2013 is looking good!

I am so behind on my blog! There are not enough hours in a day for me to do everything that I want to do. But it is what it is. So a lot has happened since I last blogged. It would take me hours to go over everything, so I'll do my best.

First of all, we closed on our house.. YAY! I think we closed around December 7th. It was a busy month with the house project and the holidays in the mix of it all. But it was nice that the semester was ending so Derek didn't have school. He was able to take a week and a half off from work and do some things on the house with help from his brother, Dustin. After he went back to work it took a lot longer to get things done since we could only work at night and Saturdays. It took about a month to get the upstairs ready. We did some electrical work, re-finished all the hardwood floors, painted every room, every base board, all the trim etc. and did many little things here and there. The house really didn't need that much work in the upstairs, but you'd be surprised how long all of these little cosmetics things take. We haven't started on the basement at all yet. That will be a completely different project. The basement is only partially finished for now. It has 2 potential bedrooms down there that were recently done (well, half done). We want to add a family room, second bathroom and a storage/laundry room. But I'm being patient with that. But I would just like to point out how hard it is to get window treatments for a whole house! Geez, I think that was the most stressful part for me, haha. I'm still not completely done with that either. I've also been having a hard time finding wallpaper for the hall so our hall still looks scary. We are still organizing and doing little things when we have the time. But it's a little hard when I work a lot of Saturdays and only have a couple hours each night after work and most of the time want to spend those hours relaxing. AND when I am 7 months pregnant and trying to get ready to bring a baby into this world. So, things are moving but moving slowly :) I took some quick photos when we were done most of the painting but I will take better ones once it looks more put together. We got a lot of help on the house from our family and friends that we are really grateful for. It took us a long time to get a home for our family, but we were determined and it finally happened. We aren't in our dream neighborhood or the area we originally wanted to stay in but we just feel very blessed to have a humble home and to have a place where we can raise our children in. 

Here are just a few photos..

Before: Living/Dining Room

(If the paint job wasn't so messy, it wouldn't have been bad but I really wanted light gray walls)

Before: Living/Dining Room 

(I should have taken close ups of the baseboards - yuck.)

After: Living/Dining Room 

After: Living/Dining Room

(We had to put the chandelier higher up for now until we get a new table - our table is really high. I want to do a stencil on the darker gray wall when I find the perfect one)

Before: Master Bedroom

(Bright neon green walls and brown ceiling and baseboards... interesting combo)

Before: Master Bedroom

After: Master Bedroom

(The photo is a little blurry, I chose a purpley-gray color for our room)

After: Master Bedroom

(don't mind Derek's butt)

Now that we are settled in, we started getting the nursery ready. All of a sudden it was like "Oh my gosh our baby is going to be here in 10 weeks!". So we got the crib and glider set up in his room. We bought his car seat and stroller.. we are making progress! We are still struggling with a name for him though. I just haven't heard any new name that I'm like OOooo I like. I just keep hearing the same names over and over again and nothing sounds special to me. I have always liked the name Noah. That's the only name I know for sure that I love. But as I've said before, I don't want him to be one of several Noah's in his class or church or wherever. To me, when a name is too popular it loses it "spark", I don't know maybe I'm weird. But that's really the only name I love so far. For a boy at least. And I personally don't know any Noah's but if you look at any baby list, it's usually in the top 5 or top 10 popular boy names. Lame. But we'll see, maybe when he's born he'll look so much like a Noah that it won't matter to me anymore. 

Baby Finch at 22 weeks

Anyways, pregnancy has continued to be.. pretty.. blissful.... :) I'm sorry to anyone who has had a rough pregnancy. I'm sorry, don't hate me but I love it! I will probably be one of those girls who misses being pregnant after their baby is born. I will be 32 weeks in a couple days and I still feel really good. I'm just barely starting to feel not as comfortable when I sleep but it's not bad at all (yet, right?). I'm sure in a month or so I might feel different. But hey, if pregnancy is only uncomfortable for the last month then I'm not complaining! Baby has been moving a lot! Sometimes it's very strong and it startles me and then I startle Derek by my reaction, haha. I love watching my belly move around from him squirming so much. It's pretty good entertainment. I started exercising again last week and boy I am weak. I hadn't been exercising as much the last 2 months being so busy with the house and moving. But I know it's important so I am going to do my best these last 8 weeks or so without pushing myself too hard. It's really crazy how fast time is going! Baby will be here before we know it! Oh and remember I said I was turned off by sweets and chocolate, yeah that didn't last too long. But at least I haven't really been having any crazy cravings.

