oh summer, it's nice to see you again

FINALLY, the weather in Logan has warmed up. I get awfully crabby in the Winter, especially when it lasts way longer then it should. But then again that is Utah, so unpredictable. I hope maybe someday that Jordan and I can move back East. I miss it terribly.

Speaking of Logan, Jordan, Kyra and I moved back to Logan almost two months ago. We are loving it! Although Logan is a good thirty minutes from the I-15, we at least have a Walmart in town (which Tremonton did not). I am closer to a few friends and Jordan is mintues from his job! Soon Jordan's brother and his family will be moving over too!

A few weeks ago, my Mom and sister Brooke flew into town. Another sister of mine, Hope graduated from Pleasant Grove High School! It was nice to spend time with them. Jordan was actually in Lake Powell with his Dad and brother, so it was a girlie week! All 5 of us girls packed into a car, trolling all over Utah! Kyra got to go swimming for the first time, at the pool in the hotel we were staying at, and she loved it! She also did fairly well in the car, which we were in for most of the week. I had to give her a few days not in the carseat for her to forget about the long hours she spent in it.

It was Jordan's 1st Father's Day this past Sunday. We didn't do anything too special. He actually had to work most of the day. Once he got home, Kyra and I gave him a couple of presents and then we had a BBQ with his Dad and brother (and his family!). It was a good day! Good weather, good food, and good company. Now we want to have a BBQ every night! : )

I hate to say it, when Kyra is only just about to turn one, that I am getting baby hungry again. (I'm sure Jordan would love to hear this! : ) not.) My brother and sister-in-law just added another baby to their family: Olive May born on May 21st! And my sister-in law and her husband had their 2nd boy: Brody Spencer on June 18th! Maybe just cuddling my new neice and nephew will buy Jordan a few more months before I bring up the "b" word! : )

I started a new endeavor and signed up to be a consultant to sell Scentsy. For those of you who don't know what Scentsy is, they are a wickless candle that you burn in a warmer. Most everywhere sells them now a days, but Scentsy is the brand that started them. Check out my website if you are interested in what we do! rbartholomew.scentsy.us

Bring on the summer! Fairs and fireworks, pies and hamburgers! 

And sun, oh yes, the sun!

a mountian to climb

Oh life. I usually find my life pretty boring. Contently boring. Sometimes we hear of stories and just thank heavens that it wasn't you or someone you know. Or think, 'how tragic-how could that have possibly happened?' I do believe things happen for a reason, although we might not be able to understand the purpose at that exact moment in time. My husband lost his younger brother last month, in a fatal car accident. He was only 20 years old. It's hard to understand why someone so young would get taken so early on. I am grateful for the teachings of the church that have helped calm those of us who are mourning this great loss. Instead of thinking that we will never see him again, we can look forward to the day that we will! He will be greatly missed, until we meet again. . .  .

Spencer Henry Bartholomew

5.22.90-2.12.11

On a different note and back to the contently boring life, Kyra is growing way too fast! :) She will be nine months next month and it seems like I just barely brought her home from the hospital last week! But I have a feeling that I will feel that way her whole life! She has her first tooth coming in. She is a much happier child than she was probably three months ago. I chalk it up to getting over the painful teething part (for now) and also being able to crawl around and pull herself up to things! I see her personality unfold more and more everyday.

Leaning against the couch...

Out for some dinner

Jordan and I have decided to move back to Logan! We just can't seem to get way from that town. We found a 3 bedroom apartment that will fit us just fine. We move in at the beginning of May, which will give us plenty of time to pack up all of our stuff and acquire certain furniture we don't have. We are currently living with Jordan's parents, and have been very grateful to have been here so long, but we are glad to be back out on our own! I am going crazy thinking of all the decorating that I will be able to do!! Gardening, sewing Kyra crib bedding (which will be a task for I have never sewed before but have always wanted to learn!), and deciding on color schemes in our kitchen, living area, and bathroom! 

I have had the opportunity to make a few cakes, in the last couple of months. I am slowly putting my Culinary Art skills to use! I have always been into baked goods, but I am furthering my knowledge of the master of cake baking and decorating. I have been for a few years but I am just now getting comfortable!   

A rockstar birthday cake for my friend's two year old!

Bring on the April showers and May flowers! My favorite time in Utah-when it gets WARM! I have decided to take on a goal: to run a half marathon in August! So I busted out my spandex shorts and sweat-bands and have been walking up a storm. Occasionally a jog. And soon to be a full on run! Wish me luck! :) 

a new year, a new me

The holidays are finally over! They came and went so fast. I basically spent all my time making lists and buying gifts. And then obsessing over if it was the right gift and then making more lists. Now I don't really know what to do with myself during the days. Kyra and I have the same routine every day:

Get up.

Make the bed.

Do Pilates.

Breakfast for me.

Feed Kyra cereal.

Shower. 

Both of us get dressed for the day.

And then pretty much just pal around the house, doing different things to keep Kyra occupied.

