summer time

Makenna is 5 months old!! i cant believe it! She has grown so much in the last couple months.  This is an update from months 3-5. Its been so fun watching her grow up into a cute baby girl and out of the newborn stage! going through all her newborn clothes was kinda sad im not gonna lie, but its so exciting to watch her learn new things everyday.  in the last couple months she has learned to roll over both ways. sometimes she forgets she knows how or cant figure out how to move her arms to let herself roll over.  but she is getting better at it.  she loves to be on her tummy and hold her head up.  she is getting so good at grabbing her toys and wants to grab and suck on anything she can get her hands on.  i remember when she couldn’t even hardly reach some toys on her play yard and now she grab them all and pull and push her self around.  we have a saucer she loves to sit and play.  i can normally put her down to play and she will be entertained until she is tired or hungry.  She still LOVES bath time and now she is so wiggly and splashes i love it! we go to the water park pretty often and she does really good, i can tell she loves the water but not quite sure what to do.  Breastfeeding is still going good, she is a good eater and it seems like she is getting enough....there are rolls to prove it.  we weighed her at home and she was 15lbs!! Makenna loves to sit up and see whats going on.  she can almost sit up by herself but not quite there yet.  normally she is a pretty good sleeper, but we just got back from camping last week and this week i dont know if her schedule is just off or she got used to sleeping with me in the camper.  but either way this week has not been good! most nights she will go to bed around 8 ish and sleep 5-6 hrs and every 3-4ish hrs after that.  summer is just so crazy and we are out late all the time so shes learning to adapt.  if she’s tired i can lay her down anywhere and she will sleep but has a harder time if she is cuddled or held.  im glad she likes her bed but sometimes i wish she would fall asleep in my arms.  she does good with dad and sleeps when he holds her.  right when you think you have them figured out it changes.  She still gets to play with grandma nelson thursday and friday and with daddy saturdays. this last saturday she got to spend the morning at football practice and help daddy set up his class room. She loved it and all the boys loved her! Makenna is a chatter box, oh my goodness.  she has alot to say and is starting to mimic the sounds we make to her.  

So much has happened lately its just purely amazing how the lord is in charge of our lives. Dane got a JOB!!!!

He graduated in May and has been working for Dr Burr at Ada West Dermatology all summer.  we are truly grateful that he had that to rely on.  His true passion is to teach so with months and months of searching and applying and talking to everyone a spot at Capital High School opened up. All he had to do was pass the history praxis test! unfortunately he failed the first time. it was very humbling and disappointing because of the pressure he-we felt.  luckily he had the opportunity to retake it and Capital would hold the position open til he found out the results! We found out the 10th of August and were thrilled to find out he passed and got the job! he now teaches 11th grade us history and school starts tomorrow! we are so grateful for this humbling experience and for the Lord taking care of us.  

The last couple months we have done so much! my mom, kenna and i went to utah for the weekend to pick up kourtnee. we had so much fun, we took kourt to see hair schools and apartments and stayed with my cousin Amy Moon. It was a Blast! in July we went to the water park with all the pence’s every monday night. Headed camping in the motor home with all my family. we went to garden valley and saw Joseph the Amazing technique colored dream coat at starlight mountain theatre and stayed the night there.  then on to red fish lake for a night! which was beautiful, we hung out and swam. then on to island park to camp for 3 days with all my moms family. it was a blast! it was so neat to see family, Dane had never met any of them and some i hadn’t seen since i was a little girl. Makenna did a great job, she slept good and was happy the whole time. of course she LOVED all the attention from all her aunts and uncles! i think she was sad to be home with just me the next week.  

In August Cindy Spjute got married!! so my parents, Aubrey,Makenna, and i headed to twin falls the previous night and stayed in a hotel to do cindys hair the morning of! It was a fun little get away and the wedding was BEAUTIFUL! im so happy for Cindy and Cory.  

That sums up the main events of the summer.  we now are enjoying and prepping for our new adventure. We are moving! it has felt soo good to clean out and declutter our house. we will defiantly be downsizing for sure! im ok with it, honestly. we were looking at every option of getting into a house. it seemed like all opposition was against us. we decided to rent for another year til we are completely out of debt and can find a house we love and not settle into something. also find the area that we love, knowing now that Dane has a job.  moving is a project for sure but we are looking forward to a new adventure and sad to leave the area were in because of our ward. BUT im so excited not to live so far away from everything and spend so much on gas!! YAY! heres to a new adventure!

