Ivy's birth

**Disclaimer: There is one graphic picture from the surgery**

Well, it was an exciting week! We were due for a scheduled c-section on Saturday the 23rd.

On Thursday I had a second NST (non-stress test) for the week scheduled. My mom treated me to a manicure & pedicure. It felt amaaaaazing.  Then we ran speedy quick to Zupa's. Yum.

I had really really not been feeling well. I was super swollen & felt totally lousy from the high blood pressure. The nurse had told me to go to L&D if my BP was 140/100. My blood pressure had gotten that high the weekend before. I didn't go to L&D, though, because they always just monitor you & send you home. I thought it would be pointless to go in.

That NST was showing to be non-reactive. Ivy's heartrate was not accelerating like it needed to be.

My doctor's nurse, Denise, came in during the NST & gave me the low down for Saturday's c-section.

She told me to go right to L&D if I have flu-like symptoms & some other symptoms. I told her how I had been having those all week.  She ran out of the room & called the doctor. She came back in & informed us that they were doing the c-section that night.

I was so excited.

We ran home & packed.

We hung out at the hospital for a little bit while being monitored.

 The final minutes with the BIG baby bump.

 Mom & I having a fun party.

I was born at the same hospital!

 I started getting really nervous right before the surgery. I thought I was going to pass out.

Everything was going so fast. I was so excited & then when Weston started suiting up I started having an internal freak out.

Everything happened so fast.

We went in for the surgery & it all started.

Dr. Drewes, who has been my doctor now for 3.5 years, was the lead doctor & Dr. Jacob assisted in the surgery.

The anesthesiologist was really nice, but moved super quick.  I feel like I was in there & then holding onto Weston while they did the spinal. I had spinal fusion surgery when I was 13 & have 2 rods in my back & my spine is fused together. I was so relieved when we found out about halfway through the pregnancy that we'd be able to actually do the spinal block. Otherwise it would have been general anesthesia. I was really sad over that thought.  But so he dug a little with the needle trying to get through "so much scar tissue."

It was pretty fun. But really, it wasn't a horrible experience. I was still trying not to pass out at this point.

Then next thing I know, I'm laying down, the drape is up & Dr. Drewes says "Rachel, are you ready for me to start?" "YES, SIR!" "Good, because I already have."

That was weird.

The surgery went well & it took about 5 minutes to get Ivy out. Like I said...it was fast.

No wonder she hadn't been moving as much.  Every time the doctor asked me if she was moving I'd tell him she's moving, but not nearly as much as she used to. But her heart-rate was always fine, so we didn't stress over it. I sometimes would get a little worried, because the entire first 36 or so weeks every ultrasound tech & even the doctor would laugh over how active she was. Then on the NSTs she didn't show much activity. 

The cord was wrapped around Ivy's neck 4 times. The doctors said that was a record for the most times they've ever seen.

It was right then I realized that she wasn't moving as much because she'd flipped so much & got herself all tied up.

I freaked out a little afterwards when I'd heard that.

Weston told me she was out & ran to be with her.

It was a while before Ivy actually cried.

I wasn't nervous, though.

I was kind of having an out of body experience.

When I heard a cry from the warming/cleaning baby area, I realized... "That is my baby crying."

I cannot describe the feeling, but it was amazing.

 When Weston brought her to me, I totally lost it.

I had never seen a more perfect baby in the world.

It was the weirdest feeling. That baby was just inside of me. That baby I rubbed, sang to, talked to, nurtured for those 10 months was then laying in my arms.
She stopped crying as soon as she was placed on my chest. Then she had to be taken away from me to go to the nursery to be put under the toaster oven lights & get a full bath.
As soon as she was pulled away she started crying again.

Weston is the proudest dad.

After the surgery was done I was brought to the recovery room where I laid for quite a while. Finally Weston brought her in to me.

Again, I'd never seen such a precious little person in my life.

I just held her. I was then wheeled to the Mother/Baby floor where our parents came for a quick little visit. It was about 11:30.

I chose to have her brought to me to nurse throughout the night instead of having them feed her. I did that for the first 2 nights in the hospital. The last 2 nights I had her stay in the nursery & take formula.. ..those nights were amazing. I love sleep.

My csection was completely smooth & uneventful. It was awesome. I swear it was a miracle recovery. I only needed Motrin after the surgery. I have been able to move, bend, laugh, sneeze, cough, move & carry Ivy around everywhere. It has been totally awesome.

