Beautiful Boy

11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven is giving away a gorgeous Hotslings baby carrier!

To enter click HERE.

Pictures

More pictures to share!! These are a little random but I wanted to make sure I posted more, he just grows so fast!

Love that smile!Sleeping with Daddy
So tired Grandma!

I love this expression!

Touchdown Raiders!

Go UTES!!!
Angelic...
Do you love the Halloween Costume... Thanks Aunt Karolyn!
Sucking his thumb

Our Little Guy

Sorry about the lack of posts, life has been a little crazy lately... We are enjoying having Graham in our home, he is such a sweetheart! I just wanted to quickly post a few pictures so those who are asking can see. I will post more recent ones soon.

Proud Daddy in the delivery room....

His first outfit (way too big!) such a cutie!

Measuring up with his monkey

How can you not fall in love with this guy?

Finally... It's a....

BOY!!! Graham Philo Edwards joined us weighing in at 5 lbs 13 oz (he was overdue too!) and 19 inches long. He is perfect! We are so excited to have him with us!

Gratitude

Baby Edwards is due one week from today! We are just awaiting the big arrival. In the last few weeks I have been the recipient of a great deal of care and love. Thank you to all of you!
So many people ask if I am extremely uncomfortable and miserable. I must admit that there are a few things I don't love about pregnancy, especially at this point. However, it really isn't that bad. The other day I watched one of my students who has severe health conditions. I am pretty sure that he is in pain a lot. He wears a diaper and must use a self-catheter. He never complains. He plays football & basketball with all the other boys. He will be receiving two surgeries next week. Two more of many in a lifetime and many to come. There are so many people that have chronic pain and health conditions that they deal with on a daily basis with little hope of change. My situation will change soon and with a fabulous reward. I have realized how lucky I am to have my health and to be able to do so much. I love all the help I receive but it has made me realize for those in my life with any struggles, like this student, I need to let them do all they can to feel capable and as normal as possible when it is an option. I guess I've just gained a better appreciation for health and the light at the end of this tunnel. It may not be all fun but it will pass, some are not that lucky.

What They Are Missing...

This week we lost my Aunt Tauna. She was young (only 32), wonderful, kind, and very alive. Yesterday I noticed more publicity about Michael Jackson. Now, I do believe that everyone deserves to be mourned, including Michael, but I thought about the millions of people that are mourning and carrying on about him and how the world will be without him. All week I have been thinking the same thing about Tauna. I see people and wonder how they don't know what they have lost. She wasn't an international superstar, but she was an amazing mom, wife, aunt, cousin, sister, daughter, friend, etc.. She suffered from health problems but rarely would you even know if it bothered her. She loved to travel and share her favorite places with others. She LOVED her children, she fought hard to bring them to her family and enjoyed being a mother like no one I have ever seen. She loved to laugh. She loved life and really lived it to the fullest. I wish the world knew what they are now missing. We sure do... We miss you and love you Tauna.

Growing

How time flies when you are... growing? Many people have asked to see belly pictures so here are a few photos taken this summer.

At the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

In Vegas (I only wish it was the real Arc de Triomph)

At the cabin

There you have it folks... and still growing!

About Time...

This is way overdue. We had the 20 week ultrasound in May and it is now halfway through July and I am just now posting it. Sorry! In my defense, we did move our office and have some spotty internet connection going on so it hasn't exactly been easy to get to.

For those who are wondering, it is....... a baby. We opted to not find out the gender. We want the surprise. In response to the many questions: No, you cannot call the doctor and ask. We really do want the surprise. We are excited to meet this little one! 12 weeks to go!