Some photos of my progression..

12 Weeks

20 Weeks

25 Weeks

30 Weeks

Have you seen the Friends episode where Phoebe is in labor and Joey all of a sudden has kidney stones? We kind of had our own little version of that. Well, not exactly. Last week Derek had to go to the emergency room for kidney stones! He got to work and they were in a morning meeting. He felt some strong pains and had to leave the room. Then it got so bad that he couldn't even talk so they rushed him to the hospital. I got a call saying that he was in the hospital and they think that he has kidney stones. First I was really scared and confused. I was like what the heck he was fine just an hour ago when I saw him. It was the weirdest thing! It felt unreal. I had just walked in the door at work and was not expecting that at all. I was able to leave and go to the hospital. I was so worried about him :(  He wasn't in much pain when I got there because they gave him some meds. They did some tests and found that he was passing a kidney stone in his right kidney that was causing him so much pain. I guess the most painful part is when it's passing from the kidney to the bladder. I guess once it gets to the bladder it doesn't hurt anymore and it doesn't hurt coming out from there. They told him it could be a few days before he completely passed it. They also told him that he has another one in his left kidney that hasn't started to come down yet. It could be weeks, months, it could be years before it starts to come down. So the good thing is that if he feels that pain again at least he'll know what it is and he won't think he's dying. The bad thing is that he knows he's going to have to go through that pain again. They say it's as bad as childbirth! So I don't know if God just wanted him to have more sympathy for me when I'm in labor or what! But he is okay now. Luckily with the help of pain medication he wasn't in too much pain the following few days. And it completely passed about 3 days after he went into the ER. What a relief. Another good thing from this is that it motivated him to wanting to eat healthier and drink more water. He hasn't drank any pop since then, which makes me happy, but we'll see how long this lasts. I'm happy that he is okay and it was just kidney stones and not something more serious.

The Beautiful Miracle of Pregnancy!

Since I haven't posted anything about my pregnancy yet, I will start from the beginning. Around our anniversary back in June we decided it was definitely time to start trying for a baby. I had wanted to start trying since the day we got married but we both felt like there were some things we wanted to work on first. So I had to be very patient. So for months before our 1 year anniversary we prayed and felt like around June was a good time to start trying. We didn't know if we would be able to get pregnant right away or if it was going to take a few months, or a year. Looking at my family history, I was hopeful that I would get pregnant right away because that was normal for my side of the family. But, I didn't want to expect that and be very disappointed if it took several months or even longer. So I tried to just have faith and put it in the Lord's hands and see how things went. Well half way through the month we found out that I had an ovarian cyst. The family doctor I saw was very against me getting pregnant (even before she knew about the cyst). Once she found out I had a cyst she told me that I really should not get pregnant until it clears away. I didn't feel right about this and felt like she just didn't want me to have babies - well because she told me she didn't. We stopped trying for a couple weeks until I could get a second opinion. I went to see a mid-wife and she told me that she isn't worried about it at all and it was probably already gone. She told me we should continue to try if that's what I wanted. I was happy to hear that. So the following week I was ovulating and you know what that means :) A few days before my missed period I tested and it was negative. I was sad but thought it still might be too early even though it says you can test 6 days before.. So on the day I was expecting my period I tested again and it was negative. But that time I don't think I waited long enough because I was anticipating a negative result. Four more days passed by and still nothing so I was like what's going on! And that day I was SO tired, I fell asleep after church on the couch, and that NEVER happens to me. So I felt like I should test again. This time I tested differently and I actually timed it with a timer. I cannot express in words how happy I was when I saw the positive pregnancy test. I started bawling like a baby :) I got on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father and then I called Derek to tell him. He thought I was hurt at first because I was crying, haha. He was really excited. I kept looking at the test over and over again still in disbelief. I have wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember and I couldn't believe that it was actually happening. It was an amazing moment that I will never forget :)