Weston is totally in love with Ivy.

He is the sweetest dad. & has done really well with his crash-course to babies.

 I heart sleep.

We moved rooms after our first day into a bigger room.

Hallelujer.

 Ivy loves milk shakes.

 Punky with Ivers.

 Bonding time with Grumps

 I love this baby so much. 

 Snuggle bunny.

 We were surrounded by lots of loved ones during the week! Weston's family was there most of the day every day! It was nice to be able to show our baby to those we love.

 She was legitimately alert & smiling. OH my goodness. She was only 3 days old in this picture.

 Wearing her little outfit from grandma.

The outfit she's laying on top of is the outfit Wes & I bought to bring home from the hospital.

She doesn't quite fit in newborn stuff... Except now that she's almost 2 weeks old her little limbs have grown so long.
Love this baby so much.

 Going home!

 Wes & punky.

Chase came to help us load up the hospital room.
We accumulated quite the collection of goods staying there for 4 days.

My family was in town for Thanksgiving & staying at a hotel in Provo, so we've been staying at a hotel.

It's been relaxing. & really nice to have our bed made & free breakfast.

 She loves being able to stretch out.

 I seriously love this rocking napper my coworkers gave me.

It is amazing.

Cute bum.

 I love that fuzzy head.

I can't believe we didn't get a little bald baby!

I love her hair!

It has been the most incredible experience & cannot believe she is 12 days old already. I have no idea where the time goes. She is such a mellow & content baby. I cannot say that enough. She is an angel & don't ever put her down.  I could hold her in my arms all day every day.

I love our sweet Ivy Jane.

She's here.

Introducing

Ivy Jane Brinkerhoff

11.21.13

7 lbs 8 oz

19 inches long

Pure perfection.

3 Queens from Matt Bieler on Vimeo.

My friend, Shelby, shared this video this morning. I absolutely loved it! Thought I'd share it as well.

Babies are on the brain

38 Weeks!

Good golly that's a big belly.

9.5 months, folks, almost there!

Saturday I did not feel well at all. That was the day we were planning on making all of our food to freeze. So instead, that night we took on Walmart & then Sunday did all the cooking. I have been wanting to do this throughout the pregnancy, but finding the energy was a little challenging. We knew we had to make it happen this weekend & we totally did. I was so proud of us.

Saturday night we went to Walmart & hunted down our goods. 

 Lots of cans of beans & tomatoes, etc.

It was exhausting & completely rewarding.

We got everything laid out & separated that night.

 Weston eating the last drips of soup from the pot.

He looks a little tired. Poor guy. I mostly did all my food prep at the kitchen table. He was our little tazmanian devil doing tons of dishes between stirring this & flipping that to keep the whole process moving.

Total stud.

Our end result was 2  9x13 pans of chicken & rice, 3 9x13 pans of enchiladas, & a ton of bags of stew & bean soups.

Now THAT is a lot of food.

We are thinking of making my sister's Basil Tomato soup this weekend, because we know it freezes really well & it's delicious. You can get the recipe HERE. As well as maybe a couple more casseroles.  It was a really fun process & by Sunday night I felt like I might not wake up for a week after going to bed, but man, we felt so good to have that checked off our pre-baby list. 

I was feeling bad having my mom stay with us & be a cooking & cleaning minion. Don't get me wrong, she is so sweet & so helpful & I'm sure more than happy to do that stuff, but I just want to make sure that her trip is more enjoyable!

Here is my belly right now. No full shots, because I looked like a hot mess, so I hope this is accurate enough for you. I feel really big & pretty much 0 of my shirts fit. 

Finding items that I can wear to work is both a challenge & simple. I wear the same thing every other day. I literally have 2 things (work approved) that I wear that still fit that I trade off & on & that aren't skirts. Hello cankles. Only 2 more weeks left of work. I've so got this one. My back is murdering me, but honestly, the past few weeks have been better than I've felt at all other times in the pregnancy!

It has truly been awesome to feel a little human again with a little more tiredness & back pain.

I had the fun morning (all day??) sickness through week 14, had a couple weeks of feeling AWESOME & then at week 16 or 17 had awesome sciatica start & that went until about 36 weeks. I'm not kidding. walking, sitting, laying, pretty much everything was painful. Nothing helped it, no tylenol, heat, ice, rubbing. Nothing.

