Blessing Brent

March was a crazy Month! I got to see my family a great deal. It was wonderful. (:  My mom, MacKay and I planned to surprise my Dad for his Birthday on March 16th, a Saturday. So MacKay and I took our first long road trip with Brent. He slept the whole way and did great! (other than the poop up the back in Evanston when we stopped to feed him. . . ) We showed up at my Dad's office, it was after hours, but of course he was still there. (; He was so surprised! We played a lot with Brent and had some fun. My Mom and I also got to spend half of Saturday with Candice & the laughing Zoe, Kelsi and her adorable Sagen, and Camille. We had the best time ever. It was so fun to laugh and talk like old times! Miss you girls!

Happy Birthday Dad!

 The above picture from left to right, Camille, Brent & I, Candice & Zoe, Kelsi & Sagen Love these girls!

My high school best friend, since we were 3!! Love her!

The following weekend was Brent's blessing here in Spanish Fork. All of my family was able to come except of course, Andrew. We had lots of Aunts and Uncles and cousins attend as well. We had the best lunch at the Taylor's with Pulled pork Sandwiches, lots of salads, desserts, and sides. Yumm. The Blessing was beautiful! Very nice, and of course Brent slept through the whole thing. (; Daddy did a great job!  As we were rushing to get the rolls over to the Taylor's inbetween the blessing and lunch, we almost forgot pictures in his blessing outfit. Thank heavens for my Mom! Sadly, our camera was being funny and the pictures came out pretty blurry, we didn't find out till later. Darn it! Oh well! Enjoy! (:

The week after was the Shower in Cokeville and the next week was my Grandma's funeral. So we saw a lot of familly in the month of March!

Our April was pretty busy as well. When we got back from my Grandma's funeral, we rushed to the Cabin for Conference weekend. The Taylor's have it as a tradition, we listen to Conference on the Radio. We love the Cabin! We had to snowmobile in, because there was too much snow to drive in. The guys drove in first to start a fire so little Brent wouldn't get cold, then they brought me in and left Brent with Laura. Then they brought those two. MacKay drove Brent in, we had a front baby carrier that we placed him in, and an oversized coat that zipped up around Brent. At first, Brent hated being put in the carrier, crying and kicking. And then MacKay started the snowmobile and he stopped crying, halfway through the ride, MacKay pulled over to see how he was doing and he was sleeping!! I guess he liked it! hahaha. MacKay says he spoke his first words that day, "Faster Daddy, Faster!" (;
We only got a few pictures, but we had a wonderful time! Unfortunately the pictures are on the Taylor's camera. ):

 Since we were gone for Easter, MacKay and I did our Easter a week late. We mostly did it for pictures! haha. I got a basket ready for him and got him dressed all cute, we took some pictures, I made strawberry short cake, and it was so yummy! MacKay had him try the whipped cream.... and Brent liked it! Don't worry, it was only a dab! haha.

The following weekend my bestie, Tiff and I got to go to a Boyce Avenue concert at our old stomping grounds! It was so much fun to be back at Snow College! I love it there, I saw lots of familiar faces, and we people watched more than watched the concert. Haha, since we are old and married, we felt pretty weird being in the 'mosh pit' so we found our seats in the stands. Not gonna lie, I was pretty jealous of the people in the pit! ha! Our other best friend, Shawnee introduced us to Boyce Avenue, and she couldn't come because she lives in Logan. ): We missed her a ton! Snow just isn't the same without Shawnee, Molly and Jenna!  Allred started out, and he was really good! A lot better than the last time I saw him, haha. He is a great singer! Then out came the 3 brothers of Boyce Avenue! They were really good!! Lots of fun to listen too, and we had a great time. MacKay was babysitting in our house there, since it is sitting empty. I had to leave early to feed little Brent, he was screaming. So I missed the last half hour, but Tiff got to stay! We drove to McDonalds and got a McFlurry and headed home. Lots of fun(:

Allred!