And it varies some, but not by much. Sometimes I do actually get to get out of the house. It doesn't bother me that we only have one car and it's sole purpose is to drive Jordan to and from work every day. Usually the winter time I almost hibernate in the house anyway. I don't like going out much in the snow. But then again, the snow makes me depressed. So if I don't get out from time to time, it could get ugly!

Kyra is now rolling over and is starting to scoot. Before I know it she will be crawling! I know that some parents say that it is a nightmare once they start crawling and walking because then they will be getting into things at all times! But I just cannot wait for her to crawl. Up until this point Kyra has been a handful, and so I am not worried about her being even more of a handful when she is mobile. I think she will be happier once she can move herself. She already seemed happier once she started rolling around. 

We might be moving soon! Jordan is a manager at a call center in Logan. They are opening up a new center in Roy in March. Jordan let his boss know that he would be willing to move. So we are hoping to hear soon if we will be moving or not. I would LOVE to move anywhere but Logan. I love Logan but I hate it so I am hoping that we will get the go ahead for Roy. We are still living with Jordan's Mom and her husband so it would be nice to move too, so we could get our own place! I just have visions in my head of decorating our home. Any home. An apartment most likely. So I can't wait for the day! Even if he doesn't get the Roy job, we will then be moving to Logan so he can be closer to work. (Cross your fingers for Roy!)

My brother's family's Christmas tree!

  

Opening her first gift, and loving it!

Her cousin Atalie loves her so much!

Fell asleep on the bed by herself, which is a rare occasion.

Almost too heavy to do this anymore!

blog challenged

So I was messing around with my blog and somehow messed it up! My family photo up top used to be in the middle and now it is on the side and making me very annoyed. I was messing with the design and the template. If anyone can be of assistance, let me know!

On another note, Thanksgiving was great. We spent it with Jordan's Dad and his wife with her family, if that made any sense!

And Christmas is coming up on us so fast I can't even believe. I still have a bit more Christmas shopping to do, of course last minute. I am grateful that around this time of year, I find more joy in finding the perfect gift for family and friends that it doesn't really matter what I get. I am pretty sure I have used all the Christmas money I have received this year on buying more gifts for others. In the back of my head I think of that winter coat that I need for my last year's one was actually from the year before and is definitely not warm. I don't know what I was thinking. And some new jeans would be nice. I didn't realize how pregnancy would affect the body. Where it is nice that I am loosing a lot of my weight pretty quickly, I don't have any jeans that fit. I would now describe my body type has weird and flubber-like and doesn't fit in any jeans that society has to offer. Bummer. I just lay around in my pajamas all day, hoping I don't have to go anywhere. When it really comes down to Christmas, I just love spending time with family. We are lucky to have all of Jordan's family living around us and some of mine too! 

It will be Kyra's first Christmas! Santa won't be bringing her too much stuff this year. She can roll around everywhere and grab her toys but she won't get the excitement of opening presents. She will just want to eat the paper. So Santa is getting her a couple of toys and waiting until next year to splurge.

My ultimate wish, one day, is to visit Ireland. I know this is random but I have been thinking about it more lately. I was in Bath and Body Works the other day and they have a new lotion called 'P.S. I Love You.' This made me then think of the movie which some of it takes place in Ireland! I started researching Ireland a few years back and became obsessed! I will make it there someday. . .

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you all!

that time of year

Once again, I try to keep up on my blog but have been unsuccessful. I even have more time to do so since I am not working at the moment. But I do have a very demanding 4 month old that takes up most of my attention. I hardly ever set her down, which will kick me in the butt later I am sure.

This is my favorite time of year!

The Fall weather. No snow yet (thank you!). And all the holidays!!

My birthday kicks it off, which I just so happened to be turning 25 this year! I always wondered, back when I was younger, where my life would be when I turned 25. And I can say that I am very satisfied with where I am! My family is just beginning and I am excited for the future.

As I mentioned in my last post, Jordan and I had gotten engaged and have since been married! October 23rd! We planned a wedding in 6 weeks! It can be done! Jordan's Mom, Tena helped me tremendously with all the details. My Mom wasn't able to fly in until a few days before the wedding, but she helped me a ton over the phone and we were running last minute errands once she got in to town. My friend Sarah was so kind as to take our engagement photos and my bridals. Both sessions turned out perfectly! Most of my immediate family came in for it and it was great spending time with them! I have been waiting for this day for a long time. Jordan and I have been dating over 4 years. I love the feeling of being married and being able to call him 'husband!' Although it was as if we were already married before, it feels so much better now. We didn't get to go on a honeymoon. We just stayed the night at the Marriott in Park City so we could have a night away. It was hard being away from Kyra. I have never left that long. It gave me a little bit of anxiety, especially since I am still nursing her! But my Mom had offered to take her for the night so we could have a wedding night! I made sure over a few months before the wedding, to pump as much milk as I could squeeze in, between feedings. So I had plently of milk for my Mom to feed Kyra. Since she was in the NICU for the first few days of her life, Kyra was used to taking a bottle which was a blessing! And she doesn't do bad with formula if my Mom absolutely needed to use, but she didn't! We left our wedding in our attire. It was a neat feeling to roll up to the hotel in my wedding dress! It was pretty late by then so no one was really around to see me, dang it! We decided, the next day, that we should have stayed away for two nights. We got to the hotel around 11pm and had to check out at 10am. No time to really relax! We had a fireplace in our room and didn't even get to turn it on! We are trying to plan a 'real' honeymoon for the Spring!