 I have been anxiously waiting this girl & the time really has passed quickly.

The time has passed reeeeeally quickly.

I just have to say I'm really proud of myself for sticking it out & working up till the baby is coming.

I'm so grateful for the medical insurance & benefits we've been able to get through my work.

I'm also so happy that I don't have to work after having her.  The timing has been completely amazing!

I love this little girl that's growing in my tummy. Time has flown since we found out I was pregnant.

From that first night when I took the pregnancy test, just knowing it was going to be negative so I could jump-start things so that our New York medical study would work. & finding out that after 2 years of trying that we were actually pregnant.

Wow, I still look back in that time in awe. It was one of the most special moments we've had.

I am not going to share how, but I knew we were having a girl. I knew before we were pregnant that there was a girl waiting to join our family. I know our little girl is a blessing to us & I am so excited to welcome here here with open arms. I'm just warning all those expecting to hold her...you'll probably have to wait 3 months, because I just have been waiting too long to hold this little one & I think I'll have a problem sharing.

I love that while we were watching a movie yesterday she was moving the entire time. Maybe because it was an intense one with loud noises, but she was squirming EVERYWHERE. I love when she pushes her head out the top left side of my torso. I love when she stretches. I love when she kicks my bladder & other lower organs.  I love feeling her move & get snuggled in for bed with me when we lay down for the night. She's like a little puppy on a warm blanket, squirming around until she finds just the perfect comfy spot.  I love her little face from her 26 week 3D ultrasound. 

(The one from 36 weeks still scares me. She looked mad, mad, mad! Hopefully she doesn't come out scowling, too!)

I love our girl so much & we are so lucky to get her & have her in our family. The time is still flying by & we only have 10 days between right now & her birthday. I am ecstatic!

So, we got Weston's costume a couple Saturday's ago, well the dress & the curtain (apron).
Halloween came along & I dressed up for work. I loved being Gus Gus. & I love Gus Gus, cutest mouse there is. 

Weston was such a good sport & played Cinderella.  We dressed up to go to the ward party that was right after I got off work. But I really REALLY wasn't feeling up for it. My calves, ankles & feet were swollen to an oblivion. It was pretty uncomfortable. So, instead we went to the pharmacy & then the grocery store. It was WILD. But then we watched 2 movies that night acting like we had no where to be the next morning. We watched a scary movie on TV & then started Hocus Pocus, but only made it half way through.

It was a good Halloween & a very relaxing evening!

< 3 weeks

Because of a couple complications, we had to return our other car seat, but Weston's parents got us a car seat! How nice is that? & now it fits in our stroller, too!

 I washed all our burp rags & newborn clothes yesterday, too!

I hope she doesn't expect to be wearing pants!

She doesn't have any, but we'll keep her warm in booties & blankets! 

She does have a couple adorable footie jammies, though! So so sweet!

Have you seen tinier socks? They fit on Weston's thumb tip. So sweet & little. 

This is our scene on Halloween evening outside of our house. Wow, I love where we live. Salem has really been heaven for us. 

I did  not enhance or edit any of these pictures, either.

We have 2 Saturdays between now & when our girl is here, at the latest. It is kind of surreal. I have an appointment to get my hair done on Friday. Hallelujah. Can you say overdone? It's been 5 months. We also plan to go see Ender's Game this weekend with some great ticket vouchers we were given!

Then the weekend after that we have to stay in Salem, because Weston is on call with the ambulance, so that will be our DEEP clean weekend. We will gut & deep deep clean that week. Then Friday night before the baby comes I plan on using our other ticket vouchers we just won through work (Thanks, Jen!) to go see The Hunger Games. We thought it was the perfect Baby Eve event.

The time is ticking & I keep thinking how I'm perfectly content for this girl to stay in until her intended date.  I'm sore & stiff, but feel like there's a lot more to accomplish before she comes! It's hard to have the stamina after work to gut through the house, etc! But I do what I can & then the rest either goes undone, or, in most cases, Weston picks up the slack. He's seriously awesome. He's the greatest sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, scrubbing, dishes doing husband. Man I got lucky in the spouse department. He's totally awesome!

I also have some sewing projects I need to finish, too. I might add onto that list to make her some little pants. I feel like I'm sewing doll clothes when I sew for her. I love it!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I love holidays & I love dressing up for Halloween!