Quick Review

I have been so horrible at posting lately!  It has been a busy time! Here is a quick overview of some of the things we have done lately:

• Miss Saigon- I know Wicked is the big hype (and I do agree it is great) but I have wanted to see Miss Saigon since about 8th or 9th grade.  Mark surprised me with tickets (great seats too!) for Easter.  It was so great!
• End of Semester- Mark survived!  He got all A's and B's too!
• Josh leaving- My little brother left for Afghanistan.  He better be staying safe!
• End of school- It was crazy!  It always is.  (Although I do have to say that not having to move was WONDERFUL!  I didn't have to pack.)  We had a great graduation for our sixth graders and even got Brad Wilcox as a speaker!  My students threw a "surprise" baby shower for me.  It was sweet. 
• Joyce visiting- We LOVED having Mark's sister here for a couple of weeks with her two darling boys.  We miss her so much!  She really needs to move closer! With her here we had the chance to do a lot of fun family stuff too.  It was so much fun!
• Baby- Still growing. I finally started feeling the baby moving in my 16th or 17th week.  I wasn't quite sure that was for a while... Now it is moving like crazy, especially to music! We had our 20 week ultrasound and everything is healthy.  (Yes I will post pictures soon, sorry!) 

There is probably more but I so cannot remember right now.  I will definitely add on if it comes to mind.  

Pregnancy Pet Peeve

I just wanted to quickly post and thank the moms, both the ones I know and don't know, that posted or talked about the great parts about being a mom. THANK YOU!

One of the most frustrating things about my pregnancy is that many people think it is quite amusing to tell me horror stories about birth and parenting and add a "just you wait" on the end. I want to call them idiots and tell them at the age of 30, I have spent a fair amount of my life caring for children. I am a teacher. I have worked in schools for more than 9 years as well as babysitting throughout my life. I am the oldest in my family to boot. I know kids are not easy. I have no deluded picture in my head of cute, sweet smelling, cooing babies that cry rarely. On the contrary, I picture the worst I have seen just getting worse. Yes, we did have some issues getting a baby here but I am not blind about this. I am petrified. I know it means no sleep, messes, stress, screaming, etc... (One could chalk all of my frustration up to my current emotional state but... ) I SO appreciate the ones that tell me the positive part of being a parent even after everything goes wrong. The why-it's-worth-it part. THANK YOU!

Happy Birthday Austin

Yesterday, April 22, was Austin Rice's 4th birthday.  His mom is one of my best life-long friends. She wasn't sure how to make it through the day so she decided to have a party, one Austin would love.  See, Austin didn't quite make it to 4.  He passed away last year, just a few short weeks after turning 3.  All those invited to the party were asked to still bring a gift that Austin might like.  His parents, Kendra and Cory, will take all of those gifts and give them to children that need them.  I think Austin would approve.  Since we live so far away and couldn't go to the party Kendra asked us to celebrate Austin by doing the same thing, to buy a gift and find a child that needs it and give it to them from Austin.  I wanted to share this and invite anyone to do the same and to tell others about it.  Please join us in celebrating Austin.  Also, give the kids you love a hug.  Be grateful you have them with you.

Beginning to look human...

Okay, well, this one doesn't look very human, unless you know what it is.  It is a shot of the tummy and two arms wiggling around. 

This is the one where you can actually see a baby.  It is so strange and surreal~ I'm sure it will feel all to real soon enough but...

Cute eh?  It was fun to have Grandma Shirley and Susie there with us.  Grandma was so impressed by the technology.  She had seen the pictures but not the actual ultrasound with movement.  Mark said it is definitely like him because it was calm and not moving everywhere like me.  I hope so! You can't see it in the picture but it is lounging back with legs up and crossed. We finally got to hear the heartbeat too.  That was neat!  I just love watching Mark's face at these appointments.  If he's this way with the pictures and heartbeat it will be even better with the actual baby!

Tidings of Us

Yes, I used the word tidings. Why, you might ask? Because I feel like that word belongs with the Christmas Season and right now I swear it must be close because it is snowing. Again. I think that is my only major beef with Utah. Get us super excited with Spring-like weather then, boom, it's winter again. I now have spring fever with the wrong season. Sad!

