It's the start of a NEW YEAR!

My New Years resolution is to blog more. Like... maybe once a month? Hopefully more. Hey now.. it's better than once every 6 months like before. I figure having a child should be a good reason to blog more, since things are constantly changing with her and we have lots of family that don't live close to us. :)



Yup that's my little peanut taking some of her first bites. YUM YUMMMMMMY sweet potatoes! Perry loves food. LOVES food. She's a great eater. I was so excited with the Doc. gave us the go to start feeding her solids. We are anti-grain in this household so I went against what most do and chose not to feed Perry rice cereal. After doing lots of my own research I found no good reason why the first food I gave my child should be a grain and not a non-processed whole food... other than the fact that it's just the "American way" of doing things. So we started her off with Sweet potatoes. The next week we tried bananas. And then the next week we went for carrots/avocados (combined the 2). I am making my own baby food, which I am stoked about. It's super easy. Especially since for Christmas my fabulous mother in law gave us a baby bullet. It's so cute seeing Perry open her little mouth as wide as possible the second she sees that spoon come near her mouth.




We had a great Christmas. We were able to celebrate with Bobbys Mom, brother (and his fam), and sister a week before Christmas. Then Perry and I caught a ride with a friend down to Portland so I could do some hair, a few days before Christmas, and Bobby came down the Friday before when he was done working. We had a great time celebrating Perrys first Christmas.



This is Perry on Christmas morning. Did I mention she is a smiling maniac? It's rare that you smile at her and she won't give you a massive dimpley smile back. She's into this new thing where she'll smile at you and then burry her head into whoevers neck that's holding her--getting all shy. :)
We had fun hanging out with the family, going from family to familys house, visiting different friends. I took Perry over to a few other of her "grandma's" houses.. like the Eisenbach's and Maloneys. Cara and Kristin were 2 of my best friends in high school. Cara and I have been best friends since 4th grade. Her family lives a few houses down from my parents, so I got to see them a lot, they are like family to me. Kristin was also in town so I got to go over to her parents house a couple of times and visit. Everyone loved getting to see Perry.

The day after Christmas was my sister Crystal's birthday. She did the coolest thing anyone I've ever known has done for a birthday. She had a "Feed the homeless birthday party". She invited everyone she knows to come to our church and make 160ish sack lunches and then take them to downtown Portland and pass them out. Many people contributed, and it was a HUGE success! Bobby and I got to go down and help pass them out.. driving around and hopping out of the car whenever we saw a homeless person, offering them a lunch. It was very humbling. I've been to downtown Portland a billion times and never think much of the homeless people I see all around. It was really eye opening, having them be my focus for the day, and interacting with them. Seeing young and old.. some children. Very emotional. I'm grateful for my sister and that she came up with this super cool idea. It was a great activity to do the day after Christmas, and I know all the people we served were truly appreciative.



Then onto the open road.. all the way to Utah. Bobby had to work so he couldn't go, but My mom, Chuck, Crystal, Kevin, Pdub and I spent 4 days in the car (total) to and from Utah to go visit our Grandma & Grandpa Billinton. Perry did really well in the car. I was kind of surprised. She is nursing so luckily I have a FABULOUS pump with a battery plug in and pumped in the car... that way I didn't have to stop and nurse her. We would stop after I fed her so I could burp her and change her diaper. She slept quite a bit, and when she was awake and board I had a few different toys I used.. then when all else failed I put The Backyardigans or "Tigger and Pooh" on my phone so she could be entertained. The last half hour of every day in the car she was done and wailed till we got to our location. We stopped in Boise Idaho to stay the night both there and back.
It was great seeing Grams & Gramps. We don't see them much, and this was their first time meeting Perry. Sadly Perry was teething and had a really rough time being so out of her schedule. My mom and the rest of my family were a huge help, but it was hard doing it all without Bobby. Nonetheless it was great seeing lots of family.


This is my beautiful Grandma. I sure do love her.




We also got to visit with my friend Kylie and her SUPER cute daughter Zoie. I love this girl!!!! Cutest 2 year old I know! She loved Perry and Perry loved her!!





This was super neat. We have 5 generations! My Great Grandma Larsen.. then My Grandma Billinton. My mom. Me. And Perry. So cool! 5 generations of women and 5 generations of hands! So cool. So glad we were able to visit Grandma Larsen and get these pictures.

All in all it was a great trip but it was so great to come home. Perry has really discovered her voice and she gets louder and louder EVVVEERRRY day. She's into yelling right now. It's pretty funny. We really enjoy her. She gets more and more interactive every day and we love it. She's 2 seconds away from rolling over! So much fun.

We are excited for this year. We feel like there will be a lot of exciting things going on and we cannot wait!

Perry Willows birth story.

I've been meaning to post this for months... and was asked by many people for me to tell the story, and here I am almost 4 months later finally posting! I am going to keep this as PG as possible, but come on, it's child birth.. is that possible??!?!

My due date was August 23rd. I was lucky and had an EXTREMELY easy pregnancy. The last month was horrible of course, but I don't know many women that enjoy that last month. When my due date came I was EXTREMELY sad Perry hadn't come yet. Like... I cried about it. Kind of pathetic I know, but you go so long telling everyone that date, and thinking your baby will be here by then, and when it comes and they still aren't here.. you start to question if they will ever come! Or if there's even a baby in there! I know that's crazy, but I wanted to meet her so bad I was just so bummed out the entire day and night. I went to sleep not expecting much, because I had gotten my hopes up every night and day for the past month... And it didn't help that I was dialated to a 4 a whole week and a half before the girl actually came. Doesn't help when your midwife says "Oh I'm SURE she'll be here by your due-date. I will be very surprised if she doesn't come". Ya. THANKS A LOT! So like I said, I had been dialated to a 4 and 75% effaced for almost 2 weeks... starting to think this deal wasn't happening.