2 Months

Wow i cant believe miss Makenna girl is 2 months old! She is getting so big and its so fun to see her personality come out more and more everyday. I haven't gotten her weighed yet so I'm not sure how big she is, but she is fitting into almost all her 3 month clothes! i don't really realize how big she has gotten until i look at all the newborn clothes that barely fit her. Its so fun to see her try and figure out her little arms and hands and what they can do and how to control them. over all she is still a pretty good baby. the last couple of weeks she hasn't been sleeping very good and waking up every 3-4 hrs, but from what I've heard i guess babies go through growth spurts. for the first time EVER she slept 7 hrs the other night! she woke up at 6am and i realized i didn't get up in between to feed her! YAY!! so maybe we are on our way to sleeping better but i better not speak to soon. Lets see... she loves to play with her toys. she tries to grab her toys hanging above her and kicks her little legs so fast! lately she likes her arms above her head and just stretches all the time its so cute. oh and i can get her to laugh, she always giggles but every once in awhile i can get her really laughing. she still loves her Binky (I'm so grateful for that thing), loves songs and when I'm trying get her to sleep by singing to her she just looks at me and coos i just love it! We have been so busy this last month! i went back to work and it actually went better then i expected! she goes to my moms house until Dane gets off and she does really good for both of them. I'm so glad my mom is able to watch her, so i can go to work anxiety free! of course i miss her like crazy but seeing as i don't have a choice in the matter we'll make the best of it.

 on May 6th we blessed her and she did so great. then the following weekend the 12th Dane graduated from BSU! YAY!!! (now we just need him to find a job) Then there was mothers day, Dane was so sweet and let me sleep all night and it was great. He made me my favorite breakfast, then we headed to my parents and my sweet mom got me flowers and nice card! it was a really relaxing day. the 19th we had a party at my parents house for Dane and my sister Kourtnee which was filled with family food and friends, jump houses and a movie outside that night. The next week Kourtnee graduated high school! so exciting! We have been going on lots of walks through the neighbor hood. For memorial day we went on a bike ride with my family to discovery park. It was SO Fun and we even found a bike trailer for a good price! now we can ride our bikes all summer, as soon as I'm not sore anymore.

This last week i finally picked up the Dave Ramsey book Money Makeover and we are pumped to give a try! we have set our goals and cant wait to be debt free.  it will be better when Dane gets a job but we are so excited to save to one day get a house. but until then we are going to have lots of fun here in Boise and maybe acouple camping trips but that's ok, maybe next year we can go on a fun trip! 

i have tons of pictures that i will post soon :)

6 weeks

Makenna is 6 weeks old!! oh my goodness it just blows my mind! every time i sit down to do this i get interrupted by little miss or something else going on.  so finally I'm gonna update everything before she gets any older.

first off i LOVE being a mom.  its something I've always wanted to do and it truly is so much fun, but really hard at times! i cant believe how big she is getting.  I'm not sure how much she weighs now but she is out of all her newborn clothes and mostly in 0-3 clothes but fits into some 3 month outfits! she is getting rolls galore, i love it.  we definitely have days randomly that she wont sleep and its very frustrating, but for the most part we try and keep her on a schedule and that tends to help.  the weekends get kinda crazy because we are out and about and it messes her up but she adapts and LOVES to be held and rocked to sleep.  so family is great for this! but come Mondays she is ready for her schedule and i am to.

by now she is sleeping about 5-6 hours at night!!!!! we put her to bed anywhere from 10-11 and she will sleep till 4-5 am then ill nurse her and she will go back to sleep for another 2-3 hours.  the only time she gets fussy is around 8 or 9 pm because she is tired and fights sleep and i try and keep her up longer so she will sleep good.  it was really hard at first though when the adrenaline and shock of the baby wears off and she was getting up every 2-3 hours especially before my milk came in! i felt like i was feeding her all day and night and i was SOO tired! but it is amazing how my body adapts to her needs.

she loves to smile!! in the last couple weeks she is starting to smile at Dane more and other people, its pretty cute! i can always get to her give me big smiles and she will coo, i just love it! a couple weeks ago my sister Kourtnee came over to practice her senior presentation and she was being goofy and we were all laughing, well makenna was looking at me and started laughing it was so funny!!!

she loves to sing. every time i am rocking her to sleep and singing her little songs she will open her eyes and smile and try singing with me.  also its so funny, if we are in the car she loves the music but especially Dane will put on Taylor swift and she loves it.  but when she is really mad she wont have anything to do with it, and i have to get in the back and rub her face to calm down.  she would always kick in my belly when there was music on so hopefully she will get some music talent.

