Fun in West Valley

Wow! We haven't updated our blog for a while! I'm sure it's been disappointing to all our avid readers (haha!). I guess we'd better give a quick update!

We are now living with Bill's parents in West Valley while he looks for a new job. It has been a crazy couple of months (hence the no blogging), but we are now staring to really settle in. It has been fun being up around Bill's family! We were in Southern Utah for a while and it is great to be up here for all the Grant happenings!

Since being up here, we have had a lot of fun! Instead of boring you with all the details, I'll just post some pictures (in no particular order)!

Here we are at the Days of 47 Rodeo. Amanda was fine until they let off fireworks INSIDE the arena that scared her to death! Poor little cowgirl!

Feeding the ducks at Liberty Park

Hogle Zoo

Tired at Lagoon!

This picture is one of my favorites! I decided this week that I really could do more with Amanda's hair so I tried... this is the result: I just love her pig-tails! Today I actually trimmed her bangs because they were hanging down in her eyes! Trimming a 5 month old baby's hair is quite a task!

Amanda is getting so big and is loving life! She is so observant of everything around her and wants to reach out and grab anything she can... especially hair so WATCH OUT! It's so fun to watch her get more interactive and see more of her personality. We sure have fun with her!

Happy 4th of July!

We had such a fun 4th of July at my parent's house! It was actually just a relaxing day (except for the fact that Amanda REFUSED to take a nap and was quite a tired girl by the end of the day... don't let the above picture fool you!) Nothing really crazy happened... we just took it easy, played some games, and watched fireworks from my parent's backyard. They do the fireworks show in Hurricane right behind our parents house, so it is the perfect place!

Amanda was so cute during the fireworks show! She wasn't scared by the loud bangs and just watched and watched! I'm sure she thought we were putting on the pretty show just for her enjoyment! We would if we could! :)

Here is Amanda watching the fireworks show with her Grandma Bulloch!

And finally... introducing the newest member of our family.... our Golden Retriever pup Sadie! Sadie was a little more scared with the fireworks!!!

The Swine Flu

Well, we have been so busy lately!!! I have been meaning to update our blog for quite some time now, but haven't had time. I have a few minutes now... so here it goes!

We went up to the Ranch for Memorial Day weekend and it was sooo nice! We just took it easy and had a very relaxing weekend! I wasn't quite sure how Little Miss would take to camping, but she showed us that she is a good little camper! We actually slept right by the fire, and Bill did a good job of getting the fire going throughout the night so his girls wouldn't get cold!

Aspen Lake was stocked with fish last year, so we had a good time fishing... especially Bill! He even went out fishing by himself in the rain and caught quite a whopper! Monday morning he was especially lucky and caught 7 fish in a row! I even caught a couple myself!

The following weekend, we headed up to West Valley to go to Josh Reese's birthday party! It was so much fun! This is a very important annual party, which is like a mini High School reunion for Bill. It was fun to be able to visit with his friends, and let them meet Amanda! (sorry... no pictures of the party).

When we got back to Hurricane, the real fun started! Bill came home from work early on Monday because he didn't feel well and had a fever. Well, to make a long story short, he was sick all week long, finally went to the doctor, and found out he had the flu! Hey sent out some tests to see if it was the Swine Flu, but we found out yesterday that they are only testing those that are hospitalized (which Bill was not... thank goodness!). The doctor made is sound as if it really could have been the Swine Flu, but we don't know for sure. Bill was hoping that he would know for sure so he could make a T-Shirt that read: "Swine Flu Survivor" ... maybe he should anyway!

We were planning on blessing Amanda the following weekend. We were a little worried with Bill still getting over his sickness, but decided to go through with our plans anyway. On Friday, we went up to the cabin again with Bill's sister Becky's family to spend the night and play all day Saturday. What a fun time! It was so fun to have them up there. Bill's parents joined us on Saturday morning and had a good time up there as well. I am so lucky to have such fun in-laws! Amanda was great up there again too!
Amanda's blessing on Sunday was so neat! Like I have said, Bill has been very sick, and was worried about his voice during the blessing. He sounded perfectly healthy during the blessing. It was so neat to hear him bless our little Amanda! What a neat experience! We decided that Amanda will be a little singer too because she sang the closing hymn with us! I held her on my lap and sang to her and she made all sorts of cute little noises back! Way fun!!!

My grandma crocheted her beautiful blessing dress! What a special keepsake!

Amanda got passed around from family member to family member quite a lot, but was a pretty good sport about it! She is such a cute little thing, and I can't believe how much I love her sometimes!

