing toddlers, etc etc.

- has the cutest raspy cry! Not that any mother likes to hear their baby cry, but it's pretty cute for a second. Jess thinks she will have a little raspy toddler voice and I secretly hope so.

-nurses every three hours on the spot on days we are able to do so (it's been a little crazy, can you tell?) and keeps that same schedule through the night. We are getting by (mostly functionally) with our three hours between nursings and two hour naps between.

We are just so grateful she's here and healthy and we love her! She is the best and we can't wait to watch her grow and do our best to help her be whatever it is she wants to be. And she's an opinionated little booger, so I'm sure we will know whatever that is.

*Also, are these grumpy ducky pictures not so tragically cute?

Welcome to the world, Rory Ann

One week ago today we welcomed our sweet baby girl into the world. She weighed 8 lbs. 2oz, 20 inches long, and is healthy and happy and loved and we really feel so blessed.

-Rory Ann has a placid, sweet disposition, but will let you know with a raspy little wail if she doesn't like what's going on (aka diaper changes and anything to do with being naked). 

-The hospital was a little rough on the sleep front and we were up basically for the entire two days straight. She hated the hospital bassinet and refused to sleep there, so I was scared out of my mind she was never going to let me sleep once we got home either. Luckily for us, she has actually been a total dream! She sleeps like a champ and typically gives us at least one 4-5 hour stretch at night. 

-She LOVES to be swaddled. And loves her pacifier. They told us she would when as soon as they placed her on my chest after she was born she found her thumb and sucked it for a few minutes right then and there. 

-She has the longest most feminine hands and feet! She hardly fits in newborn socks and shoes, and we swear her hands look as long as her 5 month old cousin.

More than an update, I wanted to extend a public thank you. Thank you to everyone who visited us at the hospital and brought flowers and stuffed animals and cookies and bread pudding and fresh fruit and my favorite croissant from my favorite bakery [true story- my sister is the most thoughtful human alive]. Thank you to everyone who has texted and called and stopped in to show support and love to our sweet girl since we have been home. I have said from the very beginning that if it takes a village to raise a child, we really do already have the best village. She has already received so much love in her first week of life, and we really really feel so grateful. Thank you thank you thank you to the moon and back! We are the happiest family of three.

30 weeks and life is wild

We have so many things to say! Our brains are swimming! The future is full of all kinds of changes.
Some of you know what's going on with us, and some of you don't.
We decided it's about time to blanket update you all now that things are more sure.
A while back we decided to make a slight course shift and as we prayed and weighed options,
Jay decided to take the business route and apply for jobs for after he finishes school this spring.
Amid the excitement about it we researched and thought and kept praying for things to work,
and Jay started the interview process.

And last week Jay was offered a position at Qualtrics which we are so excited for and feel so good about!
We are moving back to Provo in July!!! 
What is that you ask? Aren't we having a baby in June? Yes. Won't that be crazy? Yes.
But where is the excitement in life if things don't get a little crazy here and there.......right?
We are just so excited and grateful and a new house and job and baby all within the same six weeks...
and well, I think it's about as much exciting change as can happen to a couple all at once.
When we left Provo over a year ago, we weren't planning on coming back maybe ever.
But somehow that all changed about six months after we moved and suddenly we missed it.
Not only did we miss Provo, but we felt like that's where we needed to be.
Not that we knew why or how that was going to work- but the Lord always has bigger plans.
And he'll help us settle in to them if we aren't too settled on our own.

So friends in Utah, we're coming for you. And I want to see you.
And let's do things together. And by do things I mean please come over and see me!
I will have a brand new baby and will be a total novice for the first while, so I'll need you.

And I'm dreaming of houses and nurseries and all of our favorite Provo eateries in the meantime.
I'm so proud of Jay, and we could not be more happy or excited for everything that's coming our way the next 3 months!

our half baked peanut: 20 weeks

We have totally hit the halfway mark here! I'm 20.5 weeks pregnant today. For boys, that means I'm between 4 and 5 months pregnant. And it's so exciting! I find myself dreaming about her nursery and holding her and finally meeting her. Speaking of that- I made my first baby purchase! I bought a cream leather swivel/rocker at home goods, because... well, my mom was with me and we agreed I had to. So my chair in the living room in combination with baby girl's fairly constant movements, is making me wish for June!

Movement:
I feel her kicking and moving around all the time! The other night before bed she was really active and I grabbed Jay's hand so he could feel. She kicked him like five times in a row, and if experiencing that for the first time with the one you love isn't magical, I don't know what is.

"Anatomy" Ultrasound:
Seriously, Modern Technology is amazing. Even though lots of the time the ultrasound tech was just pointing out dark spots and telling me what they were, there were some things that were clear as day (like the four chambers of her little heart beating!) And as long as she can see/tell the baby is healthy and has all the parts she needs, then I'm happy.