she is a great little eater.  straight from the beginning i haven't had problems with her latching on, which was so nice! but i will say on my end it took some getting used to.  at times it was really hard and REALLY hurt! but as of last week everything is healed and its been great! i would have Dane squeeze my hand when i had to nurse her on one side it was horrible! he is such a great support.  also i can say now i know what it feels like to be engorged and oh that hurts and i understand what people were saying now! twice i got signs of mastitis and it only lasted a couple days but it was HORRIBLE! i was so sick and my body would ache, i had a migraine and my boobs felt like they had huge golf balls in them i don't know if that tmi but it was not fun! she even takes a bottle great! its so nice for Dane or my mom to be able to feed her while i sleep, and pumping now is a piece of cake but worth it to get sleep.  my goal is to nurse for a year so we'll so how it goes. also the only food that seems to make her upset is ice cream which for me is a bummer but from all the allergies I've had I'll take that because I've been able to eat everything else so its great.

some other little things she does... and random things we've been doing

• she hates being in her car seat if were not driving....sometimes she will get mad like at red lights and that's the worst.
• she likes to know that we are close by if not in the same room... i don't know how she knows but she does
• loves to be rocked to sleep, doesn't like to just be put down if her eyes aren't completely closed
• loves her dad!! he will lay her on her back on his chest and she will wiggle tell she can see his face
• Dane does a great job letting me sleep and tending to her mostly on the weekends because he doesn't have to get up early
• the other day we layed out her little play yard with toys above her, and she loves it! she kicks and wiggles her arms and loves the sound of the toys! she will just make noises its so cute!
• she loves to be wrapped tight! sometimes that's the only thing that will calm her down if she is so tired
• so far i have left her twice, acouple weeks ago i had to do hair for my friends tashionshow and left her with Kourtnee at my grandmas house til Dane got done with school and she did great.  then Dane and i went on a date this last Saturday to Texas road house and left her with my mom and she said she did good.  she loves being held by all the kids and they just adore her. 
• every time we go to my parents everyone starts calling dibs on her and getting "in line"to hold her its so fun
• her eyes are getting so big and she will just open them up as wide as they go and just stare its so funny
• she still has a TON of hair and its growing and getting lighter so we cant wait to see what its going to do!
• we bless her this sunday i just can't believe it
• last time we weighed her she was 9.5 lbs and that was at 2 weeks old so im curious how much she is now
• its been so fun to stay home with her, im surprised with how busy i was that i haven't gotten sick of being home.  i am excited to work a little though becuase i love doing hair, but sad to leave her.  my mom is so excited though, and it will be nice to bring in some money.
• we have made it 6 weeks with out an income! we have never had to do this and its hard but dane goes back to work next week!!!!!
• i've taken her to the park a couple times and she does great and loves being outside
• we love our snuggle days when its rainy and we stay in our pjs all day
• i've made dinner most nights and its feels great, and to be able to clean the house and do laundry i love being home
• its been so fun to have dane around, even though he is student teaching and not making money he comes home for lunch and gets done by 4 and is around for the evenings i love it!
• we have started doing FHE and dane is so cute and came up with the idea of reading a conference talk every monday and its been so fun
• she has gone to 2 movies with us and did GREAT! i was surprised she didn't get freaked out by the loud noise
• she has definently found her cry! and when she is mad she will let you know but for the most part she is a happy baby and we love her
• she loves taking bathes

its so fun to have her here!! we just love her and as soon as i get her pictures back i will put those up!

Baby Update

Alright well here i am just about 40 weeks and coming on my due date this coming Monday the 19th of March! Still no baby....and trying not to be disappointed! I dont feel the urge to say quite yet just get this thing out of me. but I'm tired of getting my hopes up because for the past couple weeks and especially the last couple of days I've had some pretty hard contractions, not the braxton hicks and not just the cramping like your starting your period (because I've had plenty of that), but contractions every 10-15 mins especially all day yesterday!! so i try to stay busy with work but at the same time my body is so tired and cant keep up with my daily work schedule.

i feel like my mind is playing games all day, trying not to focus on the pain but how do you not??

so I've tried to read several talks and scriptures on Patience and the Lords timing, and I'm sincerely trying to focus on our little girl and whats best for her and her timing, but honestly its hard!! I know i shouldn't rush things and be patient because you never know what these last few days maybe even a week she needs to prepare to come to this mortal state and maybe she is getting her last few instructions from Heavenly Father.

So here i am just waiting!