The next few weeks will be just as busy! We are heading back up to West Valley this weekend for a baby blessing plus birthday/father's day celebrations! Most of Bill's family will be there and we are looking forward to seeing everyone!

The following Wednesday (only one week from today) by brother Charles gets home from his mission!!!!!! I am so excited to see him and have him meet Amanda! I have really missed that guy!

More Amanda Pics!

Mad after a bath!

Peek-a-boo!

Dressed for Church!

Crazy Bed Head!

New Year's Tradition

Okay... so I know that New Year's Eve is quite a ways away, but Bill has come up with a very fun tradition. Being the video wiz that he is, Bill has decided to make a yearly slideshow hitting the highlights of that year, to a song that was popular during that time. We are planning to watch the slideshow each year as part of our New Year's celebration! FUN!

Bill just finished the 2008 slideshow, and since we didn't have it for New Year's, we are sharing it now!

Too funny!

Okay, so my cousin Cara is extremely witty and has written about a condition called "reverse anorexia" on her blog. I enjoyed and related to it so much that I had to post it on our blog as well. It's just perfect!

Enjoy:

"I have a little condition that my sister and her friend have labeled "reverse anorexia." It is not in any medical books or the dictionary, but if it were, it would go something like this:

reverse anorexia: noun, 1. The opposite of anorexia. 2. The belief that one is skinnier than one actually is. Note: Women are particularly prone to this condition shortly after giving birth.

You will know you have this condition if you think "Gee, I'm feeling pretty thin. I'm absolutely sure those jeans will fit since they were so baggy before I got pregnant." Then you go to try them on they won't fit over your thighs, let alone zip up. You will know you have an advanced case of reverse anorexia if you actually start to believe that, despite what the scale says, the reason your clothes are tight is because your husband dried them when he wasn't supposed to and they all shrunk... ALL of them!

P.S. Seeing yourself on camera or in photos helps to cure this condition very quickly!"

I definitely think I have "reverse anorexia!" :)

Life is good!

Well, I can't believe that Amanda is almost 4 weeks old! I can definitely say that these four weeks have gone by WAY faster than the last four weeks of my pregnancy!!

Amanda is still doing great and changing so much every day! She is gaining weight like she is supposed to, and is still a very happy, good baby! I feel very lucky!

I will be glad when we can go out a little bit more and I don't have to stay in my basement apartment (lovingly referred to as "the cave") all the time. Bill is really great and lets me get out for a walk when he gets home and last night I actually ventured to WalMart for some shopping time all to myself! It was much needed!

Anyway, life is good and I just think my little Amanda is perfect! I love being a mom!

More Pictures!

Well, I don't have anything really new to blog about, but I thought I would share some more pictures. Our world revolves around little Amanda Kaye, so be prepared for this blog to go in that direction as well. :)

Snuggling with Daddy!

All bundled up!

Snuggling with Mommy!


EYES OPEN!!!
It has taken a while to capture a good picture with Amanda's eyes open...

Such a pretty girl!

One week...

I can't believe it has already been one week since Amanda was born! Things have gone really well, and we feel really blessed. Amanda sleeps a good 5 hours in a row every night and is a very happy girl! She doesn't really like to get dressed or have her diaper changed, but she cheers right up the second you are done and cuddle with her again. She is also really good with dealing with noise. I want her to be able to sleep with noise, so I keep a movie or music or something on most of the time since we are the only ones in our little apartment during the day. It is nice because I don't have to worry about people being noisy when they come visit, or we go to visit. She was so good with all the noise over at Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday for Easter.

Amanda was finally able to meet her Grandma and Grandpa Grant this weekend! It was so fun for them to come down. It was definitely too short of a visit. I know that Amanda will love all of her grandparents! She is a lucky girl to be loved by so many people!

Introducing....

Amanda Kaye Grant

April 5, 2009

7 lbs 12 oz

20 inches

Well, she is finally here! Our perfect little girl! Amanda Kaye was born after about 24 hours of labor on Palm Sunday! We are so glad to have her here! She is such a good little girl and so much fun! It is amazing how much love you can feel for such a little person. Life is busy in a whole new way now, and our sleeping patterns are a little off still, but she is so worth it! Actually, she sleeps really well through the night! I think Bill and I are just still catching up from the lack of sleep over the labor period!