My Volleyball girls! I miss them! Sara and Syd!

Boyce Avenue!!!

My Volleyball girl/best friends sister/friend! Mandee

 Then my Mom and Dad came down to visit. My Mom and I went to the Women's Expo at UVU, with Brent in Tow! It was so much fun. We missed Lindsay a lot! Then we met as a family, MacKay, Brent and I, Mom and Dad and my Grandma Henderson. We ate at the Pizza Pie Cafe. OH MY GOODNESS! It was delicious!! GO THERE! haha. It was so yummy. The dessert pizza's were my favorite! It is a buffet, so all you can eat. That's a bad thing! (;

 My birthday gift(not till August) from my Mom! An expo special (: Cute right?!

At the Pizza Pie Cafe!

Then my sister and I started a workout program! It has been so much fun!!! It's called the Bikini Series from Tone It Up. If you're  interested go to toneitup.com. You can still sign up, they just need your email. It's free! They give you daily workouts and goals. It has been a lot of fun! I have a workout buddy here in Spanish fork, Marissa and MacKay and I workout everyday(except Sunday) and I can tell I am losing inches, as well  some pounds! Not to mention we are seriously having so much fun!! Linds and I check in everyday! It has been really good.

 Our Evening Workouts!

My 40 Minute Morning Run!

Morning Run again, with a snake as a companion! (;

MacKay and I have decided that we need to do more dates. We haven't really done them a lot since Brent was born. (yes we just take him with us!) But we are kind of having a competition as to see who can plan the most creative without much money! So we have been on a few adventures, they are just small ones, but it has been so fun. We went up Spanish Fork Canyon and had a picnic and talked and took some pictures. So great to just get away and go outside! Then we have been trying to go on Sunday walks. On our TIU workout plan, Sunday is 'runday' but Linds and I choose a different day to do the runday challenge and try to do a walk instead. We had so much fun and discovered an amazing trail around Spanish Fork! After that, Brent and I go running or walking on the path every day! We have a blast! I can't wait for my sister to move here so we  can go together!! (:

 Sunday Cuddles, and Church!

 The picture above is on our Sunday Walk!

Below is our adventure at the Spanish Fork River Park, with our picnic. (:

And that was about it for our Month of April!! More to come on May, and my Grandma's funeral.

XOXO- Shanna

Catching Up!

Holy Cow, I can't keep up! Life is taking off so fast, and I can't seem to slow it down! Whew! Anyone else feel this way?! We are loving the life we have been dealt. This little guy is the joy of our lives. We have so much fun with him. I am attempting to get caught up on blogging, mostly for my records, so bare with me while I tell about the last few months. I be typing as fast as my fingers will go until he wakes up! Let's see how this goes...(;

When he was born we called up my cousin Tia Chapman, for her to take Newborn pictures of him. So here are of our favorites from that shoot! He was 9 days new(:

BIG Thanks to Tia for the amazing pictures!! Go HERE for her website/blog. She is amazing! If she wasn't my cousin I would still seek her out. She.is.good. Look her up! (:

Next on the list were the 3 baby showers that people threw for me! It was so much fun to get to show off my baby to all my friends and family! We waited till the end of March to have them, so he was a little older and not so new! The first one was in Lake Shore/Spanish Fork. Laura (MIL) threw it for me. It was so fun! Lots of fun faces, MacKay's family, and some of my family were able to come. I got lots of cute clothes. I didn't get any pictures. Darn! We had one of my favorite meals that Laura makes, Cafe Rio Chicken Salad. YUM! With my 2 favorite desserts of hers, Lemon Bars, and Peanut Butter Squares. Mmmm. (:

Next was my shower that my best friend threw for me in Sterling for my Ephraim/Manti friends! (: She did such a good job! It was so much fun to see all my friends again! We had yummy cookies and fruit and my favorite Andes Mints, with the cute little milk cartons, and the cutest stuffed animal, Cookie Monster to go along with the theme! So cute! It was so great to be in Ephraim area again! I miss driving through the streets and waving at almost everyone. I met so many wonderful friends that I miss dearly! Thanks for the shower Shawnee! (:

