Maureen told me that Howard Stern said that if you squat, it makes the baby come out faster

We have ourselves a baby!  We are beyond thrilled that Ellie decided to show up, and I was completely ecstatic that she came a couple days early. She's adorable and oh so sweet. We love her to pieces.  Here's the story of how our lovey came into our lives:

Ellie was due on October 19th.  On October 16th I had a doctor's appointment to check to see how things were going.  When I got there the doctor told me I was showing some signs of Preeclampsia. He also told me that if I were a little further along he would take me straight to the hospital and deliver my baby right then and there, but since I was only dilated to a one I would most likely be in labor for 30 hours and end up having a c-section anyway. He wanted me to go to the hospital the following day so they could monitor me for stress and give me blood pressure tests.

The next day, I headed to the hospital to be monitored.  After my first blood pressure test the nurse told me that I would be having my baby that night. She asked me if I wanted to try to deliver Ellie, or if I wanted to have a c-section.  I opted for the c-section since I figured I would end up having one anyway.  The nurse then asked me how soon my husband could be there (it was around 5:30 at the time).   I called Jeremy to see where he was, and told him to grab our bags and to meet me at the hospital.

Jeremy made it to the hospital by 6:00, they handed him his operation room garb, and rushed me to get my epidural.  My first epidural didn't take, and the anesthesiologist didn't want to believe me when I told him that I could still feel everything.  The doctor kept pinching my stomach with tweezers, which felt delightful.  I pleaded with them to understand that my stomach wasn't numb, and to please, please not cut into it.  Finally, they decided to give me another epidural.   This time it took, and I was numb within minutes.  The anesthesiologist was worried that the numbness would go up too far.  He told me to make sure to let him know if my fingers went numb (too bad they were already numb since I had carpal tunnel from being pregnant).

The curtain went up and the next thing I knew I heard Ellie crying.  The nurses swept Jeremy away.  He came running back exclaiming, "She has so much hair!"  Ellie had a pretty wet cry when she came out.  I later found out it was because she had 8 tablespoons of fluid in her lungs that they had to pump out, and they had to pump out an additional 3 tablespoons in the nursery.  On their way to the nursery, Jeremy brought Ellie over to me so I could see her.  She was so beautiful.  The moment didn't last nearly long enough.  She was whisked away to the nursery to be weighed and such.  The doctor sewed me up quite quickly, took the curtain down, and congratulated me while still wearing my blood on his gloves.

They moved me over to a bed and wheeled me to the room where they monitored my blood pressure. Within about ten minutes Jeremy showed up, and Ellie came not far after.  We didn't have a name for Ellie at the time.  We had a list of names, but we had a hard time deciding on the right one.  Together we decided on Ellie Anne before they even had a chance to bring her in.  As soon as they brought her in the nurse wanted me to feed her.  I was so nervous.  I had heard that nursing is hard, and I didn't know what I was doing.  Luckily, Ellie ate like a champ.  While I was feeding her they wheeled me to my room that I would stay in for the next 2.5 days.  Ellie was born at 6:59 p.m.  She weighed 8 lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 inches long.

I’m gonna get a pen and put it on top of your head and see if it rolls off.

All summer I have been driving Jeremy crazy about getting the nursery set up.  He keeps reminding me that our baby girl isn't showing up until October. He is right, but he let me win anyway.  Here are some pictures of the nursery.  It is pretty much done. All I want now is to get the curtains hung, but I figure I'll give Jeremy a break for a bit.

The changing table and baskets are from IKEA. I made the artwork on the walls. We got the mirror from Tai-Pan awhile ago, but I thought it would look great in the nursery

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Jeremy owned that giant chair before we got married.  Words cannot describe how comfortable that chair is.  I'll tell you right now though, it is really hard to get out of when you have a giant stomach that likes to get in the way. I was beyond excited when Jeremy set up the crib.  I LOVE white cribs.  I think they are adorable.