I had a lot of fun making this one &

I finished it last night with lots of help from Weston!

Counting down!

Want to see some nasty cankles & swollen feet?

This is what my feet/ankles look like at the end of my work days.

Never mind the fact that they look piggy pink here, too? HAH!

It's sick, and also painful.

& I still wear sandals to work, bc I'm hot all the time!

 We were laughing so hard at this picture. Weston went & grabbed me some tums & laid them on my belly, so I took a picture. & he wanted to 'photobomb.' I've never seen such a smiley photobomber.

 Thursday night I had killer indegestion. I am so lucky not to get too much heartburn, I just get indegestion from EVERYTHING. Well, Weston loves playing doctor. He wanted to use his oxygen thing on me. but I had nailpolish on. So he put it on my nail polish-less toe.

 Friday night the view was spectacular. This fuzzy picture doesn't do it justice. It was beautiful!

 Don't mind the chunks of nailpolish on my belly. Can you see where our baby's hiding?

It's hilarious, my stomach is lopsided like this 95% of the time & it's her head pushing out. I love it so much!

(like my home uniform? Weston's PJs)

 I made these beanies for her this weekend. The gray one looks scratchy, but they're the softest yarns. I'm kind of a yarn snob. & I want to her to have soft things on her body!

We are down to a month till our girl gets here and I am so excited I can barely stand it. She may come sooner, which is unreal to think about! My hips & back are doing MUCH better this week, still! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will stay this way!  I think it's because she is breech and her body is too big to be down pressing on those joints like she used to be when she was head down & smaller!

We had appointments on Thursday & Friday of last week! We received all good news! We had our second non-stress test & she got a little strained a couple of times, but the nurse wasn't worried so neither are we! She thinks that when I was having a contraction it was pinching her umbilical cord & so her heartrate dropped a little bit. But since I'm not in active labor it's not a big deal right now! Our next NST is on Wednesday after our appointment. I hope it's not doing it then still!  We met with the perinatologists & got another ultrasound. HOWEVER, she said this one is too far along to get cute face pictures. Uhm, she's right. I am not sharing those ultrasounds, they freaked me out & her face looked squished & angry. HA! So, you'll have to wait to see her at birth. I can't wait to kiss her little nose & pouty lips!  She is measuring great & is measuring in the 64th percentile. SO, they will not bump up her date or anything. BUT we got our name down on the books for the 23rd of next month for the scheduled c-section. Unless she tries to come early. THEN we'll be having an earlier csection! I don't mind if she comes on the 8th or the 16th or sometime in there if she wants :) She's looking great & doing well!

10 things that are extra awesome to me right now

Things I am especially grateful for:

1. Maxi skirt

 It's my new uniform. & I only have one. Yeah, I rotate between the three outfits that fit me at work :) My coworkers are awesome & never say anything though. I love them. I kind of feel like the girl in 500 dresses. The one that gets made fun of for wearing the other girls' hand-me-downs :)

2. Weston got a job interview

We are so thrilled. I have been optimistic, but overwhelmed by the job hunt process. We had kind of picky criteria for the type of job he needed/was looking for.

We needed a job that would provide benefits as I won't be working anymore & we'll lose health insurance.  We also needed a job that would provide patient care/clinical hours that PA schools would accept. When he would find a job he wanted to apply for, he would contact the PA school he's been talking to & see if they would qualify that.  We were also looking for a job with semi flexible hours as he'll still be taking prerequisite classes in the evenings.

We haven't had any luck with jobs over the past couple months, but I wasn't worried until recently. I started getting stressed, it is always hard applying to jobs that simply have online applications & hoping to stand out from the crowd. Weston is awesome with face-to-face contact & employers love him & if he gets an interview, he generally gets the job.  He is a really good person & an even harder worker. They can see that.

This job he applied for is a medical supervisor at a plasma center in downtown Nashville.

We are so excited. They are requiring that Weston get his Tennessee Paramedic license, though. So, in the past 2 days he has done the complete process to apply for reciprocity with Tennessee. That application & $300 later he should be a Tennessee paramedic very shortly! We are thrilled! (Except not about the unexpected expense!) However, it's so worth it & this job opportunity will be a HUGE blessing. It will be just what we were looking for & it will pay him well, too. We are saving pennies & hopefully going to be able to save up a significant amount before we begin PA school the next year.

Which leads me to my next thing.