Anyway.. the day after my due date I was in a great mood. I started doing EVERYTHING people had told me to do to induce labor (except drink castor oil.. wouldn't allow myself..). I decided to run a mile on the treadmill.. then go on a 5 mile walk outside to run my errands... walked to safeway, then whole foods, then target. Then when I got home I got in the pool and jumped around, as well as doing squats. COME ONNNN BABY! I had so much energy that day. I made dinner and then Bobby and I decided to go to our favorite local ice cream place (Theno's Dairy) and get some rockin ice cream. We came home and decided to watch some Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. :) The day before I had gone in to see my midwife and she told me that in my spare time I should bend over the couch or ottoman on my hands and knees and sway my hips back and forth to get the baby in the right postion. So I decided to do this while we were watching our show. After doing it for about 10 minutes (about 9pm) I sat on the couch and felt some leakage... I looked at Bobby and said "umm something just happened. I know I didn't just pee my pants..." There wasn't a big GUSH like I always heard happens when your water breaks... but I got up and sure enough there was a nice liquid spot on the couch. Bobby was sure it wasn't my water... but I called my mom and she said that I should call my midwife. So I did, and she said "Yup! That's your water. Your water is leaking. If you don't go into labor by 6am we will need to induce you.. but for how dialated you are I think you'll start on your own". So then within 5 minutes of getting off the phone contractions started up. I was still able to move around a little and talk through them... I called my mom and told her to get on the road because I didn't want her to miss it and I wanted her in the room. SO her, my sister and brother got on the road around 10pm that night. My mother in law called and insisted on staying on the phone through a contraction... she wanted to hear? lol (my crazy mother in law ;) ). I even got to talk to Cara!!! Anyway... contractions came on pretty strong.. Bobby discovered a cool app on our smartphones that helps you keep track of contractions. After the first few contractions, my contractions started being 5 minutes apart and lasting for a minute. I called my midwife and she wanted them to be that way for an hour before calling her back. In between contractions I finished packing.. then it got so bad I couldn't move around anymore. After I had these contractions consistently for an hour, I called my midwife. She had asked me if I wanted to do this naturally. I said that I would like to, so she said that I should stay home as long as possible so that I was comfortable. I told her that the pain was getting bad, and I wanted to go to the hospital now because I was worried about the sitting position for the carride. (I had been doing different positions that I had learned in my labor class, that were super helpful but sitting was not one of them). So we got in the car and made our way to the hospital. Bobby and I had to fill out some paperwork before going into our room, and every few minutes I had to take a break and go squat against the wall hanging onto the bar. Boy that was fun. All I wanted to go do was get into my room and go sit in my squatting position because that's the way I felt the least amount of pain. We got into our room, and the nurse got me changed and monitored me for a half hour before they checked to see my dialation. My midwife came in and checked me and I was still at a 4 1/2. I then decided I wanted to get in the tub because I had heard SO MANY amazing things about it. So I got in... it felt good for about a minute. Then a contraction started and I started shaking and immediately had to get out... then came the throwing up. Good times. So I went back to my comfortable squating position where I lingered in and out of sleep. It's crazy how you mentally just have to check out of your body because of the pain. I took the advice from a few friends to just try as hard as I could to relax my body and when I felt the urge to tighten up, do the opposite... as much as possible anyway. It was hard... but it works. I also just kept focusing on my little pdub and visualize her coming out and meeting her.

I had always said I wanted to see if I could do childbirth naturally. I wasn't necessarily against an epidural, I just wanted to do it natural if I could (for lots of reasons). But I always said that I've never been through it, so I had no idea what it would feel like, so if I ended up getting the epidural I wouldn't beat myself up over it. However.. as my pregnancy went on I felt stronger and stronger about doing it without any pain relief, and like Bobby says.. I'm pretty strong minded and when I set my mind to something, I generally do it. There were many times during labor that I thought "Wow I can see why someone would want an epidural", but I never seriously asked for one or even thought about getting it. I just thought... my body was made to do this, and she's it's only a day out of my life of pain, and it's for my daughter! So that made it a little easier for me.

My mom finally arrived around 12:30 and I was so happy to see her. Bobby had been so great, staying by my side the entire time, rubbing my back, doing whatever I asked. I had an amazing nurse and AMAZING midwife, she was there through all of it, and had such great advice on helping me breathe correctly through the pain. By the time my mom got there, I was at a 7, and I was currently in "back labor". The baby was facing a not so ideal way.. so she wanted me to get on the bed and sit on my knees bending over a medicine ball to help get the baby to turn. After I was doing that for a while, she said "okay we really gotta get this baby in the right position", so I had to lay on my side. Oh. My. GOSH. The pain amplified by about a billion and I threw up again, along with getting the shakes pretty bad. I was dehydrated from throwing up so much that they had to IV some liquids in me. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even feel the needle going in. Yet again, good times. Right when I got into this position I hit transition and I wasn't getting any breaks in between contractions... If I was they were few and not very long lasting. Within about a half hour, I felt the urge to push. I yelled "She's coming! I need to push!" Sure enough my midwife checked me and I was at a 9 1/2, and almost 100% effaced. I wasn't completely effaced so my midwife didn't want me to push yet which was extremely hard.. she helped me with my breathing which helped keeping me from pushing. I had heard from so many people that breathing didn't do anything blah blah blah.. well at least in my situation, the way I breathed and did my hee hee hoos made a HUGE difference on not only keeping my body in check, but it helped with the pain! Soon I couldn't keep the pushing from happening and it was going down. I also had been told by those who did it naturally that the pushing wasn't as painful as the contractions. Boy was that not true for me. This may be a little dramatic, but when the pushing started happening I literally thought that that must be what it feels like to die. Your body just takes over and the pain is so outrageous and you can feel every last bit of it. About 20 minutes into this... her head was there and the midwife said "She has brown curly hair!" I was like "SHE DOES?!?" And I started crying. Don't know why... but the fact that she had hair just really made me happy. I was not expecting that! The nurse asked if I wanted a mirror and I said no... then they had me touch her head and I cried even more with happiness and I heard my nurse say "I think she wants the mirror". SO she got it and I was so happy she did! It was seriously the coolest thing ever. Shortly after that Perry was all the way out and on my chest. Born Thursday August 25th 2011 and 3:21am. After 6 1/2 hours of labor she was so beautiful and alert and nursed perfectly right away, she just knew what to do! Bobby and I cried and we were immediately so in love. The second she came out the intense pain was gone, and nothing else mattered. She was perfect, and healthy, and everything I'd dreamed she'd be.