Totally smashing it in his face!

More pics to come of the wedding soon! (When I don't have a screaming baby on my hip!)

Right after the hooplah of our wedding, it was Kyra's 1st Halloween! She is only 4 months old so Halloween wasn't a big deal this year. We didn't go trick or treating but I still got her a cute costume to wear! Some of her cousins came over for lunch and we got some pictures with them! Next year she will be able to walk!! Can't wait.

Now it's on to Thanksgiving! We aren't sure of our plans yet but we will be spending it with family! I have many things to be grateful for, #1 is family!

procrastination

I realize that it has almost been a full three months since I last posted. I kept thinking about posting but never got around to it. I will keep Kyra's birth story short and simple, because it was definitely not a smooth delivery.

I got admitted to the hospital the night before I was to be induced, June 30th. They were giving me Cervidil over night to help me dilate, because I wasn't dilating at all at that point. When the nurse checked me the next morning, the Cervidil hadn't worked at all. Doctor Ferguson then decided to insert a little balloon that pulled down on my cervix to make me dilate. Let me tell you, that freakin' hurt! It made my contractions so bad, that I then got my epidural at 2 cm! Right after the epidural the balloon fell out, which was then supposed to have dilated me to a 5. Within the next couple of hours, I went to a 7 1/2 and then to a 9! The nurses started prepping the room for the baby! I was so nervous! Right after the room was prepped, the day nurses went off shift and the night ones came on. When one of the night nurses checked my dilation, she told me that I was only at a 4!! Uh? A 4? It didn't make sense. They called the doctor in and he said I was only at a 6 1/2. My goodness. Nobody knew what they were doing around there, besides my doctor who was wonderful. By that time, once Dr. Ferguson was there, he noticed that Kyra's heart rate was dropping a little with my contractions. So he gave me the option to go ahead and do a C-Section right then. I took it! I wanted that baby out of me!! I had Kyra at 6:45 pm on July 1st and she weighed 7lbs. 15oz.

It doesn't stop there. She wasn't breathing when she came out. The Brigham City Hospital is not equipped with a NICU, so Kyra was life-flighted down to Ogden Regional. By the time I came out of surgery, I got to see Kyra for a second before she was wheeled off to the helicopter. It was a crazy night. I was so drugged up that I didn't even understand what the on-call pediatrician was telling me, that they were taking my baby away because she wasn't breathing.

Recovering from a C-Section is not easy. I couldn't walk the whole next day! I got discharged from the hospital three days later. Luckily, the same day as Kyra did in Ogden. Over the last three months, I have been getting used to having an adorable little girl attached to me at all times! I love her so much. :)

In other news, JORDAN AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED! Finally. It has been a long time coming, but we are officially tying the knot on October 23rd! I can't even explain how excited I am. He and I have been together for 4 years. Needless to say, I have been waiting for this to happen for a LONG time! :)

Gettin' ready to leave for the hospital!

In his scrubs, ready for my surgery!

Touching my baby for the first time!

Kyra and her Daddy!

still waiting

Being in my last month of pregnancy, I have graduated from going to the doc every two weeks to going every week. 7 days could be just the right amount of time I need to get some dilation or it could be the longest week ever and I don't dilate at all.

Well, I am more the second part. After the last two appointments I have had no change. I went from 0 cm to 1/2 cm. And am pretty much staying at the 1/2. I went into the hospital last Friday with contractions. They hooked me up to all the good stuff and checked me but I wasn't dilated anymore then the 1/2 cm. The nurse let me contract for about two hours and then came back to check me, in which I hadn't progressed any. So the dreaded words, "we are sending you home."

The chance that I would be coming back anytime later that day, to have this baby, were slim to none. We went home and walked. And walked. I walked so much my feet have doubled in size now. My contractions were still coming but started to taper out Saturday morning. One thing is clear, this baby does not want to come out yet.

My due date is the 27th. So I technically still have a week to go. For all of you who have been pregnant should understand how I feel, but I DO NOT want to hear anything like these (especially from the male species):

'the baby will come when she is ready' (duh. I can't reach in there and grab her out whenever I want!)

'your due date is just a guesstimate, you could still be weeks off' (next time you can carry the extra 60 pounds that I have and we'll call it good)

'you still haven't had that baby yet?' (obviously not, or I wouldn't look like a huge whale still)

I am in no mood for this waiting game anymore. Ha. So I am holing myself up in my apartment so I don't have to go out and get the awful stares and annoying comments. Maybe something exciting will happen this week, probably not, or maybe the doc will take pity on me and induce me next Monday instead of letting me go till 41 WEEKS AH!
We shall see...

On a less annoyed note, Jordan and I celebrated FOUR years of being together last Wednesday!