If you are interested in the details of what happened with her delivery, feel free to read on. :)

I started having regular contractions on Saturday night, around 7pm (we went for a good long walk and a bumpy car ride that morning with hopes of getting things going :) ) After talking with my cute sister-in-law Mary, we decided to go in to the hospital at about midnight. However, with my luck, the contractions slowed down significantly and we didn't make the progress we needed too in an hour, so they suggested we walk the halls. So, I got to walk around the unit from 2-3am in two hospital gowns and stocking feet! After our walk, we still hadn't made enough progress, and because there were two emergency C-Sections, they sent me home with a lortab and told me to try and get some sleep and come back when the contractions were more painful and closer together.

We got home to Hurricane at 4am (Bill and I had both been up since 4am Saturday morning!) and tried to crash. Bill got a few hours, but my contractions started again and, even with the lortab, every time I got close to sleep, a contraction would start and wake me up. :(

Well, we started really timing things again around 6am and they were definitely more painful and regular, so we tried going in again around 10am. I was so worried that they would send us away again, but luckily they admitted us and we began the process!The epidural came around 2pm and I was sooooo grateful! I hadn't really slept for over 24 hours, so having the epidural allowed me to catch a little sleep. WONDERFUL!!!

Things continued to progressed and they decided to break my water at around 7pm. Amanda Kaye was born at 7:39! It was so amazing!!! I tore a little bit (which really hurts now... sorry if that is too much information) but she was worth it! I am just amazed with this little girl! When she was crowning, the first thing the Dr. said was, "She has a ton of dark hair." We were a little surprised with the color, but she is beautiful. In the light, it actually looks like she has some highlights!

Bill has been so cute through the whole thing and has taken such good care of me and little Amanda Kaye. It is so fun to see him look at and hold her! He is such a cute daddy!Well, I think that is about it. I am so glad she is finally here! I can't believe how much I already love her!

Still waiting...

Okay, so I know that our pregnancy tracker says that our little one should be here by now, but... we are still waiting! At my appointment yesterday I was dilated to a 2 and about 50% effaced. The Dr. stripped my membranes (sorry if that is too much information) to try and get things going. That wasn't too bad, but I was pretty sore afterward.

I was quite down after that appointment, because I am so ready to be done with this pregnancy and was hopping for better news. Luckily I have a good husband who works right by the Dr.'s office and was able to take an early lunch to help me feel better!

I know she will be here soon. I just need to be patient. Maybe she is waiting for us to decide on a name officially before she comes.... :)

The Waiting Game

Well, I had another appointment today, and it looks like our little girl isn't going to come early at all! I know it is good for them to "cook" as long as they are supposed to, but I am sooooo ready to have this little girl and not be pregnant any more! My Dr. said that everything still looks good, and that things are happening as they are supposed to, but he thinks I will go another week. *Sigh*

It feels good to know that I am ready for her to come! I am meeting with a lady that will hopefully be my long-term sub today, I have 12 meals frozen in the freezer, and every inch of our apartment has been scrubbed (thanks to some help from my mom and sister!). It will be fun to bring our little girl home to a nice clean place, and it will be nice for us not to have to think about dinner for a while!

Week of Showers!

This last week was so busy, but it was so much fun! I have dubbed it the Week of Showers because that is exactly what happened.

SHOWER #1

My cute custodian at my school organized and surprised me with a baby shower after school on Monday! I had no idea they were planning anything, so it was a fun surprise! I have been lucky to work with such amazing people this year! Some of the male teachers were funny though. They kept saying things like, "I've never been to a baby shower before... what am I supposed to do?" I think they mainly came for the food! :)

SHOWER #2

On Tuesday night, the Young Women of my ward organized and threw their own shower for me! It was soooooo much fun, especially since I was released (*sniffle*) a few weeks ago and I was excited to get to go and spend another mutual night with them! They put so much work into the shower and it was a blast! They had fun guessing how much I measured around (with pieces of yarn), guessing/trying different flavors of baby food, and playing a cute matching game that one of the girls worked hard to make. Oh... and I mustn't leave out the diaper game! The girls really got a kick out of this one! They put different candy bars in diapers and passed them around so you had to guess which candy bar was in each diaper. The looked disgusting! It was funny to watch people sniffing them though!

SHOWER #3
On Saturday, my Mom, sister Katie, and sister-in-law Mary Ann threw another shower for me. This one was super fun too! It was an open house at my dad's office and it was so fun to see a bunch of friends and family. Everyone was so nice and generous too! It just gets me more excited to see all the baby stuff! Now I just have to figure out where to put everything! One thing is for sure though, after all these showers, I think we have a year's supply of baby bath and lotion! We gathered them all up and put them in a basket yesterday so we could see how much we really have.