Many people have called me crazy when I say this, but I loved childbirth. Right after she was born I said I would do it all again tomorrow. There is nothing like going through so much pain for something you never imagined you could love that much. I loved being present physically for the whole thing, and experiencing it was amazing. Best thing I've ever done.

Now we have this beautiful little drama queen, and we love her more than words could ever say. She is such a good baby. She'll be 4 months on Christmas, sleeping 6-8 hours through the night, and is now going to sleep on her own! (without having to be rocked for an hour). She smiles constantly, and loves to chat it up. She's discovered her hands in the last few weeks and can just stare at them forever (as well as chew on them). She's SO close to rolling over, and we got her first REAL laugh a couple of days ago. She loves baths. I give her a bath before she goes to bed every night, and I sing to her. She absolutely loves it. I love every second I get to be with her. I miss her when she's sleeping, and I love that I get to be home with her. Bobby and I are so grateful for such a beautiful little soul that has made us better people.

37 weeks and 5 days!

I AM ALMOST THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woot! We are so so so so so so so so so so excited! Definitely nervous... but moreso excited. :) I can't believe our baby girl is almost here. Like... ALMOST HERE. I'm so ready to have this baby here. Ready to not be pregnant anymore, and start this new chapter in our lives! I can't wait to see what she looks like, what her manorisms will be like. I just want to meet her already!

I've spent most of the summer getting ready for the baby. Getting the baby room set up, getting our cute little apartment organized, being a good house wife (cleaning and cooking yummy paleo dinners every night --one of my goals), playing with friends and relaxing by the pool on the very few nice days we've had.



Pregnancy has been great. I really can't complain. I've managed keeping up Crossfit work outs (doing them all by my lonesome at our apartment gym) which I think has been really helpful. (Excuse the narly picture above, it was post work out and I wasn't planning on sharing it. But it's the most recent one I took a couple days ago.) We've gone on some hikes and tried to venture around the area a little bit. She's extremely active and gets hiccups on a regular basis. At this point my midwife says she's dropped and doesn't think I will go past my due date. YAY!!! Let's hope she's right! We picked a name.... okay you ready for this??? We are naming her Perry Willow Ulrich. This name was a long long long process with the decision making. Before we knew the gender, if it was a boy I really wanted to name him after my dad. My dads name is Brian and well.. it's just a little old and a friend of mine thought to name him Perry (being my dads last name). Well I loved it, Bobby could not stand it... for a boy that is. We both had a weird thing for the name Willow, but we couldn't lock it down for her first name. Then I had a client say "what about Perry Willow"?? I'd never really thought about Perry being a first name for a girl! then I started hearing all these people say oh ya "I had a girlfriend name Perry", etc. I didn't think Bobby would like it, and he LOVED it! My best friend Cara couldn't let go of the name Perry since before we found out the gender and called her Perry before we ever decided on it. So we are going to have a little Per, and the name is in memory of my Dad.

Re-cap on the summer... Bobby and I moved in the first couple of weeks of June to Redmond Washington for a job at Microsoft. Bobby loves his job and it has definitely been a good fit for him. Great company to be a part of. We love it here. I love Redmond. It is so beautiful and we are so close to everything. Downtown Redmond is right next to us and we are in walking distance of our favorite restaraunt MATADOR! haha Oh boy. There's so many beautiful parks and trails around here it's great. One thing I've realized I love about Seattle is all of the water. Pretty much everywhere you go you're surrounded by different Lakes or the sound. It's sooo pretty. I've had fun hanging with some of my really good friends, and getting to spend time with my mother in law and sister in law and niece Brookey during the days.

Bobby and I had our 2nd anniversary on July 18th, and let me tell you... I swear I fall more and more in love with the boy every day. I don't know how I ever got so lucky. He is so amazing and loves me so unconditionally I really don't know if I deserve it. He is by far the best friend I've ever had and he treats me so well. He surprised me and took me on a little cruise that went around Lake Washington. It was beautiful! Oh and of course we got to see Bill Gates MASSIVE property. :) He then took me to a fancy shmancy restaraunt and we had a really good time. Can't believe it's been 2 years already. Time sure does fly when you're having fun. :)

We went camping in July with Bobbys family at Ocean shores... Sorry Washington, you still have nothing on the Oregon Coast. I still don't get why this is the case... seems like Washington should have just as beautiful beaches as Oregon... but welp. They don't. It's one thing I've missed about living in Portland... the last couple of summers we have just up and driven to the beach for an evening bonfire. I miss that. I miss Portland and I miss my family friends and clients. My mom and sister have come up a couple of times to visit and that's been so nice. They just left today and it's crazy to think the next time I see them I'll be in labor!!! EEK! Not working has been a really nice break and I really admire those hard working hairdressers that work till their baby comes!!! NUTSOOOO! I guess I would have done it... but I think I would have passed out the second I got home from work every day. It's been really nice to get used to a new area and get as ready as I possibly can for Perry to come.



We went to a Mariners game with some of Bobbys extended family on his Dads side and we had a lot of fun. I love going to Mariners games. Such a fun atmosphere no matter how bad the team may be. ;)

Overall it's been a fabulous summer, but I will say... the best part of it is yet to come!!!!! We are so ready to meet our baby!!!!!