I bought the mobile on Amazon.  It was my big splurge.  I couldn't help it though; it is simply adorable.  I made the pennant banner out of left over fabric from the crib quilt.

I put my sewing skills to the test with this room.  I made the crib quilt and the elephant pillow.

This cute rocking chair was given to us by Jeremy's mom.  It was her's when she was a little girl.  I absolutely love it, and I know that baby girl will too!

The rocking chair was a garage sale find for only $8.  I spray painted it because it had definitely seen better days. The hamper I got from TJ Maxx, and the elephant mask I made in high school.

I love how the nursery turned out!  Now I just need my little girl to show up and we will be good to go.  Only 2 months left!

To see how I painted the walls, check out this post.

Maybe if we concentrate really hard our combined psychic powers will move it closer.

The summer months always call for the reunions of families. This year we had an extended family reunion on my mom's side of the family, and one with our immediate family a few weeks later. For the extended family reunion we watched the 4th of July parade and attended the rodeo.  It was a blast!

This was Jeremy's first rodeo.  I secretly got a kick out of his reactions to the different events.  He loved the bull riding (of course) and the mini show with BMX bikers going off jumps.  All in all, I don't think it'll be that hard to talk him into going to another rodeo.

For our immediate family reunion we went down to my parents' cabin and partied.  We rode 4-wheelers, went on hikes, ate good food, and played fun games.  We also got to celebrate this cutie's 1st birthday.

I would like a cheeseburger, with a side of cheeseburger, and see if they can make me a cheeseburger smoothie.

So... we're pregnant.  We are extremely excited about it, by the way.  Go us!

October 19th is the due date.  It's going to be a long, hot summer, but boy will he/she be worth it!  I'm also so blessed to have a hard working husband with a great job, so I will be retiring.  Four years of teaching, and just like that I'm a stay-at-home mom.  It'll be really weird, but I'm super excited about it!

I can be flexible. As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I'm totally flexible.

This cute guy turned 3!  I can't even describe how much I love that this cutie pie is in my life. Boy oh boy does he love superheroes, swimming, and sweets.

Happy birthday B! I sure do love ya!

Um, excuse me, hi. I am not seeing my coat here, and it was very cute and it was on sale, and I will fling myself off a building if I lose it.

My sister Rylee is officially married! It was a beautiful day, and a lot of fun. We are so excited to have Tyler as a part of our family.

Their sealing was amazing, and the reception was gorgeous.  Here are some pics.  I keep telling my mom she needs to start her own wedding planning company.

Happy wedding Ry and Ty!

Even without an inhaler, "Follow Them to the Edge of the Desert" is too long. Yeah, but when we get famous, our fans will shorten it to F-T-T-T-E-O-T-D.

I love summer.  Let me say that one more time, I love summer.  It's warm outside, the sun is shining, there is no school... did I mention that it's warm outside?  Here's an update on what Jeremy and I have been up to so far this summer.  I'm going to go chronologically backwards (get over it).

This weekend Jeremy and I went to Park City.  I love Park City.  It is beautiful up there, and there is some great shopping to be had.  On the way to Park City, however, Jeremy and I noticed a car show at the park in Heber.  Knowing Jeremy's love for cars, I suggested that we check it out.  It was a lot of fun!  There were so many awesome cars.  Jeremy was in car heaven, and now he is obsessed with the idea of getting an old truck for his next car so he can fix it up.

After the car show, we headed to the outlet mall in Park City.  We wandered around for a bit then decided it was time to go to our favorite store, The World Market.  If you have never been there you need to go.  It is pretty much the coolest store ever invented.  I could walk around for hours.  They have a little bit of everything, jewelry, home decor, kitchen supplies, foreign food, etc.  Their website is www.worldmarket.com if you want to take a gander.  On our way home we stopped for dinner at our favorite burger joint in Park City, The Dairy Keen.

They have great food, and delicious shakes.  I suggest you stop there on your way to, or way home from Park City.
Also, last week my dearest friend Stephi got married, so Jeremy and I were able to go down to St. George for her and her husband's sealing and reception.  I am so happy for them.