Mark just finished his Spring Break, although he didn't really get much of a break. He worked most of it, but no homework! He recently began a new job. He has gone part-time at the bank and is part-time at a physical therapists office. I think he is really enjoying it. He actually gets to work doing what he enjoys and what he is doing all of this studying for! It is a lot closer to home too! He has been an incredible support for me. He deals with all things smelly, eats what I want, plans around how I feel, and pretty much babies me. He is the best! He is going to be a great Dad. I can't wait to see that!

As for me I am feeling much better than I was. I haven't spent much time throwing up, food just isn't my favorite. Things seem to be getting better in that department though, which is great. I can't wait to eat regular meals of something different than yogurt and oranges. School is busy. The kids are ready for a break. In fact, my students pretty much think they are done with 6th grade. They registered for junior high a little bit ago and mentally checked out. Trying to bring them back to reality has been an exhausting project!

We have been a regular dog hotel lately. We have been babysitting a lot. What can we say? Our girls love company and can entertain anyone! We also got a fantastic new bedroom set for a fabulous deal on KSL. (Big thank you to Tracy & Alyssa & family who brought them up for us and to Julie for the trailer!!! THANK YOU!) I have a real dresser for the first time since my mission! I can't wait to put stuff in it. I will post pictures when I have a free minute to take them.

I guess there is not much else to say besides I miss the sun! Good tidings to all of you!

Meet the Blob...

After over a year and a half of trying and super fun medication, wouldn't you know that a loss of an important bag would lead to this....
I know it is pretty hard to see, that's why we call it the blob. It hasn't even made it to peanut or shrimp status yet, but it's there! It has a very consistent and strong heartbeat too!

The Lord works in mysterious ways!

We are VERY excited for you all to know we are having a baby! (Hopefully it will graduate from blob status soon! But we will love him/her even if it's still a blob!) Currently the due date is set for October 9... but since it was supposed to be at 8 weeks and 1 day and measured at 7 weeks and 1 day at the ultrasound... it may be a week later. I will update you all on that when we see the doctor next time.

For those who don't know our story, here is a brief synopsis. I have PCO (not yet PCOS, we are hoping to steer clear of that S.. I need to stay in shape!) PCO can make it hard to conceive (no ovulation... just cysts..) So we have been off and on birth control (it controls the cysts and keeps me away from any further surgeries) When we are off, we have had fertility pills. The doctor told me to go back on birth control for a while (we had been off for around 6-7 months trying) and then to try again in a few months. I obeyed... Then on a trip to visit family all pills (and earrings, I am still mourning those! They were in the same bag) were lost mysteriously on the plane. We had to wait for a refill.... I waited... and waited..... I knew that if nothing happened by a certain date there were two alternatives... baby or surgery. (Although either one would require a hospital stay.)

Lucky for me, it was baby!! Mark was completely unaware.. I hated to get his expectations up and see them fall (that had happened before)... So I took a test...

Then I called someone who knew if my PCO could give a false positive... Then I panicked a little, I think I was in shock. Then I told my sweet husband.

That story you will have to hear from him.

But, I will never forget his face and reaction!! It was perfect!

Then we took another test, just to be sure...

No lines to let you second guess here!

Last Night & Goodbye

On our last night Mark took Jesslyn driving (with us in the car!). Then we played at the beach for a bit. I tried to figure out the night settings on the camera but it was prettier in real life!Then we went to dinner with dad at his favorite Mexican place. Again, not common to have us all together. It was so fun to just be together!After dinner we watched the rest of the Sugar Bowl!! (Hence the red sweatshirt the whole day!) I don't think my dad knew I am such a football fan! I was such a great game!!!!!

Go UTES!!!

Rayla becoming a UTE!Our flights (Josh was leaving too!) were pretty early in the morning but the girls still came with us. (Jesslyn, Aleesha, and Rayla L to R)It was so sweet of them, they were so sleepy!

After the goodbyes we flew back to Vegas. Then we drove to St. George and got to spend an evening with Matt & Marcee and family. And of course, what is a visit to St. George without a trip to In & Out Burger?