Our family

We are so lucky to have photographers in our family! Sam's dad took our wedding photos and Sam's sister took pictures of Henry a few weeks ago. Thank you Lauren!

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend

I just want to say that I am married to the best man in the world. He is kind and thoughtful, hard working and funny, a great husband and a great father. I love every minute that I spend with him and I look forward to 5:00 when he walks through the door.

A few weeks ago Sam had to attend a FPA conference in Florida for a few days. Thank goodness for FaceTime so we could stay in touch. We were so glad when he came back home. 

The pictures are a bit blurry but you can see everyone's facial expressions. So funny!

The many faces of Henry

This little boy has the most expressive facial expressions. I could just sit all day and watch him. This first series of pictures was when he was a few days old and we were trying to wake him up. 

Oh, we love him so much!

Look at those chubby little cheeks!

Here he is looking out the window and contemplating the mysteries of the universe (I presume). 

Our bundle of joy

Sam and I went to the hospital on September 20th for me to be induced and our little boy to finally join our family. We were super excited to be parents and finally hold him in our arms. 

Labor and delivery went very well and at 2:15 pm he finally arrived!

He weighed 8 lbs 5 oz, and was 21 inches long.

We love him so much!

Having gestational diabetes isn't the end of the world

I wanted to write about my experience with gestational diabetes in hopes that it may prove useful to anyone who is going through the same thing.

A few days after our trip to Chicago I was 29 weeks pregnant and my doctor had me take the glucose challenge test (GCT) to see if I had gestational diabetes. You have to drink this really sweet drink in less than 5 minutes and then they measure your blood sugar levels for a few hours afterwards. And as you can probably guess...I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was shocked and scared. I thought: this isn't fair! I don't have a history of diabetes in my family. I'm not overweight. I eat fairly healthy and I exercise. Why me?

The next few weeks following that appointment were challenging: carb counting at every meal and snack, recording everything you eat and when you eat it, taking your blood sugar multiple times a day and trying to stay within the target values. I promise that it gets easier and their are perks to having GD (being healthier) but it takes patience and a lot of self-control.

If anyone knows me well, they know that I have a huge sweet-tooth and little self-control when it comes to desserts. But when you know that your baby's health is dependent upon you making smart eating choices I think it makes it easier to say no to sweets. I won't say that I was perfect all the time but reminding myself why I was doing it really helped.

I found that exercise worked miracles in controlling my blood sugar levels. My dietitian said exercise was like a natural dose of insulin. I just walked for 30 minutes a day in the morning and I could always tell a difference in my blood sugar levels when I didn't exercise.

Here are some of the foods that I ate:

Breakfast:
   Eggs! I changed it up and cooked them all different ways and added spices and salsa too.
   English muffins (1/2 english muffin=1 carb serving) I like the high fiber or whole wheat ones
   Fruit
   Yogurt: There are tons of yogurt types and flavors. I liked greek yogurt because it has more protein
                and filled me up

Lunch:
   Salads
   Veggies with ranch or hummus
   Sandwiches
   Crackers
   Fruit

Snacks:
   Nuts
   String cheese with lunch meat, pepperoni or Ritz crackers
   Fruit
   Veggies
   Granola bars

Dinners:
   Fajitas
   Chicken and grilled vegetables
   Fritatta with sausage and bell peppers
   Pasta with vegetables and sauce
   Huevos Rancheros

Desserts:
   Sugar free jello
   graham crackers with peanut butter
   pudding cups
   yogurt with fruit
   sweet cereal with a little milk
   1/2 cup ice cream

Once you get the hang of carb counting you realize you can still eat almost any of the foods that you like! All you have to do is plan carefully and eat the right portion sizes.

Apartment, Sweet Apartment

Recently I have asked myself, "why do apartment leases in Kansas expire at the end of July?" Doesn't anyone know that the end of July can be terribly hot and humid? Well, if you can't guess our lease expired the end of July and I found myself going through our things (I don't know how we accumulated so much only being married a year), donating a lot, selling things on craigslist, and packing up the rest. I love purging our apartment of unnecessary things but I don't enjoy packing or moving that much. 

Our new apartment is really close to campus, so we can get to class in a matter of minutes. However, we moved into a 1 BR when we were used to a 2 BR. Therefore, the task of making 2 adults and a baby-on-the-way fit into 1 BR becomes the challenge I'm faced with. Luckily, Sam's parents are letting us store some of our "less used" items in their basement (they are so kind to us). 

Here are some pictures of our place before we moved in. 

Our kitchen has all new appliances and granite counter-tops and tile floor, which is really nice. 

Our living room is pretty big and long with a huge window (left picture), while our bedroom (right picture) is quite cozy and small. Overall, this little place has grown on me since I've started making it our own and hanging pictures up. 

Sam the handy-man

Sam and I discovered a great summer project: making furniture! We got the idea from Lowe's website (http://www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/organize-store-and-move/rolling-cube-tables/project). They are rolling cube tables that can be arranged to fit your needs and they double as storage.

So Sam and his brother-in-law got to busy creating plans, measuring, cutting, drilling, nailing and gluing. 

Sam really loved using the nail gun. It made the process go so much quicker. 

Now we are in the process of priming and painting. Doing this project has been a lot of time-consuming work but we (mainly Sam) have learned tons. However, now we are short on time as the summer is over (classes started on the 26th) but we are still determined to finish them up. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product!

The Windy City

Sam and I took a trip to Chicago to celebrate our 1 year anniversary and we had such a great time! We stayed with some friends, ate delicious food and explored the city. We decided to drive there so we packed up our car, got some books on tape and were on our way. I love road trips and being able to just spend one-on-one time with Sam. Chicago is big and traffic is crazy, so we walked almost everywhere. 

Chicago is a beautiful city with lots of parks, museums, architecture and things to do. I think it would be a great place to take our kids in the future. It was hard to pick only a few things to do while we were there because there were so many interesting places. 

We went to the Shedd Aquarium and were able to stick our hands in a pool of swimming stingrays and touch them. I was nervous at first but they seemed really gentle (and their barbs were removed).

This was the highlight at the aquarium for sure!

We met Sue the T-Rex (the largest and most well preserved T-Rex ever found) in the Field Museum. 

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry and saw a lot of things. From Tesla coils and experiencing 80 mph winds to how cows are milked and seeing the German submarine (U-505) captured by the US during WWII. 

My first deep-dish pizza. All I can say is WOW!

We saw lots of great architecture too!

Then we went to the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower and stood out on the SkyDeck. It was so high! My heart was beating so fast when we stood on the glass and looked all the way down!

At the Art Institute of Chicago we saw American Gothic, works by VanGough, and Monet, just to name a few. 

Here I am in front of the Bean with my best friend in the whole world!

And what could be better than stopping for a treat here? Yum!

We saved the best for last by stopping in Nauvoo, Illinois on the way home. 

The temple is so beautiful. 

Then we walked along Parley Street on The Trail of Hope at dusk. 

It leads to the banks of the Mississippi River, which the Saints had to cross when they had to leave.

It must have been daunting for them to leave everything behind and begin their journey with only a few belongings. Yet they had such great faith and hope and that Heavenly Father had even greater blessings in store for them in the future. It made me think of how we all have a wide Mississippi River in front of us at some point, but we can cross it with Heavenly Father's help. 

The future is as bright as your faith.