So far my pregnancy has been really good! A lot easier than I had expected. We found out we were pregnant a few days before our trip to Canada. On the trip I was extremely tired the whole time. I had to take lots of naps (very strange for me). But as soon as we got home, I wasn't fatigued any more so that was good. I've only had a few moments of very mild nausea that is barely noticeable and every time it only lasts a few minutes or even seconds. I haven't thrown up or been sick at all so I'm VERY thankful for that. The only thing that is bothering me is my back. I already had lower back pain before my pregnancy, and it's gotten worse now. I haven't really had any cravings, but a lot of things I used to enjoy don't taste as good anymore. For example, chocolate! I am usually SUCH a chocoholic and can NEVER resist chocolate but since I've been pregnant, I  don't like chocolate as much. Or any sweets in that case. It's the weirdest thing! But I guess that's a good thing because I want to eat healthy anyways. I'm exercising every day during the week and I have been able to continue light running which I am happy about because I love to run.

So this whole time Derek and I thought we were having a girl... and it turns out it's a little baby boy! But we are really happy and excited! It was amazing to see him moving around on the ultrasound. I thought I would be a lot bigger by now, but now that I know everything is okay, I'm actually happy I'm not big yet. This week my belly seems like it's starting to pop out (for real and not just bloating), and I can actually feel the pressure of my uterus when I touch my belly right below my belly button. I love it! I am almost half way through my pregnancy! I love being pregnant :) I think it's the most exciting and miraculous thing. I love seeing my body change and believe it or not but I like seeing the number on the scale go up because it tells me my baby is growing! I can't wait to see our little creation. I think he is going to look like a mini Derek, hehe. But it's very possible that we might have a red-headed little boy, so don't be surprised if that's the case, haha.

I feel so extremely blessed and I am so excited to be a mom. I feel like I've been waiting to start my family for an eternity and the time is finally here! I know Derek is going to be an amazing father and I am so blessed to have him as my husband. I am so thankful for families and for our temple sealing. It's a wonderful thing to know that we can be with our family forever :)

Little alien :)

If you have any boy names, preferably not so common ones, PLEASE share! :)

"I'm ON vacation!!"

About a month ago, we decided we should take a vacation. We figured this would probably be the last time to take a big trip for a while. I wanted to go to Canada, but I didn't want to spend that much. We wanted to go somewhere that wouldn't take too much planning or stress, somewhere to relax. We were thinking about going to Florida because Derek's sister could give us her "buy one get one" tickets anywhere in the US, and we have never been there together (we wanted to be by the beach and we already went to California). But the money we would be spending seemed like a lot just for Florida.. so we thought well if we're going to spend that much money we should just get an all-inclusive trip to Mexico or something! But I thought about it, and I still really wanted to go to Canada. So we decided to go there instead since it would only be a little more expensive. We thought it would be worth it. We figured out our cheapest option was to use the buy one get one tickets to fly to Maine, rent a car and drive up to Nova Scotia. It was a quick decision, but luckily we were both able to get time off work even with such short notice. I was so excited! Derek had never been to Nova Scotia before (he has been to Calgary a few times). And I really missed it!

We were there for 10 days and had so much fun! We stayed with my brother, Hugh and his wife, Veronica and 3 pugs.   The timing we chose was perfect, we got to go to the Busker Festival (a festival with street performers on the waterfront, I've gone to since I was a kid), my dad was there at the same time as us (which wasn't planned) so Derek met my dad and his wife, Susan, and he got to meet my dad's family in Cape Breton, also one of my Calgary friends was there visiting the same time as us so I was able to see her, and Hugh's dog had her puppies during our stay so we got to see them too! So I'm glad we went when we did. We went to the beach several times, Derek tried surfing for the first time and actually did pretty good! One beach had a pretty cool Sand Castle Contest going on. We went to Peggy's Cove, one of my favorite places! We went to Ovens Natural Park which was beautiful, mine and Hugh's first time even though we grew up in NS. We got to do a session at the Halifax Temple, Derek met our family friend, Fritz and some of my closest friends from Elementary. I showed Derek the small town where I lived most of my childhood, and showed him my shoe box school, hehe. We went on the Harbour Hopper which is a tour bus that drives around Halifax and then goes into the harbour and turns into a boat :) That was cool, we learned a lot about Halifax. AND I was able to eat some of my favorite foods that I missed, Yum! So we did a lot of fun stuff, we got to spend lots of time with family, we did a lot of relaxing, I had unlimited time with pugs, and I got to take lots of pictures which makes me happy! I'm really glad we went!

On our way there!

On the Ferry

Poutine!