I'm so excited though to hold her, its one of those moments you wait your whole life for and its hard not having a set date to count the days down to. kinda like Christmas or your wedding day.  now i know why women when they get to the end they'd rather set a date and be induced, but i didn't choose that route so now i just wait! what a hard word..... wait!!!!

i know i shouldn't complain because i haven't even hit my due date the doctor set but its hard when my body is just kinda getting started then I'll go to bed and they stop, then they start again in the morning...oh well

but today through Saturday i have my hands full at the salon so if that doesn't put me into labor then the whole being active and walking stuff is crap! ha so we'll see what happens!

but on a lighter note, baby is still healthy and has a strong heartbeat! she is getting bigger and running out of room to kick, so still movement but doesn't feel like she is doing somersaults anymore just moving her arms and legs.  the nurses try to guess how big she is but they all have different theories its pretty funny. but they guessed as of last week that she's going to be anywhere from a big 6lbs baby to a little or even 7lbs baby so we'll see.  Sleeping is getting more uncomfortable and i seem to wake up every 2-3 hours which i know prepares your body for whats ahead, but i really would rather have her here then trying to sit up with this huge belly and go to the bathroom all hours of the night.  but i will take all the sleep i can get now!

i can say now that we are ready for her to come!

We have everything pretty much packed and set up.  her clothes are all organized and we even deep cleaned our house this last weekend. it was so nice, i cant bend down and clean corners very well, and Dane I'm sure is getting tired of doing most of the chores. but you know when you just want a clean bathroom and no matter who tries to help its just not how i would do it :) so my wonderful mother and sibling came over to help!! my mother is awesome! it was so wonderful to have a clean house and have help reaching all the hard corners i don't get to.  so spring cleaning is checked off the list!!

What else.... Dane started student teaching at the elementary school down from our house this week.  he likes it but its definitely an adjustment from high school so he's getting used to it! He really wants to start riding his bike but the weather has been so yucky lately so hopefully it clears up for him!

But i think that's about it, the latest in our life just waiting for this sweet little miss to join our family!

Here are some pictures we took last week with Dane's cousin Nicole, she did a FABULOUS job and i absolutely adore her!

2 Years

Wow i can't believe its been 2 years since i married the man of my dreams!

 Dane is just so wonderful and I'm so grateful for him!

Since our anniversary falls on Feb 12th so close to Valentines we combine it and have lots of fun.

this year i wanted to do something fun, i decided to do the 14 days of valentines.

which consisted of a little note and a treat that went together everyday! they weren't anything big, but little treats i knew he would enjoy! it was fun to see Dane get so excited about his surprises everyday!

one day i got busy and forgot to put one out, that night he was so sad and says "you forgot me and my surprise" ha it was cute and really fun to do something for him everyday!

This year sweet Dane tried several times to surprise me, but I'm just too noisy and read into everything

so i feel bad he tries so hard to make it a surprise but i ruin it ha ha. i am getting better though.

First off he blocked my schedule way in advance at the salon so i wouldn't have to work

we got massages at Rejuv and it was HEAVENLY! we then of course had to go to his basketball game

which he won! then grabbed some cafe rio and headed to Twin Falls. We are so glad the temple there will let you use some clothing because we get all the way there and Dane forgot his pants and my dress for obvious reasons doesn't fit anymore! but the temple was so beautiful!! it had been so long since we had gone and you cant help but feel peace and love towards your spouse when your there!

then after he took me to Jakers for some dinner, twin falls didn't really have any choices.

but it was great and the servers were really nice!

then we headed home, it was so fun to not have any distractions and just talk about anything and everything.

Sunday was our actual anniversary the 12th so we went to church and i wasn't feeling well so we just stayed home in our pjs and watched movies, it was so fun! then later we went to my families house for some dinner because we didn't make it to the grocery store! what would we do with out our family so close!

oh and the best part is he surprised me and got me a sewing machine!!!!!! i was so EXCITED!!