I think we are set in that department for a while! Here are some other pictures from the Saturday shower:

In other news, at my appointment this last week, my Dr. told me that everything is looking fine and that this baby will be here before we know it! I am so ready and so excited to get her here! We still haven't decided for sure on a name, but we are thinking we might just have to wait until we see her. We have a couple we like, we just can't decide between them.

Okay, this last picture is of me before church yesterday! Yup... I look ready to pop!

Wedding Video

So I don't get on and add to this blog very often, or check other people's blogs out very often either because I'm a slacker. (This is Bill by the way) But I finally got around to editing the footage from our wedding for those of you that are interested and actually do check out other people's blogs. Here's the first part with everything outside the temple. So there you go. In my next blog I'll explain who this "Bill" fellow is, or at least the story behind the name change. Until then.....

My Thoughtful Husband...

This actually happened about a week ago, but I wanted to brag a little on how cute Bill is! Last week I was having a day where I was really feeling the "pregnancy blues." I felt big and not very attractive and was just having a very YUCKY day. Well, this was all happening on a Saturday, and the next Monday Bill came home with a dozen roses and reassured me that he still thought I was beautiful. It was just nice to know he was thinking about me during the day and thought to stop and get roses to cheer me up. I know he did a lot of those types of things when we were dating, but its nice to know that he still wants to do those things even when we are married! He is such a good husband!

Getting Ready!

Well... we don't have a separate baby room to get ready, but we do have a corner of our bedroom that we are preparing for our little girl! I don't know how long we will be in this apartment after she is born, but for the time being, this is our plan. We figure we will want her close to us in the beginning anyway!

Bill working hard to put the crib together! ...

Aside from having a place to sleep, our little girl has TONS of clothes, thanks to Bill's family, and especially his sister Becky who gave us several boxes of CUTE hand-me-downs! I think she has more clothes than I do, at least for her first year of life! As you can see, I still have a lot of organizing to do!

There is still a lot that we still need before she gets here, but at least we know she will have a place to sleep and clothes to wear when she arrives! She has a couple other fun things too (also from her Aunt Becky).

We are getting so excited for her to get here! We can't wait to meet her!

A couple ramblings...

So, I have been thinking about some of my greatest blessings lately and decided that it was time for another rambling blog entry. Just realize that you have been warned in advance...

First of all.... I have been very happy to realize that I love teaching! I have had a wonderful year at Snow Canyon Middle School with wonderful students and great fellow teachers. I couldn't have asked for a better first year teaching experience! I am so thankful that Bill has sacrificed to allow me to have this experience before our little girl arrives. I never thought it would be a hard decision, but I have decided that my children are more important to me than a career (no matter how much I enjoy it) right now and I am choosing to stay home with them. Right now, the situation is available where I can, so I will. I hope it remains that way for several years.

One of the main reasons I am so glad I have had this opportunity is to be able to find out that all those years of school were worth it and that I actually can be an effective teacher. I am glad that I have my degree and love being able to see it hanging next to Bill's. I hope seeing them on the wall will help inspire our children to love education.

Another thing I have been grateful for is the wonderful ward we are in right now! They have been so kind and welcoming from the moment we moved in! One of my favorite things has been, of course, working with our beautiful young women! They are so STRONG, and such a good example to me. I feel like they have taught me more about "standing for truth and righteousness" at all times than I have really taught them. I love the young women's program!! Just being involved gives me a boost! I have been really excited for the recent addition to the young women's theme... The General Young Women Presidency along with the First Presidency has added the value of VIRTUE to the end of the list of values. I LOVE IT! I think that the young women of the church are virtuous and can have a great affect on those around them by showing their example. These girls live these values every day, by choice, and they glow because of it! I wish everyone could feel the complete JOY that comes from living the principles found in the Young Women's theme!

Well, I have really rambled this morning haven't I? I warned you ahead of time :) Now I really need to get ready because my mom, sister, and I are leaving to visit family in Las Vegas today! I am so excited to see all the "hens!" I love how close my family is and how much enjoyment we get from each other. Hopefully I will be good and actually snag some pictures of the hens to share on here!

Oh... I can't believe that there are only about 9 weeks left before our little girl arrives... I guess we need to get a name picked out... :)

Ultrasound #2

We were excited to be able to have another ultrasound last Friday and, Bill being the video man that he is, we were able to record a copy. Bill has since edited it and it has been quite fun for us! I don't know if any of you will be that interested in it, but here it is anyway. I hope you enjoy!