Emma

well friends i have started a new adventure. I have started reading a lot more in the last few months and i LOVE it! i know that my desire for reading in the past has really been non existent, but since we got pregnant, i have read some really good books. so i have decided to keep on with my latest desire. I know that might change some when Lily comes along, but i will still try to get some reading in every day. I just finished the Baby wise book. MAGNIFICENT! i will definately give the schedule thing a try. hopefully i can get some sleep too. with anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks left, i have decided to start reading Emma, Jane Austen. This actually has me very excited. i have seen the movie( with gweneth paltrow) but it was so long ago. i don't even remember the story all that well. I have begun this journey and i can't wait.

yes i did say 2-4 weeks. I went to the dr yesterday and he said that he didn't want the baby to get too big, so he might induce me early. Well she is at 6.12 lbs right now, and i was 9.2 lbs, ben was around 8 lbs, so i expected a 8 or 9 lb baby. well i am not complaining though, i would love to have her come early! it would just make everything else grand! we will see. i am hoping that Heavenly Father will have mercy on me, and help me go into labor early, rather than being induced. it does kind of scare me. i just don't want it to make things get harder or longer....ya know? anywho....back to Emma.

new camera...

i have been looking for a while now to get a new camera. i have wanted one before the baby comes so that we could get some really good pictures and so on. well i finally went to best buy and got one! i love this camera. it takes WONDERFUL pictures and it was on sale. that was the best part! so we will definately have more pictures on the way!

baby room...

we are almost fully done with the baby room. when ben and i got married, my grandma gave me a quilt that she had for over 20 years and it was made by my grandpas mother or grandma.....it is beautiful. it is hand quilted....i didn't want it to get dirty so i am going to hang it on the wall. so i have yet to do that. but other than that, here is the closest finished product.

my new recliner that i found on craigslist for $150...it is great!

we took the doors off the closet so that i could have room for the dresser..i have to still get curtains for this area.

I love fall!

well i know this is a little early but i changed my backround for fall. i love this time of year. it is my favorite. i love going to HS football games, smelling the fresh air, and seeing all the trees change color. they haven't really changed all that much here in chico, but it is september and i know they will soon. today also means that we have about a month left before Olivia arrives. we are excited. the crib finally did come. it is in pieces in the front room, but ben bought some mountain dews, and him and aaron are going to put the set together tonight....so we will update soon!

the baby and the blanket...

I finally finished the baby blanket....it took me a while but it is DONE!!! i am happy about this one!

i had my baby shower aug 22...and it was great! it was fun to see everyone there and i am SO greatful for all the things i received. Here is the cake...it was a costco cake and it was so good. i haven't had one of these for a LONG time! my mom made this salad, actually the same salad we had at our wedding. it was WONDERFUL!!! i loved it. i am just glad that my mom could put this on for me and that everyone came.

a little annoyed!!

well i ordered our crib....and it was supposed to come this week. they said it will arrive between aug 31 - sept 4th... it is the 3rd for cryin out loud...why isn't here yet???

Olivia Ann's first picture.

Well we had our 3D ultrasound at 30 weeks. This is what we saw. She is so cute! I can't wait to see more. the other picture that we have is a little better, but i already framed that one, so this is the next best.

a 4 step program...

Step 1: paint walls yellow...
Step 2: Paint ceiling blue...


Step 3: Paint clouds on ceiling....

Step 4: add grass, flowers, butterflies, and dragonflies...

Soon to come, the finished nursery.....

why i haven't blogged so much....

well here i am almost 7 months prego...just getting bigger and bigger....i will tell you, she is moving all over the place!! so i don't sleep a whole lot at night!

i have been working on crocheting a baby blanket. it takes a lot of time. it isn't hard, just time consuming. so when i am home, i have been trying to get these squares done. but as soon as this is finished, i will be back to life and blogging more.

ft bragg and tahoe

this is ben and i in tahoe. we went this year for ben's dad's 60th birthday. it was really fun. Except for the fact that Dan(ben's dad) couldn't stay. He has a heart condition, and it high elevations, he can't breathe very well. we thought it wouldn't be that bad in tahoe, but it was. so next year, we are definately going to have to stay near sea level. other than that, it was fun. all of bens extended family was there. Lanell, ben's sister rented a house with like6 bedrooms. it was nice to have a bed to sleep in.

in june we went camping...this is ben and i on the beach! it was really fun. we went camping with our friends niki and cevin, and ian and amanda. it was fun to go with friends that were couples. definately a yearly tradition!

old cake pic

ok so the colors are ugly...because twords the end of the class, we started mixing all the colors together and that is what came out...and of course i couldn't get a picture before someone had to eat part of the cake. ps..this is from may!

A new adventure embarks...

Well as many of you know, or don't know, i have done hair now for about 8 years. i LOVE doing hair. i have been at Jecca's Hair Salon for the past 3 years, and i felt like it was time for a change. My friend Vicki Hair( i know, her name is irronic) ownes a salon here in chico, and she had an opening. i was excited to talk to her about it. we came upon a plan that worked for us. well she had an opening for a part time booth and that is what i needed. so i took her up on it. it is actually at 2nd Street Salon on 2nd street, of course. it is a great salon. there are about 6 girls there. so i know it will be fun and i can learn a lot from the other girls. 2 of the girls i worked with when i first got out of beauty school. we all worked together at Laura's Wig and Beauty. that was probably the most awful place i have ever worked( as far as doing hair). So i will be starting there July 15th. I am really excited. i just finished designing my business cards...you all can check them out. i like them, of course.