Sleep:
I've got this cold I can't kick, and part of the reason I'm having a hard time is because I just am not sleeping well anymore. It's like my uncomfortable body wakes up when I try to adjust, then I stay awake because I can't breathe through my nose and my throat kills. Boo to that. So I'm going to steal my sister's bump nest (because I hear they are a dream) and hope for the best in the sleep category. Any mamas have any better ideas? Pre sleep routines? Anything?

Other:
Well, I'm still breaking out on my back and face like a high schooler. #bacne. Super awesome and fun and pretty. It's not helping this weight-gaining pregnant lady feel too awesome, but thank heavens for makeup and a hair appointment in two weeks. Those always help. That, and a husband who is the best thing since sliced bread. He keeps me (somewhat) sane.

Honestly, I have no complaints. Acne and a few hours less sleep seem such a small price to pay to be a mother. I feel overwhelmingly grateful as I kneel at night for the blessing of having a healthy, kicking little girl in my belly, a wonderful husband by my side, and a Heavenly Father who would entrust the care of a sweet spirit to me. Grateful grateful grateful, people.

And I asked Jay to take some updated bump pictures. Needless to say, he got bored/creative at some point and most of them turned out like the last two pictures. But that bump is really growing now! I got my first "are you sure there aren't twins in there?" comment this Sunday at church. No No, lady. Modern technology has shown me multiple times that there is only one baby in there, thank you though?

So happy halfway, peanut!! We love you!

Winnie Mae Marcum, husbands, and little girls!

Last Monday our brand new, chunky, almost 9 pound, perfect niece Winnie Mae was born. And we got to meet her the day she came to earth- how lucky are we?!

You know, when I was trying to figure out if I loved Jay (or just really really liked him...hey! forever is a long time..) he came to my house to visit my family. Aside from the visit as a whole, there was one certain moment where I thought, "I think I really love this boy". Everyone went somewhere and left us to watch 6 week old Clara Rose. As they drove away, Jay was holding her in his lap and rocking her back and forth. That man and that tiny baby just looked at each other for the longest time- and I thought.... "I'm in love".

Now obviously I had a million little experiences like that, but that little moment where I knew for sure for the first time holds a special place in my heart. Anytime I see Jay hold a baby it melts me like it did that day, but even more now that we are going to have our own.

And IT'S A GIRL! Some of you may have seen Jay's instagram video (which features that very same little girl who helped me fall in love with Jay) but for the rest of you- it's true! Which means for 90% of you including my entire family and all my coworkers, your guesses were wrong. As much as I love little boys, and Jay is about 150% boy through and through, heavenly father felt it more fitting to send us a sweet baby girl this June and we could not be more excited.

And if it has anything to do with family patterns, ours are strong in favor of girls on both sides. Jay's parents, my parents, my sister, Jay's two sisters, Jay's grandparents, and my grandparents all had girls first. So we are happy to add to the bunch! Headbands and dresses and tights and sparkles and sweet hugs and kisses! We are so so ready. And I mean, really.... how does that picture not make you fall in love with Jay? I can't even fathom.... If I weren't already pregnant I would be so so so baby hungry after spending this week with a brand new baby girl and falling in love with that part of Jay all over again.

And if you love chunky newborn babies and want to see what a rockstar my sister is (how does ANYBODY look like that after giving birth?!) make sure you scroll all the way through to the bottom.

Happy Saturday from Jay, me, and 10 oz. baby girl Winters.

Falmouth, Jamaica: Dunn's River Falls

Let's play catch up for a minute. 
Christmas happened.... then a fiasco of trying to do an early gender reveal that failed,
then New Year's Eve, then a ten day cruise. Get back Sunday, back to work and welcome a new niece baby Winnie into the world Monday, today is Tuesday (ok, it's now Friday...) . Actual gender ultrasound Thursday (Wait for this next blog post and we'll tell you what it is!!) . Somewhere in there edit all the photos and sort through all the thoughts. Talk about crazy. 

As far as blog updates are concerned, I could not decide whether all of these exciting things should go chronologically or in order of excitement (which Winnie would hands down win), but decided in the end to hope for several blog posts within the week if possible and practice my patience by starting at the beginning. 

Jamaica may very well be our favorite stop in the Western Caribbean cruise loop.
It's lush, the people are kind (and seriously fun), and there's stray goats everywhere.
Not to mention the crystal clear water and pristine beaches.
Of course, we're not too horribly naive... We stayed in pretty rural/tourist areas and didn't have even the slightest desire to brave the larger cities.... but we loved the good things about Jamaica just as well.

We have hiked Dunn's River Falls before (6? 8?) years ago as a family, and we loved it so much we wanted to go back for round two and convinced the rest of the office staff to come with. Our tour guide was awesome and happy and the only girl guide at the falls (get it, girl!) and was one of the first strangers to publicly recognize me as being pregnant without it being brought up! Score! Speaking of that, I know these are ok-quality photo pictures so it's a little harder to tell- but my bump is getting substantial. All my dresses are getting too short and I can totally feel the baby kick as of this past week. Of course, this is a week and a half ago now, and baby only gets bigger from here.