3. Generous parents

Weston & I have both been blessed with generous parents who do their best to help us.

The support of my parents in our endeavors is priceless to me. As Weston & I have been married we have had probably 1,000 life plans. The one that is actually unfolding happens to be in TN, but they weren't all that way. Some included the military. Some included positions in California & other western states.  Throughout every step they gave us heartfelt advice when we asked for it & were genuinely happy for us & supportive. I am really excited & blessed that Weston also loves & wants to go back to TN, but I am also thankful for my parents who have given us/me unconditional support & love.

Also, they have offered for us to live with them while Weston's still doing the school thing. WOW. Wow wow wow. More than we could ever ask for & such a blessing!

Weston's parents are also so generous & always offering a helping hand when we need it. We love them more than they know.

We have good examples of service & love!

3. Ultrasound Stuff

Today we get to see our girl again. I am SO excited. This has been one of my favorite parts of feeling like my doctor's office is my 3rd home after home & work :)

4. Generous friends/family

We have been given so many baby gifts that have really helped us get on our feet!

Thank you to those who have given us so many sweet & thoughtful gifts! We're surrounded by givers!

5. COLD WEATHER

I baked all summer. Not kidding. I literally felt overheated all the time. Combine pregnancy with the hottest Utah summer ever recorded. Whew! I was swollen & warm! This fall weather has been seriously welcomed with open arms by me!  I usually dread winter coming, but this winter, maybe since I won't be spending it in Utah, I am really looking forward to!  Don't get me wrong, TN gets cold, we just don't get pounded with snow...and the coldest it gets there in the winter is the warmest it gets here in Utah! I appreciate that it has all 4 seasons, but also that it's pretty mild in it's temperatures! 

Even with the cold weather I have still felt like a baked potato! Poor Weston is now the freezing one in our marriage. Hah. I turn the cold air on in the car still.

6. Holidays

I LOVE THE FALL!  The holiday season is my favorite! I just love any excuse to stay up late & play games guilt free!  We will be spending Thanksgiving with my family & Christmas with Weston's & I am so excited for both of those big events! This morning I decided on my Halloween costume, too. It will be awesome!  At least, it is in my head.

I am especially excited to share these holidays with my new baby.

I seriously cannot wait for her to get here. I am so anxious!  I can't wait to count her fingers & toes, to kiss her chin!

Weston has gotten to see a few more ultrasounds than I have, because they haven't printed pictures for us at the recent ones, but he said that she has his chin! I LOVE THAT! I told Spence when I wrote him this week & he said "Awesome, that's exciting about your baby's man chin!" hahaahahahah So mean. She'll beat him up for that when he gets home in May.

7. The Mindy Project & Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

I love these shows. So much. We watch Jimmy Fallon recordings, we don't stay up late to watch his show, but I'm excited for when he takes over The Tonight Show!  I am also really happy that Mindy & her pastor fiance aren't a thing anymore. He really bugged me.

8. ksl.com

I will miss this awesome site. It has the greatest classifieds section.

9. My I-phone

Remember this post? Well I love that phone that Weston gave me for my birthday. It is seriously amazing. I use it in so many ways. I'm sure there are things I had no idea that it could do. I didn't even know until IOS7 came out & I was reading instructions on it that I can/need to close my apps. I just figured out 2 days ago how to check time-stamps on my text messages, that was my only complaint about my iphone. That & I don't know how to make my alarms stop going off without actually turning the alarm off completely and having to redo it for the next day. These phones are incredible & has been an awesome resource for Weston & I to use while down in Salem!

10. Patient husband & friends
Poor Weston has been putting up with a lot. He was so good & always helped me get through the nauseous stage of the pregnancy! He enjoyed & loved the second trimester ease with me, too! And in the 3rd trimester when every ache & pain seemed to amplify, he has helped whenever possible, too. He is so sweet & makes sure we have lunches packed. He'll do the quick milk-run to the grocery store. He has done all that stuff. All the stuff I used to do. Well, except we've kind of always just thrown our lunches together. But seriously, he's amazing & I totally won the lottery getting him!

As far as my friends, I have been kind of in hiding since I've been pregnant. Not on purpose, I just don't feel up to much after work in the evenings or on the weekends, I get pretty wiped out. I have a lot of sweet friends reaching out & wanting to get together. I haven't done anything with any friends. I have to apologize to all of you. It isn't personal & I wish I had the energy to spend spare seconds with you. Thank you for being patient & not taking it personally!