(3D picture of Perry)

26wks Prego and 2 weeks till move!

The past 2 months have been nutts-o.

I'm now 26 weeks (and 2 days) pregnant with a BABY GIRL!!!!! I feel great. She's kicking like crazy and has even found my rib cage which isn't so fun. ;) So far everything has gone really smooth (besides my rear ending a car experience that wound me in the hospital for 4 hours to be monitored). All is well and I've been able to keep up my exercise and have pretty good energy most of the time! 2nd trimester has sure beat the 1st! Being pregnant is probably the coolest thing I have ever experienced. It's so exciting and everything is so new and to top it all off, Bobby has been in Seattle for the past 8 weeks. It stinks. It blows and I'm SOOOOO OVER IT. We see each other on weekends, and it kind of feels like we are dating again... him living at his dads.. me living at my parents (w/ brother and sister).. and I'm just ready to feel married again. :)

We found a place to live in Redmond Washington. Only a few minutes away from Bobbys job at Microsoft (which he LOVES by the way!), and it's a super cute little apartment that overlooks the cutest courtyard. So happy about it. Of course it is an apartment... which I hate apartment living... but it's only temporary and it will do for the next year. :) I love Redmond. It's fabulous. We are fairly close to all of our friends and family, and it has GREAT shopping. ;)

2 weeks of work left, and I've been saying goodbye to all my favorite clients right and left. I hate goodbyes. It's been hard. But at this point I am SOOO ready to be up in Washington and start our new life up there. It's all so exciting. New place, new baby, new experiences. I can't wait. WE CANT WAIT!


24 weeks along.


26 weeks.

Seattle here we come!

We are SO SO SO EXCITED! So sad, but so very happy. Bobby got offered a job (kind of out of the blue) working at Microsoft in Redmond Washington. We've known for a while that we could possibly see ourselves up there... but I sure wasn't planning on moving any time soon. We go to Seattle at least once a month. Bobbys entire family lives up there, and we have a load of great great friends up there. It's so similar to Portland (I'm a little biased however... of course I think Portland is better), and has a lot to offer our little family. I think this will be a really great growing experience for Bobby and I, and I am SO SO SO SO SO excited to be in our own little place again (we've been living in the same house as not only my parents but my sister and brother). Let's just say... there's a reason why most couples have their own place. They need their space! We are not sure as to WHERE exactly we are going to live.. we are are currently looking in the Kirkland area. Redmond is pretty expensive so I think we'll be going a little North.

2 hardest things for me to leave are... 1. My mom. Of course, I'm over 4 months pregnant and so therefore I'm a bit emotional and the idea of leaving her while I'm pregnant is a little sad. But she promises she'll be there the second I go into labor and help me out for a couple weeks once the baby comes, so that makes me feel better. And 2.. Leaving my hair business! I worked so hard for a career that I love, and I have such AMAZING clients who I love dearly, and leaving all of that behind has been a tough decision for me. At first I didn't want to leave, and got really emotional about it. Then.. I had to look at all the reasons for me not wanting to leave.. and really they were selfish reasons. And guess what? I really can't be selfish anymore. I have a family and a baby to think about. This oppertunity at Microsoft is HUGE for Bobbys career and we would be crazy to not take it. One of the BIG BIG BIG upsides to this move is that I will get to stay home at least for a while once the baby comes. In Portland I was going to have to work till my due date and only take a month off and leave my baby to work full time. Even though I LOVE what I do.. and it's honestly a little hard for me to see it at THIS EXACT MOMENT... I hear it's not going to be so easy to leave that baby that fast.

So with all that said.. Bobby is leaving in 2 weeks (right after we have our big ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby), to go live with his Dad while I stay behind and finish out seeing my clients through the end of May. It's going to be hard to be apart.... kinda like the old days.. that long drive EVERY weekend back and forth. But I felt strongly about staying and seeing all my clients off and getting them set with a different stylist if that's what they wanted. I'm sure there's women that have experienced the same thing as me... and I know many that haven't. Even though I've only wanted to be a mom for years, I am also very attached to a business I started from the ground. But I'm looking forward to having the summer of NOT BEING ON MY FEET 24/7, and getting ready for this little nugget! It'll be nice to not have to stress about getting right back to work, and luckily we have a great great great support team in Seattle.

We are going to miss our family and friends here in Portland, but I have promised my mom MANY times that we will be back regularly. I'm excited for this new adventure, and the next stage in our lives.

On to pregnancy. I am 17 weeks, and feeling pretty good! Minus the headaches. I've had headaches just about every day since my second trimester started. :/ Again, that's okay, I really can't complain. I wasn't really showing about a week ago.. and I swear over night it was like "oh HEY there you are". And it wasn't really hidden anymore. It's crazy how fast these little ones grow, and all the changes that come in just weeks. I'm still sleeping lots, and am experiencing some AWESOME back and feet pain at the end of each work day. I've decided it's time to stop wearing the crappy cute flats, and I need to get good shoes. NEED. It's got to happen. So tomorrow I am off to TRY and find some cute looking comfy shoes. I swear it's so hard to do.

I love being pregnant and I am so very thankful for this oppertunity to be a mother and feel very very blessed. 2 more weeks and we find out if it's BLUE OR PINK! :)


17 weeks pregnant

Things I've learned while being pregnant....

NUMBER ONE:

I hate throwing up. I'm not like many I've heard where they throw up everything they eat, but for the first 8 weeks I threw up once every couple of days. My fabulous Midwife told me about a B-6 vitamin which works most days. But let me tell you. I am officially 14 weeks today and I want to hurl this morning. WHAT is the deal. Nauscea is not fun. Throwing up is even worse. Mmmmmmmmm morning sickness I would be ever so happy if you went away.

NUMBER TWO:

I never knew I could sleep so much. Not even when I was a teenager did I sleep 10-12 hours every night. WOAH. This is intense. Yet it's such a beautiful thing. I find myself literally almost passing out around 7pm some nights... I don't know how women deal with this with their 2nd + children... I guess just suck it up and be tired? Boo to that!