Then we had the Cokeville Shower, my Mom and sister, Lindsay threw me! And seriously, my sister should start a business planning parties! She is great! I took pictures here! YAY! Go HERE to see her adorable Minnie Mouse themed party for her daughter Avery.
Alright, first off my Aunt Cindy, her son Logan, and two Daughters; Sunday and Misty, with their kids; the twins (who are 1 month older than Brent) Wynter and Ramsey, and Ryan, they all traveled from Cheyenne, about 6 hours away straight through, but they did the trek with babies!!!! They sacrificed a lot to come and I am so grateful! It was a full house, and lots of noises with 3 brand new babies, toddler, and boys! But we had so much fun(: Grandma wanted to come so bad, but she wasn't feeling very well so she stayed in Cheyenne. Good thing, she passed away Saturday night, and people were traveling home on Sunday. ): There will be more about her in another post.
The theme to the shower was Owls, and brown and green were the colors! We had so much fun! Linds and I happened to be sick the night before and during the shower, yuck! But I felt ok while talking to everyone, it was after and before that I felt crappy! Take a look at the pictures! (: I am so sad we didn't get any pictures of the Twins and Brent! ):

 Linds, Avery and Brent Playing the Piano! (:

Derrick drove all the way from Logan to meet my little guy! He put him right to sleep! He loved 'uncle' Derrick! (:

Daesha and Brent! AWW! 

Cute Favors that Linds made!

I am at a loss as to what to call these! haha But I love them!

Mmm the BEST Pasta Salad! It was worth all the hassle of searching all of Salt Lake grocery stores for the dressing! (;

Yummy sandwiches with the BEST sauce! Linds is an amazing cook!

The cute sign!!

The famous To-Die-For cookies!! 

Chick-fil-A Lemonade and the adorable straw holder and straws...I told you people, she is amazing! Look at those labels too!! Brilliant I tell you...

Some of my Friends!! (:

My FAVORITE blanket I got from Daesha and Abby!!

The cute candy table!

So I am guessing you all want Lindsay's number and fees for such a party, am I right?! (; 

We had so much fun! Thanks Linds and Mom for the amazing party! It was so cute.

Stay Tuned for more events the past 3 months! Catch up week!!

XOXO-Shan

Introducing. . .

Introducing my little Brent!! I can't tell you what a joy he is in our lives! He is 3 1/2 weeks old, and we are completely enjoying our little bundle of joy. (:

The Birth Story: I will spare you all of the nitty gritty...but lets just say....all of your dignity goes out the window when you have a child!! My goodness! (;

I went to the hospital the night of my due date: Jan. 30th. to get the prepping gel to start me into Labor. I know I know, some don't like to not start Natural. But when my DR. suggested it, I said, "Let's do this!" and I am glad I did. We pulled up to the Hospital finishing our Oreo Milkshakes, and singing "Bad to the Bone". . .  not how I always pictured I would be pulling into the Hospital! (;

We went home that night after I got the prepping gel on my cervix. (Basically it is supposed to thin you out more.) I thought I would get one last good rest before the baby got here. HA! foolish thinking. I didn't sleep a wink! I was having contractions all night. We were to go into the Hospital to be induced the following morning at 6 am. I finally dragged MacKay out of bed at 4:45 am to make a good breakfast for us, since we figured it would be a long day! I got ready while he make eggs, ham and toast! We packed our bags into the truck and headed out. The DR. checked me and was shocked to see that I had gone from dilated at a 1 the night before to a 3 just over night! He said he had never seen the gel work that good on someone. I was started on pitocin at about 8 am. At this point I wasn't sure if I was going to have an epidural or not. So we were waiting it out to see!