I also got to be a bride's maid.  It was so exciting.  I have never been a bride's maid before.
Jeremy and I also had the privilege of going to my family's cabin in Pine Valley a few times this summer.  I love it in Pine Valley.  It is gorgeous.  I love chilling with my family, eating good food, and being out in nature (with a flushing toilet and warm shower close by, of course).

While we were there we were able to go to the Pine Valley Chapel for church.  The Pine Valley Chapel is the oldest LDS building in use.

Since it was Memorial Day weekend, it was quite busy up at Pine Valley and we had to sit outside for the church service.  It was kind of cool to have sacrament meeting outside.  My cute nephew, Brey, didn't mind being outside one bit.

Well, that's it for now on our summer adventures.  Feel free to be jealous.

I'm a Mormon. I know it, I live it, and I love it.

I love the first weekend in April.  The reason why is that I get to sit and listen to God's living prophets and apostles.  Here are some quotes from the last conference that was on the first weekend of October:

(printables found here)

There is some great wisdom and advise to be had.  It is such a blessing to know that there are men and women on this earth that are mouthpieces of the Lord.  If you are interested in hearing from them, they speak again tomorrow.  Just click on this link: LDS Conference April 2013

Sick people freak me out.

Today I got to hang out with this little guy:

As we (my mom, 2 sisters, cute nephew, and I) were driving to lunch, Cute Guy started to cough, which caused him to throw up.  I'm not talking about a little throw up, I'm talking three sessions right in a row.  It was all over the poor kid.  Luckily it all landed on him and the car seat, but he was quite upset and confused about the whole ordeal.  We pulled over to the side of the road, and got him cleaned up the best we could with baby wipes.  Luckily, we weren't far from his house.  We drove up to their apartment, washed him, his clothes, and his car seat up.  Once we could tell that he was doing all good we headed back out to lunch.  For the rest of the afternoon when we put him back in his car seat he would exclaim, "I puked!"  Poor kid, I think he'll be scarred for a bit.  Rylee, however, may be scarred for life.  I think she was about as traumatized as he was (she was the lucky one sitting next to him after all).

She’s the essence of cool. Cool’s her street name. She’s got it monogrammed on her towels and everything

Last night Jeremy and I met up with his family to have a little pinewood derby contest at the Provo Beach Resort.  This was a very serious matter, for the men.  Jeremy was nice enough to let me paint the car though.  This is how our car, or shall I say truck, turn out:

(You can't tell in the picture, but the truck was silver and red).  The men then took over the serious matters.  Such as...

putting graphite on the plastic wheels, and...

making sure all the cars weigh the same.

Then it was time to race!  Who do you think won?  I'm not going to tell you, you'll have to watch it for yourself:

and the winner was...

Team Jeremy and Nicole!

We are officially the unofficial champions of Provo Beach Resort's Pinewood Derby!  Feel free to applaud.

When I do my double jump kick off the amp with slashing windmills, I'm gonna need more room

This month I've had a lot of time to hang out with my family, which has been nice.  I went down to St. George for a week, and then they came up here for my cousin's wedding, and next week Jeremy and I are going down again to hang out at the cabin with them.  Here are some pictures of our good times.

I loved hanging out with cute little Brey.

He loved playing with his "vroom, vroom" that Papa bought him.

Of course in the St. George heat we had to go swimming.

Brey loves getting kisses from his Aunt Cole.

When my family came up for Missy's wedding Spencer, Whit, Brey, Jeremy, and I went to the zoo.  It was so much fun seeing all the animals.

Spencer was so excited to see the crocodiles.

This bird tried to take out Spencer and Brey.  It has a frightening beak that makes it look the birds on Alice in Wonderland.
I loved spending time with my family, and I'm excited to see them again this weekend.  I'm trying to be better at taking pictures, so I'll make sure I take more to post later.