NUMBER THREE:

Goodbye sweet tooth, hello SALT! For some reason the I haven't been caring much for sweets. All I ever want is salty and spicy (I don't even like spicy food, but I can never get enough hot sauce). And Red Robin fries. Holy moly this is a problem. I smell fries and I want them. Someone talks about fries and I want them. Sometimes I even dream about them. The other thing I want on a regular basis is Pizza... Now this one I just don't understand. Pizza has always been "ok"... but never a fav. I crave it. I do. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY BODY. Remember the days of low carb, high protein, high fat? Ya... Too bad that doesn't sound good to me. OH no. PIZZA instead..

NUMBER FOUR:

My dreams are OUTRAGEOUS. I mean like so beyond weird and real and scary and sad and some just ODD. I mean... what's with having a dream you're on Jersey Shore.. or having a dream you saw some guy punch your mom in the face... or... better yet 4 dreams I'm delivering to a boy and in one of the dreams he is talking like an adult... Ya that one was kind of creepy almost. ;) Maybe it just means my baby will be SUPER smart. :)

NUMBER FIVE:

Ok so I know I'm emotional. But this is NUTS! I sometimes cry over nothing. The smallest thing can set this off. Some silly break up on a silly sitcom can make me break out balling.. no SOBBING for an hour straight. Sometimes I think Bobby may think I am a total freak. He thinks someone just died and really I'm just having a breakdown "NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME!" Yet another crying session.. literally. OVER NOTHING... for a good hour. Sometimes two. You could even look at me wrong some days and I may start crying. YIKES.


Anyway, these are just a few things I've learned thus far (without going into details NO one wants to hear about). What a ride. Amazing what a little nut can do to ya! But boy do I sure love it! :)

PREGNANT!

Definitely the best Christmas gift Bobby or I have ever received. The day after Christmas we found out this little treasure was going to be changing our lives for the better. It was kind of a surprise... but anyone that knows me, knows I have been baby crazed for almost 2 years now. So you can imagine my excitement. :) Bobby and I had had a feeling that I was pregnant... but I didn't want the disappointment by a negative test result.. so I decided to wait it out a bit. I was 6 1/2 weeks pregnant when we found out. We were in Seattle celebrating Christmas with Bobbys family.. and of COURSE my mother in law (love you Nancy) was all over me about whether or not she was getting a grandbaby for Christmas. I said "well it's possible". So that lead to a billion more questions, which then ended up driving me to taking a pregnancy test. I snuck into the bathroom and once that test showed positive I started shaking and crying immediately. I was so frazzled and happy, I went out to Bobby and he saw the test and the news was OUT! Kind of an intense moment to share with so many other people.. but it was good because my mother in law handed me the phone and I called my mom (hence the picture of me on the phone). I have never been so happy in my life. For so long I had it in my head that something like this could just very well not be in my cards, so for it to come so suprising like that, I was filled with pure joy. I drove the whole way home from seattle with a smile on my face, nothing capable of bringing me down.

We were able to keep the news SOMEWHAT on the low down for the first 12 weeks... slowly spilling the beans. It was very hard to keep it from clients.. while I'm standing there trying to weave someones hair, keep a conversation without throwing up on them. Ya.. no bueno. The worst case of morning sickness was over New Years when we went to Leavenworth, WA (5 hours away) with my family. I was pretty much sick with Nauscea and the flu the entire time... OH yeah, and in 6 degree weather. AWESOME. Still I didn't care and hugged that toilet, thinking "it's ok, this is for you baby".

First Trimester I had the all the typical symptoms. B6 vitamin calmed down the nauscea, only throwing up every once in a while. All I craved for a while was salty and spicy. Fries, fries, fries. It's really all I thought about at times. SO disturbing. I didn't get the exhaustion till about 9 weeks in. However, I have consitantly been sleeping 10-12 hours every night for I don't know how long. So that definitely helps.

We got to see the baby at 11 weeks (I am now 13 weeks and 3 days), and that baby was kickin and movin their arms all around! There is nothing like hearing that little heartbeat. Such an amazing miracle.Bobby and I cannot wait for this baby to come. I'm ready for a full on belly, and can't wait to find out the sex (March 28th!!!), and feel the first kick. I thank God every day for giving me this oppertunity to be a mother. Give me a boy, give me a girl, I don't care! We are just so excited to start our family.


1 MONTH PREGNANT


2 MONTHS PREGNANT


3 MONTHS PREGNANT

Balance.

I'm Blogging... GASP!

It's 12:07am on a Sunday night and it is a RARE occasion for me to be up at this hour. But sadly... even though it felt OH so good.. I took a 2 hour nap today after church and now it's payback.

Something I've learned lately. I love alone time. As I've gotten older I've become more intraverted (I know that is probably incorrect spelling but that was my shot at it)... which is weird because allll growing up I was SUPER out-going and loved meeting new people. Now? Not so much. Maybe it's because of my job. I can do 1 on 1 all day long (and I do), and I love it. But I think within my 8 hour period of work I have fulfilled my small talk quota for the day. Maybe it's because my husband is a little bit quieter when you first meet him (and boy does that change in a matter of minutes)... But I don't like it much. I've even experienced some social anxiety (I know this may be shocking to some).. but it's just how I've become. And really I'm totally okay with it. Don't get me wrong I love people and I love my friends and I love my family. And I love making good new friends. But I really appreciate my alone time these days...

We are now living in the same household as my mom, step dad and little brother. This can be fun at times but I've realized that Bobby and I rarely are alone in our home let alone ME being alone... I don't know how I feel about this. Ok ok I don't really love it all that much. But for this reason a few things have become neccessary.... Date nights. FOR SURE. And I really appreciate the time I spend driving to and from work, and even an occasional movie by myself.