Last week we found out my parents & baby brother were coming to town. I was so very excited.

My dad's been working in California so they traveled with him & stopped by our place for the weekend for Chase's fall break!

We had an appointment on Friday with the doctor & a non-stress test!

Everything went smoothly & our girl is looking good!  We have about a month left. I cannot wait SLASH I'm freaking out a lot.

My stomach was killing me that morning, so I took the day off from work & rested up. That night I had some serious contractions & was so happy they were actually happening. I was starting to think this baby was never going to come. I was feeling left out of the "Braxton Hicks" club.

My family rolled into town around 1:30 a.m.! Whew it was late. We were going to go to bed, but I couldn't not say high when It's been 3 months since I last saw any of them!

Weston was dying of exhaustion.

He took a little nap though & had some caffeine assistance, though.

The next day my mom & I stopped by the quilt shop in Salem that we love!

My mom was driving all day on her big 5-0 birthday!! So we went out to lunch the day after at Brick Oven.

My parent's favorite place! We had a lot of fun! Except I'm just remembering now they never sang to her. Boo on you Brick Oven. 

Afterwards we went to Riverwoods & walked through the shops! 

That night we watched BYU kick around the scrappy Georgia Tech team & then taught Weston how to play Settlers of Catan. 

We played games the rest of the 24 hrs we had left.

We had so much fun!

I always love when my family can visit! Even if it's only for 48 hours!

My mom comes back out in a month for D-Day & I am counting down. I told her it will be fun to actually have her in town when I don't have to work. That's never happened.  We will actually be able to spend time together besides just the evenings!

I am also really excited to live near them again.  I've really missed my parents & they're my greatest friends.  It has been 6.5 years since I have lived within 2,000 miles of them. I feel long overdue.  I'm so lucky that Weston loves TN & that he is open to moving to my homeland.  I can't wait to be back out there & everytime they visit I am reminded of how excited I am!

Weston is a little nervous about finding a job, we haven't had luck yet. Any Tennesseans knowing of a medical related job, please send the info our way.

I am really nervous about having a baby. I've started becoming more anxious about it lately. Ah, I don't know what I'm doing. But I know we'll figure it out. & I'm so lucky to have my mom be able to come stay with me & help me.  She is seriously awesome & a great support to me in every way!

I love my man!

Weston is the greatest guy to be married to, want to know why?

When you're pregnant & feeling quite whalish, he'll swear to you that you're beautiful! He will help you at the drop of the hat. He is really fun to be around. He makes me laugh all the time. He has a complete heart of gold.  He has cooked a lot of dinner in the past 8.5 months & always tells me how much he loves cooking.  He is a professional sleeper! No matter how much I toss & turn, he doesn't wake, this makes me feel a lot better that I'm not disturbing him! He stubs his toe on our bed frame. Almost every night.

He is really light-hearted. He is a hard worker. He's a total hottie.

This weekend we got to go visit his parents. It was such a fun trip. We always love our time down there & love being in their rural area.  The boys went & got 3 trucks & trailers full of wood on Saturday while the girls stayed home & quilted & chatted & cooked. We had so much fun!

They were gone for almost 8 hours doing hard labor & he came back with that huge beautiful grin.

 & a tear in his pants!

 Really life has been good, I just always feel guilty because Weston has had to carry so much of the weight of things that I used to do! The pregnancy has been a challenge, but a much greater blessing. I love feeling our girl kicking & stretching. Every ache & pain is a reminder of our blessing. I love that we have a baby on the way. I love that she is going to be here so soon! I cannot wait till she's here & am counting down the days.  These aches & pains will make her arrival THAT much sweeter. Weston has been so sweet. Without asking he brings me water with a straw for when I'm laying down, he reminds me to take the million vitamins & pills.  & anything I need he'll get. Sometimes I feel bad mentioning if I'm cold or warm, because he'll be up in half a second to get me a blanket or to ask our landlords to turn down the air. He is so sweet & such a supportive husband!  I am so blessed & really love being married to him! This whole experience has concreted that even more in my mind!  I love that man & all the hard work he puts into his school work, literal work, his race training, taking care of me & into our future!

 

Conference was so great this year, don't you think? I missed some of the talks on Saturday, though & am excited to be able to go back to read them!