Contractions weren't bad for a little while, just a little crampy. Then they started hitting full force. OUCH. MacKay was up by me holding my hand and reminding me to breath! I have a bad habit of holding my breath when in pain...wonderful right? After a while the nurse asked once again, "Do you want an epidural?" Then before I could answer, she said, "It is probably annoying for me to ask you all the time! How about you tell me if you want an Epidural?" So then I asked her when the turning point was, when I could no longer ask for it.  She said that to get the epidural you had to hold really still.  Contractions without the epidural, it comes to the point where you are shaking and can't hold still. That is when they cant give one. So I said thanks, and kept pushing on through the contractions. In-between contractions I had a bad case of the shakes! As if I was cold, they would go away when I was getting a contraction. Pretty soon I couldn't go through a contraction without bringing my legs up and wanting to curl up into a ball, the shakes we getting worse, and I was in pain! I got scared, and finally asked for the epidural! 15 minutes later the man came in to give it to me, and I was able to hold still. It took about 15 seconds for it to kick in. What a relief it was to not feel the next contraction! The DR. then checked me and I was at an 8. AN 8!! In hindsight, I should have asked to be checked before I asked for the epidural, I could have done it! Darn it all. Oh well, it was pretty pleasant after the juice kicked in! haha. However little baby Brent didn't seem to like the epidural. His heart rate dropped, and we couldn't get it back up to the blue area on the screen. They took me off of the pitocen, and slowly his heart rate started coming back up. It was a scary time! All of that slowed my progress way down. It was about 10am when I was at an 8, after the epidural. My parents showed up and we were able to talk and laugh until it was close to time! My Dr. came in at about 1:15 pm. And we started getting ready to push, I was at a 10, and 100 % effaced. It was just MacKay and I, the DR. and my nurse. I pushed through a set of 3, 10 second intervals and then for some reason I couldn't understand, my contractions were off of the radar. So since I couldn't feel them, and we couldn't see them, we had no idea when to push! So my nurse had to feel my stomach and guess when I was having a contraction. 20 minutes after the first set of pushes, we started up again, and from there it only took about a half an hour before our baby was here!

Now because the gender was a surprise, I didn't want the doctor to tell us if it was a girl or boy, I wanted MacKay to tell me the Name we had picked out. Little did I know, little baby had the cord wrapped around his neck pretty tight, so they were rushing him to get it off, In the confusion MacKay forgot to tell me! After a few seconds that seemed like forever, he looked at me with tears in his eyes, all choked up and said "Brent" I started to cry as I watched the love of my life go take pictures of our little baby boy, and finally, hold him. It was a sweet sweet moment!

The hospital for the rest of the day and the next, was filled with visitors! We had fun getting to know our little guy, and having our family there to share it with us! We got to stay in a "suite" room, where we were able to have a queen bed instead of two twins, it was so nice! I wouldn't have it any other way. It was a really comfy bed, and I got to have my hubby with me, instead of in another bed! It was a big perk of delivering at a smaller hospital! (:

As for the last few weeks, we have had so much fun getting to know our little man! He is a pretty easy baby, sleeps 3 hours at nights, and 1 1/2-2 hrs during the day! Mama feels really good, and is anxious to start working out!! I have lost a lot of my pregnancy weight already, and have about 5 lbs to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. I have a feeling these last 5 aren't going to fall off very easily! Wish me luck! (;

More to come on this little guy. So keep checkin' back!

Here are some pictures at the Hospital!:

I look glorious, I know! haha, resting in between those dang contractions! 

Baby Brent, a few seconds old! Checking out his lungs.

Oops! MOM! Censored... (; 7lbs 2 oz.

First time holding my baby! Some skin to skin cuddles to warm him up.

First outfit! (: Look at those eyes!

Dad's first time holding his son! The two men of my life!

I got out of the shower and this is what I see. I love moments like this!

Mama and Brent (:

XOXO- Shanna