I watched the movie "Eat Pray Love" the other day (by myself :)) and although I don't agree with some of the thoughts in this book/movie I really enjoyed it. It's about finding yourself and loving who you were are and will be. Finding that balance in your life. As I've thought about this I've thought about the different priorities in my life and what comes first, second, etc.. as well as what I need to keep myself sain and eveyone else around me.

1. My relationsihp with God and all that involves keeping me close to him. Church, scriptures, prayer, service.. I can easily say that this is the best part of who I am. I have been blessed with a knowledge and understanding and fire of truth in my heart that can not be denied. Even in the hardest of times, I will be brought to my knees and my heart can be mended.

2. Now this one is tricky. I'm going to go with my husband Bobby. I've often been labeled as selfish or spoiled or whatever the crap you want to call it, but every day I'm learing in my marriage that I have to give him all of myself and find his needs, and try my best to fulfill them. I know that as long as we are doing this for one another (even though my needs may be higher) we can make it through most anything. Call me crazy but in my short experience of 1 year of marriage that is what I've learned.

3. (going back to what I originally was talking about) I need ME time. This is a recent discovery. I was always pretty independent growing up and went through some of the hardest times ALONE. You need your own time to think and sort through the thoughts in your head. I need it for my own sanity, my husbands, and everyone else around me. I think often times this one is linked back to numero uno. My relationship with my higher power. It's when I get a lot of inspiration and spiritual guidance.
I know many couples that are constantly needing to be with each other and don't want to do anything without the other... And though that may be fine for them or for a while, I think it's important to always know WHO YOU ARE so you don't wake up one day completely lost. There's such a balance there, and I know for me it's a daily thing I'm trying to achieve.

4. My career. One day the bigger career for me will be being a Mother. Heaven knows I cannot wait for that day. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have this desire as strongly as I do now. It brings me to tears on a REGULAR basis, and I know that some of the greatest joys (and hardships) in life are through raising a family. This may not be important to some... some traveling and experiencing the WOOORRRLLDD is what they find as important.. but to me I can't imagine anything more fascinating, exciting, and remarkable as creating life, and raising one to know the rights and wrongs of the world and growing into strong individuals.
Second half is current and that would be my career in the salon. Huge part of my daily balance and it's a passion that I get to fulfill and thankfully it pays the bills! ;) What more could a girl ask for?

5. You named it... dun dun dun Excersize/healthy nutrition. Call my crazy but this is HUGE IN A DAILY BALANCE. It affects our moods, our physical and mental health, and in general how we feel about ourself as a whole. No not everybody (nor myself) needs to be a size 2, but finding a healthy balance in the foods to give your body satisfaction and joy and being in the physical shape that makes you capable of doing things you would like to do. For me that involves Crossfit, Running, and anything physical outdoors. I eat a paleo low-carb diet that I plan on eating the rest of my life. why? BECAUSE ITS GOOD FOR YOU. Don't believe me? check marksdailyapple.com.. or anything on Rob Wolff. This is just 1 opinion but I've tested many waters and this is what makes me happy and is what works for me. I can enjoy life because I feel great. Again... what more could a girl ask for?

I would say there of course is family and friends and hobbies that go into this balance as well. but those were some of the major points I've thought about lately. Balance is so necessary. Life is so good. We should spend less time worrying and more time enjoying.

Fathers Day.

This Fathers Day was a rough one.


I hate feeling sad about it because he died so many years ago and I feel as though I should be over it. But for some reason this whole past month has been a rough one and I've missed him a lot. Missed the time we had together, and the time we never got to have. Wondering where we would be, what I would be like if he lived.

I can't help but wish he were here.

Trips, trips, and more trips.

We've been busy oh yes we have. I'd like to say that's my good excuse for not blogging since April.... and I think I'm going to stick with that excuse. :) Things have been really great for us lately. Work has been WONDERFUL. I've loved having my own schedule and it's been great having everything so flexible. It's allowed me to do lots of fun (much needed) things.

Back in March? Maybe April... I can't remember anymore, my mom and I took a nice little stroll over to Rexburg Idaho to see my sister and my brother. It was short and sweet and sadly I don't think any pictures were taken... but we had a blast. My mom and I talked the whole 12 hours there and the whole 12 hours back and it honestly made the time go by crazy fast. Can I just say I am so glad that I'm not a teen anymore and am able to have a wonderful friendship with my mom? It's awesome. She really is one of my best friends and I love it.
Crystal was SOOOO excited for us to come. It was tender. We met her cute roomates, met her ALL TIME FAVORITE teacher (I even went to the class... such a great sister I know) played with one of my bffs Missy, and of course got a crossfit class in. I got Crystals roomate to drive with me to Idaho Falls to do a crossfit workout since Crystal nor missy nor my mother would come... sigh.
Anyway we had lots of fun. Made dinner, had a crappy happy hour at crappy Applebees (still hate that place... it never gets better) and had lots and lots of laughing... and farting. I don't know which one happened more but let me tell you I had a LOT of dairy and dairy HATES me. So that's how that went. My poor mom got to sit in a car with me for 12 hours! Woo good gracious.

Theen in the end of April I got to go to VEGGAASSS!!! Vegas baby. And it was a BLAST. I went for a few reasons. My girlfriend Tina and I went to the Vegas hairshow.. it was 3 days and it was a ton of fun. Also, that Monday we were there, my good high school friend Jen got married! I did her hair and the wedding was beautiful. Another good high school friend Catherine came up from California with her boyfriend so it was great playing with her and catching up. And then last but not least, another BFF Kylie from Utah was in town with her hubby and SUPER adorable baby!!! I had fun going out with her, it was so good to see them.
Tina and I did everything while we were there. We'd sleep in, go to the pool for a few hours, go to the hairshow for a few hours, go to dinner, and go party on the town at night. One night we even walked from one side of the strip to the other and rode the Stratosphere rides at 1am. One of those moments where you're strapped into the seat and you're wondering how the crap you got there... yeah. GREAT times.
After 4 days in Vegas, I had a few massive blisters on the bottom of my feet and was ready to go home!

