In a Nutshell ~ May

So I mentioned we like pictures, right? This one was at my mothers request which is why we are all dressed up.

Brock's water polo team made it to state so we went out to support him.  He was the goalie and I have to say this looks like a pretty difficult sport.  Pretty sure I would have drowned in the first 10 minutes. 

William had a birthday - the big 11!

We started some projects on our new home.  By the way - no one should ever put wallpaper of any kind on any wall! It is so hard to get rid of!

A baby bump update.  I am 19 weeks in this picture. 

When we found out we were having a girl I was so surprised.  During the ultrasound when they told us it was a girl I cried.  Yes I was excited, but more than that I was completely overwhelmed to see my precious little baby in such detail.  To feel her little movements and be able to see what they look like on the screen was so much fun.  To see her little feet and count 10 little fingers made the whole thing so real - not that it wasn't real before, but to know that she was growing well and that everything looked normal was a huge relief.  I think with every milestone you get a little nervous and feel so blessed when everything looks normal.  Chance was a little nervous about having a girl.  He said he didn't know what to do with a girl, but he warmed up to the idea pretty quick. :)

As a side note - the technician who walked us through the ultrasound was very unimpressed with the whole thing! I think that would be sort of a cool job to share this intimate moment with families and see their reactions.  She seemed rather bored.  It made me think about how important 'bedside manner' is in the every aspect of healthcare. Yes, this is their job, your the 185th ultrasound they've seen this week, but it was my first, so at least pretend to be a little excited for us. 

In May I also took a business trip to Chicago.  It was beautiful weather and I had fun doing a little sightseeing in my spare time. I also loved the conference I went to so it was a win-win.  By this point I was obviously showing and it was sort of interesting to start having random strangers at the conference feel like it's ok to walk up and touch my stomach. 

Baby bump reflection in the bean. 

In a Nutshell ~ April

Well, here we are in April.  Literally, here we are - just in case you were wondering what all my siblings looked like a few months ago, here is a very crowded selfie.  One thing about the Holman's, we really enjoy pictures.  We think they are fun to take because we think they are fun to look at.  We don't really need a good reason to take one. I think this just happened to be a lovely Sunday afternoon that we were all home.

You can see that baby bump is really starting to show!

The whole family! I think Gigi was taking this picture.  I particularly like Jaden's tattooed arms and the fact that his shoes are not on his feet, but still made it into the picture. 

We were able to take a long weekend and go down to Blanding Utah for a family vacation with Chance's side of the family.  We stopped at Arches on the way down for a little hiking.  It was so fun to have some time to hang out and relax with everyone.

Oh, and did I mention - WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! Pretty exciting to buy your first home.  We figured if we are old enough to be parents we might be old enough to buy a house. The jury is still out on whether we are really old enough for either of these things. ;) 

As a side note and shameless plug - my mother was our real estate agent and she made the whole process so easy.  If you are thinking about buying a home and need someone to help you out, let me know and i'll get you her phone number! 

In a Nutshell ~ March

In March the main event was to see our little one, hear her heartbeat and feel the relief of having our doctor say that everything looked normal! I think this was about 10 or 11 weeks into pregnancy and was a completely surreal experience.  At this point I was still very sick (which I learned was a good sign, so I tired to tell myself that every time I ran to the bathroom) and I was also 100% positive it was a boy.  Not totally sure why I was so sure, but I was. We had his name picked out and everything!

It was probably about now that we started to tell people our exciting news.  One of my favorite experiences was when I told my boss at work.  He told me congratulations and said that he had sort of suspected it because he had noticed me snacking on saltine crackers a lot recently and he said no well person eats those for fun.  Guess I wasn't as good at hiding my illness as I thought.

And while we are in March we might as well throw in a little Pinewood Derby action.  Please notice how excited Jaden is for Williams car!

Williams car is the orange blur in second place. It was a Recess Peanut Butter Cup car. It wasn't the fastest but it sure looked the sweetest! 

In a Nutshell ~ February

February brought our missionary home, and that was almost the most exciting thing that happened that month. I must say that introducing my brother to my husband was sort of a strange experience, but I knew they would be great friends right away. 

Nothing sweeter than an RM and his mom!