Well Valentines came around and we weren't planning much because of our eventful weekend, but i still wanted to make it fun. so i got a heart pizza and some martinellis. Dane came home and he didn't have anything in his hands and i got really disappointed! i tried really hard not to make a remark or have an attitude, but the harmons got the best of me and i was really sad he didn't even get me a card, flowers, or send me a text that day! i kinda gave him a hard time and he totally played it off feeling so bad!

this is so embarrassing because i had made it this huge deal and i walk out to the car to go to our last birthing class and guess whats on the seat....flowers!!! he did it on purpose knowing how id react!! the little stinker knows me way to well, and he thinks he's pretty funny! :)

Then of course he got a surprise as well, he finally got his new phone he's been dying and waiting so patiently to get, the iphone! it was so fun to see his face light up when he got to play with it! men and electronics! ha

it was so fun to get out and do something different! things defiantly change when you have a baby on the way. but it was a blast and some fun memories to have before little kidos start coming!

love you Dane! thanks for being my better half!

baby update

32 weeks

35 weeks dont mind the stain on my shirt :)

I cant believe i haven't updated this in so long.  so much has been on my mind the last month or so.  I'm finally down to the 4 weeks of pregnancy and cant be more thrilled!!! Dane and i are so excited to become parents! i don't want to sound ungrateful for this experience to be pregnant because that is not the case, but I'm so anxious to get this baby out! as i say this though i have mixed emotions because i have really enjoyed the good days and being able to feel this little girl move all around! it was neat the other night while i was taking a bath she was sticking out her back and little butt and it was the coolest thing, it felt like she was right there and could grab her.  i love feeling her little and big kicks.  she is a very active wiggly baby! i think it is so funny she always wiggles when i start blow drying peoples hair at the salon, and will immediately be still as soon as anyone wants to feel her, even Dane! little stinker!! my appointments start to become weekly this next Tuesday which i never thought I'd get to this point.  so far they say everything is great and the baby is healthy and in perfect position, which is all a blessing! the only thing I've had to keep up on is my iron is so low so i have to take iron stuff and it makes me so nauseous but oh well, and i have to keep up my protein. I've been really grateful that my blood pressure has been normal so that i can work hopefully for the next 4 weeks, seeing as Dane is currently unemployed and finishing his last semester of school as a student teacher.

although i might add that I'm so tired all the time and don't have any energy, and the nausea is back! its a vicious cycle that never ends ha ha. my hands swell more frequently recently.  i get very uncomfortable and get really bad back pain and kinda crampy lately as the braxton hicks become alittle bit harder. i can feel the baby lower which is exciting, and i guess the baby sits more on the nerves which shoot down my leg but that means that its getting closer and baby is moving its way down YAY! lately in the last month i LOVE to take baths!! it has been the only thing that helps my body relax and able to go to sleep, so wonderful! I'm so glad i will have a bath to labor in! the baby's little body is still in my ribs and they are sore as ever, i cant image that being very comfortable for her.

oh and the lovely stretch marks, i was not lucky to get the genetics of stretchy skin so i got quite a few but I'm ok with it.  i showed my belly to my little sisters the other day and they were kinda creeped out by what it really looked like, especially my belly button does stick out kinda weird.  i was complaining about the stretch marks but my sweet little sister Emma was so cute and said that only happens to skinny people so that made me feel better! ha ha

i have the best support system in the world!! Dane has been AWESOME and has helped me more then he knows! also my family has been so great especially my mom! she is so understanding and always makes me feel better! it has been nice to have supportive friends as well! sometimes when it comes to how I'm going to have my baby lots of people judge me and guess what its none of their business! so I'm grateful for those that support our decision, because I'm so excited for this experience coming!!

We are having our baby at a birthing center called the Baby Place in Meridian.  We have always felt cared for and that they genuinely care for us in all aspects which has been so great! they have helped us make our own decisions and given us more information then we could have hoped for! They have helped me do my own research on different things and be able to form an opinion for my own which i always have a hard time doing.  so we are so excited for the envirorment they provide and so grateful for them.

We recently finished our birthing class this last Tuesday! it was AMAZING and worth every penny we saved so we could take it! it has been so helpful to not only have a greater understanding of what goes on in the medical world but to really know that our bodies were created how they are for a reason and it just makes my testimony stronger. it has been the neatest thing for me to understand my body and how to deal with different emotions, and for Dane to help me understand what i need! as much as i don't want to admit it most of the time he truly does know me inside and out! we have grown so close these last few months through this pregnancy that i didn't think was possible.  Even though he still is crazy busy and needles to say my emotions tend to get the best of me, we are able to come together, and its just been the coolest experience. its interesting because in the moment i don't tend to see any difference but looking back on being pregnant its been really neat!

anyways.... we have gotten most of the baby things but at the same time i feel like we aren't prepared! we finally got her cute crib and are so excited! we still have a lot to do and think about before she comes but it will come together right?! hopefully! :) well i feel like i got most of my feelings down, sometimes hard to put into words but we are so excited and are trying not to but are counting down the days!! Dane wants me to put up and candy count down for him but we'll see if i get to that!