Tina and I on the strip.




The beautiful bride!



Then we had some serious wedding OVERLOAD. We went to Seattle in may 2 weekends in a row. Bobbys step brother got married on Saturday May 8th, and then his brother Dave got married May 15th and he was the best man in that wedding. For Dave and Alli's wedding I did all of the bridesmaids and the brides hair and make up... holy cow I was stressed about this because I only had 4 hours to do 5 girls hair and make up and NONE of their hair holds curl... and the brides hair is down to her butt! But, I made it happen and it was a beautiful day and we had so much fun!

Alli--the pretty bride!


The happy couple.


Bobby's sister Coley, Alli and me!


My super hot husband :)



After all of this the traveling kind of relaxed... but then we had a fun wild week of PARENTING!!! Yes. parenting. My step sister Penny and her husband went on a cruise and had Bobby and I watch their 3 kids. Ellie is the oldest (12), then Luke (9) and Ben (6). They were so much fun and a total handful. We loved being parents for a week, but were totally ok handing them back at the end of the week! We got them memorial day and decided to take them on a hike. We had a great time.

Ellie is 12.. can you believe it??


(Luke doesn't like to smile for pictures... he would put a frown on the second I brought the camera out! haha)


Love these kids.


I just thought this picture was way too freakin cute.



All in all it's been a good hectic and wild last few months! We have a lot coming up to look forward to. This week I'm making 2 more Seattle trips, and then in July we're headed to Utah for a week over our anniversary! I can't believe it's already been a year. Absolutely wild. :)

Back.

I'm coming back I swear.


I look at other peoples blogs just about every day.... but for some reason sitting down and writing in mine.. well I've just gotten lazy. Maybe it's the weather.


Either way, I promise I'll be better.
xoxo

Tagged!

Got tagged to do this by my sister. GOODY. Hope you like.

Four Shows I Watch:
1. LOST
2. 24
3. Biggest Loser
4. Big Bang Theory

Four Things I'm Passionate About:
1. Hair
2. Music
3. Faith
4. Family/Friends

Four Phrases I Say A Lot:
1. "Tender." (thanks to Crystal, lacey... whoever started that trend)
2. "That's different.."
3. "For sure."
4. "Random."

Four Things I've Learned from the Past:
1. Rely on God.
2. Life's too short to be dramatic all the time.
3. Seek out the good in others.
4. Don't stop reading the scriptures.

Four Places I Would Like to Go:
1. England
2. New York
3. Germany to visit Cara!!!!
4. Greece

Four Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Slept in.
2. Worked a looonnggg day.
3. Got my Crossfit on.
4. Watched Biggst Loser :)

Four Things I'm Looking Forward to:
1. VEGAAAS!
2. Seeing sister!
3. Family weddings coming up
4. Crossfit Games.

Four Things I Love about Winter:
1. Snow (when it comes)
2. Christmas Music
3. Family time...around the holidays
4. My birthday :)

Four Things on My Wish List:
1. Have healthy happy babies.
2. Getting to a really lean body fat %
3. Travel the world.
4. grow grow grow my career

Four People I tag:

Suzypoooo
Jessie
Danika
Cara jeanne

*!@#

Can I just say... Life is good.

I'm so glad I finally grew up. Heavenly Fathers blessings have become so much more apparent now. Oh how I struggled throughout so much of my life. Growing up was a constant battle. My single years were even harder in ways. I feel like I've closed the first chapter in my life. I love looking back and seeing my life with the eyes I have now. God is so good. I honestly believe the moment I turned my life around and chose to follow Christ, REALLY follow Him and put my broken heart in His hands-- blessings just poured. Poured. and poured. Oh how grateful I am. A broken heart is all he ever really asked for.

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saves a wretch like me
I once was lost
And now I'm found
Was blind but now I see

Simple pleasures.

First let me tell you what is NOT a simple pleasure. Getting all ready to head to the mall (with LOTS of excitement) and then realizing you left your keys in your husbands car which is now across town. GOODY. Yes this just happened to me. So I've decided to sit down and write a much needed blog instead of doing laundry. Sounds PEACHY. :)

I feel SO BLESSED. Life may not always be like this but let me tell you, it's pretty dang rockin lately. Family, husband, work, friends, weather (today)--it's all just ROCKIN.

First simple pleasure. My sweet Margaret. Bobby and I teach the sunbeams on Sunday at church (well at least 5 of them). OH how I love it. Some Sundays are harder than others but we just adore these kids. Margaret is one of them and she is HILARIOUS. She is very smart, and she DEFINITELY doesn't like just anyone, at least not all the time. She is famous for her dirty look. This little girl is freshly 4 years old and OH how she can give you the stink eye! So funny. Here's another funny story. The other day she was saying the opening prayer before we started our lesson and she said "Please help us to be able to sell our house", I don't know why but this totally caught Bobby and I off guard and we laughed (just a little). She stopped, looked up at us... pondered for a second... and said "forget it". Oh my gosh it was so funny! We loved it. These kids are so fun. Josh isn't talking much yet, but he has THE cutest "okay". We like to say it like him when we're at home. Malena is as sweet as can be and ALWAYS has something to say. Alexa is my little red-head who gets SO excited SO EASILY and has the cutest laugh. And then there's little Jack and his rosy cheeks. Jack has big muscles and is ALWAYS being a helper.
Anyway, so this Sunday I was sitting behind Margarets family and I didn't get the stink eye ONCE! Instead she kept coming over to me handing me pictures. This one was my favorite:



Isn't that just tender? I love these sweet spirits. When I was watching her color I just kept thinking how great it would be to be that innocent again. To have so much curiosity and joy in simple things. All these kids are looking for is love, and I love loving them and teaching them about the Saviors love. We look forward to Sundays.