But I have to say, the highlight of the month (and quite possibly my life to that point) was seeing that little plus sign! I had been on a business trip when I started to suspect that something was off so it was a couple days of anticipation before I could confirm what I was hoping for.  I wanted to surprise Chance in some cute way, but he already knew I was suspecting we were pregnant and he was just as anxious to know as I was.

With those little blue lines our lives were changed forever. Morning sickness started right away - probably about a week after I had found out.  It stuck around for a solid 4 months.  I began to worry I would be sick the entire time.  I also began to wonder how anyone could do this more than once, let alone 7 times like my mom.  I'm glad to say that I now have a much deeper perspective of pregnancy, the sacrifice and the AMAZING reward!

It was so fun to be able to tell our parents our exciting news and see their responses. It was less fun to try to hide the morning sickness at work, especially because the bathroom on our floor was under construction.  That meant that I had to run down two flights of stairs every time I thought I was going to be sick. A somewhat nerve-wracking experience. But since i'm writing this post 9 months later, I can say that it was totally worth it and really not all that bad considering the amazing little girl I got from it all!  If I had been writing this post in the moment, I have a feeling I would not have been so optimistic.

I'm sure there were other awesome February events, but this is it for now.

In a Nutshell ~ January

Ok, so its been a while.  Don't judge, or do... i'm fine with it.  I'm actually judging myself right now.  I'm one of those that has a hard time blogging about what happened this week if I missed something important last week.  And thus we find ourselves 10 months behind.  

So here it is - the past 10 months in a nutshell.  Since I don't keep a journal these days either, i'm just going off of what pictures I have and trying to remember the highlights of each month. We'll start clear back in January. :) 

We of course went to the much anticipated ward party at Classic Fun Center.  Chance got his fill of roller hockey (without hurting himself this time) and my mom surprised me and strapped on a pair of skates herself! We were glad she opted for the little walker to help her along.  I have to say i'm actually very impressed with her skill!

The main highlight of the month was that it was finally time to count down the days till Landen came home from his mission! The paper chain was longer than William and Jaden, but it was exciting to watch it get shorter and shorter.

Christmas 2013

So... Christmas happened... & though you didn't hear from us, we want to wish you a 

Merry {LATE} Christmas... 

I hope this blog post finds you happy and healthy, and that you'll count this as my Christmas card this year.  Don't take me off your Christmas card list quite yet - one year I might just send out an official card by snail mail and everything.

This year I found out that my husband is a candy maker.  Pretty impressive. If you didn't get a little bag of sweets from us, i'm sorry.  But like I said earlier, there is always next year. ;)

We were lucky to celebrate Christmas Eve with my mom's family this year - complete with the Christmas pageant.  And of course it wouldn't be an official Christmas story without the wonderful costumes and script provided by Grandma Judy, oh ya, and the Bible.

Santa... Oh my gosh, I KNOW HIM!

We had a visit at our ward Christmas party from the Big Man himself - who also happens to be my uncle Dale.  He was so darn cute, and the kiddos LOVED him.

Christmas morning was wonderful - there were lots of fun gifts exchanged, yummy food eaten and we even took the opportunity to go sing Christmas songs with some of the sweet people at a local care center who weren't able to be with their families.

Oh and I guess while i'm at it... Happy {LATE} New Years as well.

1st Anniversary!

It's been 1 year since Chance and I tied the knot! And what a wonderful year it has been! I've spent the past couple of days thinking about what a wonderful wedding day we had.  I feel so blessed to have had such a fairy tale wedding and especially blessed to have found a true prince!

Thank you to all of you who were a part of our special day and continue to be an important part of our lives!

To celebrate, my sweet man took me to the Cheesecake Factory and to the Nutcracker (which by the way was Fabulous - all new costumes and even some new choreography in a newly renovated Capital Theater).  He even had a special little surprise photo shoot arranged - a very selfless gift since I Love pictures and he really really dislikes them. :)

For his gift.... along the same 'picture theme' I had some art framed that we bought on our honeymoon.  I'm a little embarrassed it took me a year to do it, but Chance was excited, so I guess it worked out. 

Here's to may many more anniversaries in years to come! Sure do love this man of mine and can't wait for the wonderful adventures to come.

Love you Chance!