Jamaica (and the Caribbean in general) was wonderful and amazing, but mostly I was just glad to spend time with my people. I am the luckiest to have my best friends for my family and they got to come home with me at the end of the trip. Feeling all kinds of lucky and blessed for all of my blessings not limited to, but including my family, having the opportunity to travel, my friends who feel like family (you know who you are), the little healthy 10 oz peanut growing inside of me, a crazy-wonderful supportive husband who makes me laugh and loves me forever, and living in my own little corner of heaven at the end of each day.

*And, as per almost always, blogger did a little bit of funny coloring to my photos. 
The water is crystal blue, not green.

12 weeks and change

Well, if I'm being honest I feel lucky.

I mean, I had a sister that puked (and a mama) the whole time she was pregnant,

and a cousin who's just a few weeks ahead of me and hooked up to a feeding tube. 

And though I have my own set of symptoms and all, I'm functional. 

Here's how we've been over here so far. 

everything smells...

I'm not even kidding when I say that everything smells. Good, bad, weird it all just smells so strong. That's been the weirdest and I've gotten totally used to holding my breath when opening a fridge or pantry. It's weird, people. 

naps naps naps...

I'm so tired all the time- which I suppose comes with the territory. It's maybe my least favorite symptom because all I want is to sleep when I get home and for the life of me I cannot get out of bed in the morning early enough to go to the gym. So I basically have fallen off the workout charts and since I'm snacking all the time and bloated so I'm feeling awesome. *wink*

sickness..

Week 6 I was super nauseous. People were asking me if I was ok at work, I couldn't cook anything and jay just got us something from where ever sounded good to me or I didn't eat dinners at all and just snacked on bland food while poor guy had leftovers. Then by some miracle I rallied and felt better week 7. I think part of it had to do with figuring out how to snack ALL DAY LONG because hungry=nausea, and part had to do with naps and drinking lots of water- but I think it was a miracle because I was taking care of my newborn nephew that week and didn't think I was going to be able to do it (or do it well) with how sick I was. They say sickness (which is by far not limited to the morning) can last until 12-14 weeks, so the road is not over just yet but it's dang close.

the bump...
It just looks like I overate or got a little chubby around the middle most days, but the bump does appear at night most nights! at first I just felt bloated at all times. Girls, it was like the pms that never ends kind of.. I know, I'm giving you a lot to look forward to here and everything. Aaand week 7 I woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach muscle twitching the same way your eye twitches sometimes- except the muscle is way bigger than in your eye so it was bizarre! I could feel it literally pulsing, but I looked it up (and happened to be staying with my physician of a father-in-law) and apparently my stomach is just preparing to become huge and that can happen. score.

sleeping...
I have never had a problem sleeping in my life, but now I wake up 5-7 times a night tossing and turning and getting up to go to the bathroom. I just can't get comfortable! Then I wake up on my back (which I NEVER slept on my back before) and then I freak out and really wake myself up because apparently that can be dangerous for the baby. That plus working full time which leaves no room for naps makes me one tired pregnant lady most days. My bedtime is like 8:30pm whenever I can swing it. 

bye bye soda...
More than a craving for anything particular, I have a lack of cravings for things I used to love. The most notable of them being soda. My sister said sipping a diet coke during the day would help her nausea sometimes, so every once in a while I'll try to choke one down, but I can never finish a can.. and Mountain Dew doesn't even sound good, ever. This is how you know it's serious people. (update: as of the last two days, soda has started to sound good again!)

So there you have it! I'm functional, although I'm kind of a nauseous bump on a log at night...which is really the only time Jay sees me during the day. I do feel bad about that. I think we're both praying for second trimester when I can help with dishes and cooking and cleaning.

And all I've really got are a couple of phone selfies I snapped when my bump was showing a bit! I have this dream of taking a cute bump picture every Saturday (since that's when I'm actually home during daylight hours) so let's plan on that being the case.

life lately: graduated and celebrated

This past week was wonderful.
My parents and in-laws came into town for graduation,
and so did my sweet sister and her family!
[that girl... she's the best]
We ate and talked and talked and ate.
Then our tired mouths rested and we watched this one waddle around and give lots of kisses.
Naturally, we were fat and happy and grateful to be together.
Family is the very best.

Not to mention that I graduated from college!
You know, the whole time you are in college, everyone around you is too...
So it's easy to forget that it's any accomplishment at all.
But, as I've been reminded several times since, it's a great accomplishment.
I feel blessed to have had all the support that got me through these past few years.
I am grateful to have a college education and to have studied something I love.
Yay college! Yay family! Yay moving forward.