So for the future, if you want to come in and see me...give me a call!

on another topic, the baby is doing great. i am feeling her kick now, and it is getting more and more exciting. we are going to be painting next month and getting more and more ready!! until next month!

A little behind....

Ok, i know that i have been behind in this blog. and i am sorry about that. i would like to do more, i just have been so lazy when it comes to spending time on this and taking pictures and downloading them and all... i know that will change when we have Olivia. Oh, by the way, all of you that aren't on Facebook, we are going to name our little baby girl Olivia Ann and call her Lily. we are really excited for her. She is due to arrive Oct. 27th and i feel like i am just growing and growing. sometimes i don't even remember i am pregnant until i have to go to sleep at night and i can't sleep on my back( which i HATE!!!! i am a back sleeper), needless to say, another reason that i can't wait for this baby to arrive so i can go back to sleeping on my back...or when i go to put on clothes and they used to fit and all of the sudden they don't fit over my boobs or belly. amazing huh?!? or when i walk up the stairs to our apartment and i am TOTALLY out of breath when i get to the top. anywho...
So i want to get back into blogging....and i will. i am going to start the next day or so. i will start taking more pictures and downloading them, plus i want to update you all, if you really care, about our situations and the progress of the baby room and such. so until then, i will post soon!
*** on a side note, i know that some of you have such cute fonts for your titles and stuff..how do i get those??**

ITS A GIRL!!

We went and had our ultrasound today. it was so fun! she was moving all over the place. waving and kicking....we loved it! we are due Oct. 27th and are so excited!!

TEMPLE!!

well all, we went to the temple this weekend to be sealed!! i must admit, i am pretty happy we are finally sealed! it has been a long road. our pictures are getting ready as we speak...but if you want to check out sneak peaks...you can go to wendy mayo's page on here and check it out!!! thanks again for EVERYONE that came. we really appriciate it!

Cakes Cakes and Cakes!!

well everyone...My sister Molly and i are taking a cake decorating class....and i can't wait!! last night we had our first class and it was so much fun. this next week we will be doing our own and learning more and more. i am so excited about this whole thing. i will keep you all posted and more pictures to come for sure!

alright...i don't know about the rest of you, but i LOVE the salt lake temple. this past weekend, ben and i ventured out to utah. it had been almost 2 years since i was out there and about 3 for ben. it was a long awaited reunion. and being the wonderful picture taker that i am, i didn't take one single picture! so i stole this off of google. our trip began with driving out there on thursday. we left chico about 3pm. we finally reached sandy utah, to where we stayed with bens aunt nancy, about 4am utah time. we had to stop every 2 or 3 hours for me to use the bathroom, eat and then just get up and walk around. i was sick the entire time and we ran into a horrible snow storm in nevada. we put the chains on and by the time we got them on, 10 semi trucks or so, cleared the road, so we pulled over to take them off. we slept in until about 9am and then started our day. we layed around for a while when everyone was at work, and watched a little judge joe brown, then headed to temple square. it was nice to just walk around and hang out. ben and i both love looking at stuff, so we took our time looking at the MASSIVE paintings of Christ. we went to the distrabution center and got ben his first set of temple clothes and me some maternity g's. they are great! then we went to bens reunion friday night. it was fun to watch him. i thought he might pee his pants when he saw some of these elders he served with. and then whole time, they just reminded me over and over that "elder brown was a major sister hater". yeah, funny how we got together. then sat we went to the afternoon session of conference. it was so fun! ben had never been to a conference session. we had really good seats too. we then hung out with family for a little bit and then i went to have a MUCH needed reunion with my friends from high school...beth smailes(taylor), courtney lee and Deanna Madsen(Dickerson). it was so fun! just to hang out and talk! it had been 2 years since i saw beth and i missed her so much! we hung out until midnight and i couldn't stay up anylonger!! sunday we slept in and headed back...it was definately a nicer trip back. it was sunny the entire time! we loved it and can't wait to go again!

well well...

this past week has been rough! we moved in to our new apartment. it is nice to have a small place. we just didn't realize how much CRAP we have! anywho..i took this past week off of work so that i could move and clean and all that...well, this by far has been the worst week ever! i could only clean and move for about 2 hrs before i had to lay down and pull the bucket next to me. i can't eat anything, and then i am starving! the only thing that sounded semi good last night was cheez-its. ben got me some saltines and they have been heaven today for my first day back at work. it was nice to have a week off though. ben just kept telling me not to get used to it. anywho...i feel better today..and i hope it gets better. 3 weeks to go and i will be in the 2nd trimester. as soon as we actually get everything put away, i will post pics of our apartment. just because we moved doesn't mean that we have everything in its place. :)

my baby!

well everyone...this is what our baby looks like as of yesterday! only 223 days to go. i go to my next appt in 1 1/2 weeks. i will post more pics later.

CHICO!!!

We are finally moving to Chico! i am so excited! i will be sure to take pictures when we get settled in and everything decorated!!! can't wait!