My dad with Hugh and Derek

My dad with his wife, two sisters and their husbands and little Addison

Nacho and Derek

Peggy's Cove

Me :)

Peggy's Cove

Hugh and I

Ovens Natural Park

Handstands around the world

It was beautiful here

Sea Caves

I love the bridge

Downtown Halifax

Harbour Hopper

Michelle and Nicole 

Kristen and Lauren

Pug fest!

Nacho enjoying some fresh air

Banook Lake

Halifax Temple

Puppy!

Sand Castle Contest

Fun

:)

Lindsay and I

Surfs up

Family friend, Fritz

Dream house turned into a nightmare!

So about 2 months ago we found out that we won the bid for this house that we LOVED. And since then, it has been pretty much waiting.. receiving bad news.. more waiting and more bad news and on and on. What started it was we talked to the neighbors and they told us the people who lived there before were doing drugs. This was a huge red flag. So we decided to do a meth test when we did our home inspection. If a house is contaminated with meth it can cause serious health issues, especially for children and pregnant woman. The neighbor said that he KNEW they weren't doing meth, just other hard drugs. But of course, we did not want to take our chances. We were SO HAPPY we did the test, because it came back positive for meth contamination. The test results were pretty high and it was considered a "meth lab". We were devastated (especially me). I really fell in love with this house and even more in love with the yard. It was definitely worth more than we were about to pay for it. So after that we had to wait weeks to find out what the next step was. The government cannot legally sell a house with levels of meth that high. We found out that most likely they were going to have to demo the inside of the house until the meth was cleared. So we thought that if it worked out, it might actually be a great deal because we were going to get a newly remodeled house and not have to pay for the extra costs. But we still had some worries and concerns. So at this point we started looking for other homes but stayed under contract. So after more weeks of waiting, HUD finally told us that whatever they take out of the house, they are not going to replace it.. but also not going to lower the cost. Which is ridiculous. So if they rip out the kitchen, all the bathrooms and everything, obviously the value of the house will be significantly lower, and we were already at the top of our budget and would not afford to remodel this whole house from basically nothing. What I think is stupid is that they are going to have to clean out the meth anyways and put it back on the market for much lower.. which will take months. So why wouldn't they just lower the price for us? It doesn't make sense to me.. but I guess that is just how HUD works. So right now it's not looking good :(  It's sad. I got really attached to this house and it's hard to let go.. but I know we need to be positive and we will find our house, it's just going to take a lot longer than we had hoped for.

So 4 weeks ago we moved into Derek's mom's house. We are living in the basement. It's very humbling. But at least we have our own kitchen! My mom is living with us down here too. She just got a job in Salt Lake! I am so happy that she found a job and can stay here! We are looking for other homes, but nothing has come up that will work yet.  I REALLY want to stay on the east side, and do not want to go that far south.. which makes it harder because our budget is so low. I just can't stand the thought of living in West Valley, or Kearns.. it just doesn't feel right for our family. I feel like this is where we are supposed to be. The good thing is, now that we're living at my mother-in-law's, we don't have to pay for rent so we can save more. Also, we are not on a lease so we can move at any time. I know it will all work out for the best, but impatience is one of my many weaknesses. I just have to share a picture of the backyard because it is so cute :) 

Anniversary

We celebrated our anniversary last month on June 4th. I can't believe it's been 1 year already! Where has the time gone? Time always flies by so fast for me, and it seems like it just keeps going faster and faster the older I get. Anyways, for our anniversary we wanted to do something special but we didn't want to spend too much money. We ended up going up to Park City for the weekend since we haven't ever spent much time there. It was my first time to Main Street and I loved it. I love cute, little, historic towns. We stayed at the Westgate Resort. We got a great deal and it was SO NICE! We loved our room. We went up Friday and came back Sunday morning. It was a nice romantic getaway for the weekend.

I am so blessed to have Derek in my life. He is such an amazing person and husband. I never imagined I would marry someone as great as him. I don't know what I did to deserve him.. but I guess Heavenly Father knew that I needed him. Ever since I was young, I always felt in my heart that I needed to come to Salt Lake. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to come here so I could meet my wonderful husband. If it wasn't for my family (especially my sister), I probably would not be here and would have never met Derek. That just shows me how God has a plan for us and if we follow our heart and have faith, he will guide us. I love you, Derek :)

Best day of my life!