Another simple pleasure:



I get to see these kids in less than a week! Yup that's right. My mom and I are doing the long drive to Rexburg Idaho. Haven't been back there in QUITE some time! I'm pretty excited. We'll get lots of knitting done on the way while listening to some Daughtry and munching on celery (GOODY). I'm pretty stoked! Can't wait to see my favorite siblings and go meet Crystals FAVORITE TEACHER EEEEVVVVEEERRRR (that was just for you Crystal). Hopefully I can still get my work-out on and see my Missy pissy and maybe even Jess again! We're just going for a few days but BOY it's gonna be great! First time away from the husband. Let's hope he doesn't cry himself to sleep every night. ;) I'm sure he'll LOVE a break!

I have an AWESOME job. This seems so simple but let me tell you it's NOT. It makes life SO good. It makes it possible for me to go on little trips like this! I could not do this before. And guess what? I'm actually making more money than before! Isn't that GRAND? My clients rock, the girls I work with rock, and all around I feel FREEDOM! It's like when you first move away from home and you can do whatever the heck you want. Just like that. :)

So another simple pleasure.... a husband that COOKS! Bobby is an amazing cook. He basically cooks dinner every night.. I come home from work and it is ON the table. WOW am I a lucky girl! Remember the crazy Paleo diet I told you about? Well we've been doing it (or at least he has.. I've been sneaking naughty treats every once in a while). Anyway, it's gluten free, dairy free, soy free, pretty much everything free. And it really hasn't been too bad. Especially since Bobby likes to try new recipes all the time and it never gets boring. Get this. Valentines Day I came home to a 3 course meal. He made PF Chang style lettuce wraps for appetizers, salmon AMAZING asparagus w/ mushrooms and mock mashed potatoes (mashed cauliflower! SO GOOD!) for dinner, and for dessert HE MADE CREME BRULE!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My jaw was dropped BASICALLY the whole time. Here is one of my favorites that he makes. Lettuce wrap TACOOOSSSS!!!! SO GOODDDD!:


(ps check out his Work-out/nutrition blog: bobulrich.net)

I love simple pleasures. Like Lost, knitting, a killer run, and Coconut bliss ice cream.



Check it out. It will rock your world.

XOXOXOXO

Bella Salon!

Some exciting news....... I MOVED TO A DIFFERENT SALON!!! HAAALLLLEEEELLLUUUUUUJJJAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life is good let me tell you. So some of you know I had been working at Ensemble Salon for almost 3 years... and although I LOVE doing hair I, (and everyone else that worked there) really had a hard time. I won't go into detail.. but basically I was just so ready to leave. They were moving locations so I decided that at the same time I would go to a different salon.

My step sister Jonna has a sister-in-law named Da'Lynne that worked at Bella Salon, and had told me to get into contact with her. So I did. :) I met with the owner and that was that! I got hired! Now the difference between the salons is Ensemble was commission... and Bella is a leasing salon. Do you know how great this is? I am my own boss. No more dealing with cruddy bosses who never let me take any time off and never listened to me and 80% of the time didn't have color in stock. I don't have to deal with that BS ANYMORE!!! The transfer was pretty stressful. I had to get all my clients info and call everyone and send out postcards to everyone. But I did it, and last week was my first week at Bella! I love it. There's 13 stylists and everyone is super nice and all of my clients followed!

I feel like the biggest burden has been lifted off my back and now I enjoy working again. YAY FOR HAPPY JOBSSSS!!!!

Winter Madness.

This past month has been SO fun and SO nuts! We had so much fun over the Holidays. Lot's of family and friend time and lots of Holiday cheer! The month of December was pretty crazy and was just go go go.
Near the beginning of the month we threw a little Christmas party/Missy's birthday party. I made lots of food and it was DELICIOUS. We ate and watched Home Alone and decorated sugar cookies. We had a ton of fun and maybe we'll even do it again next year!

(the food was intense)

(Kyle & Kerri--newly engaged cute couple!)



(don't you love my candles??)

(Alysha & Justin decorating cookies. The best sugar cookie decorators)

Then Christmas started getting closer and Crystal came home!! My mom waited till Crystal came home so we could decorate the tree and we had a good time since Bobby especially always makes things wild and entertaining.

(this is one of those moments where I don't know if I want to claim him...)

(love these two chicks.)


(I was feeling left out being the only one without 4-eyes, so Chuck let me borrow his)

(we also went to "Peacock Lane" which is a famous street that decks out on xmas lights every year.)
sisters :)

(and then the weater got all crazy on us and SNOWED! We loved it!)
(we walked to my parents house and there were cars stuck EVERYWHERE!)

Then Crystal and Kevin and the rents took off for Idaho and things settled back down a little bit.. and 2 weeks after christmas my birthday hit!!! woot woot! Good ol 23. I love my birthday. Who doesn't love a day all about them? I like to tell Bobby that it's actually my birthday WEEK so I get whatever I want all week. Ok lets be honest... I get what I want pretty much always. But ESPECIALLY on my birthday.

(looking a whole year older--don't look to close to see the wrinkles ps thanks Crystal for the earings! Love em!)

(we went cosmic bowling the Friday before with a bunch of friends and had a blast!)

(two of my favorite people. Whit and Holly)

(that's my GQ man)

(priceless)

And then the BEST birthday present of all was the next day when Bobby took me to leavenworth, Washington! OH MY GOSH GO THERE!!!! I was in heaven. It's a little German town up in the mountains and we had the most relaxing time imaginable. It was so nice to get away just the 2 of us and it was so beautiful and magical. We only spent one night there but it was so much fun and we want to go back.

(the trees were beautiful)

(this was funny. Pretzels everywhere. We love German food)

(don't you love it?!?)

(don't worry it didn't stick!)

(we went to a German restaraunt and had a shnitzel!!! SO DELICIOUS!)

(Delicious nutella cheesecake. YUM)

<3