Saturday, January 4, 2014

The rest of fall.......and into winter.

Our fall was fast and furious!! Aside from working full-time at Dixie, I was working one day a week at Cedar Valley Medical Clinic as an NP. It was a great opportunity to get my feet wet in my new field. The staff there is amazing and so gracious to me! In November, Colby went up to the University of Utah to interview for their PA program. We were surprised that he even got an interview their because they are the #2 PA school in the nation. Just like the other interviews, he made the best of a grueling process and let his personality shine. Just two days later, we found out that he had been ACCEPTED there as well!!!!! Then it was decision time......he had been accepted to all three schools that he had interviewed at and decided to not attend another interview because these three schools were very impressive. So........... after contemplating the pros and cons of each of the schools. We decided that the University of Utah would be the best place all-around for our family! One of the big reasons is how close we would be to our families if we get in a bind. I was going to feel awful if our girls only rarely got to see their grandparents and cousins. Also, our move is going to be so much easier than moving to another state, let alone across the country!! Besides the family stuff, Colby will have the opportunity to learn at an amazing program.
 



The first part of December, we made our annual trip up the mountain to fetch our Christmas tree! Colby was a trooper and found the tree for us and then only had us walk a little ways to get it seeing how I was 36 weeks pregnant! Millie was super excited to get her Christmas tree!

 
On December 10th, we had this cutie's very first dance recital!! Grandma Cyn and Grandpa Rick were coming through town so they were able to come watch. We were a little nervous cause she tends to get a little shy. Taking her backstage was a little dicey- she did not want to stay there with them. But finally she agreed to go play games. When the big moment finally came and her class walked onto stage, both Colby and I were holding our breath. But she walked right up there and danced away! She looked so stinking cute and we were so proud of her for doing it!
 

Here I am at 37 weeks pregnant. I was pretty miserable. My hips and pelvis felt as if they were splitting in two. If I didn't keep up on taking my zofran, I would start puking again. My feet looked like tree stumps and there were only a few pairs of shoes I was able to wear. It was a little weird because my left foot would swell A LOT worse than my right. At my 37 week appointment, I was measuring 40 weeks. I thought, for sure, we were going to have a chunker of a gal. My belly was huge. It took us clear until December to settle on a name for our little one. We decided on the name Hanna Joyce. I like the name Hanna because it is a very classic name that I feel could span generations; however, we dropped the H at the end- I hope I don't regret that later. The name Joyce is after my grandmother who has always been such a great example to me. We love our girls' middle names- they remind us of our grandmothers who represent such strength and kindness.
 
 
After contemplating whether or not we should travel to Delta for Christmas, we decided to just chance it. After all, I didn't got into labor until the day before my due date with Hayden. So I thought at 38 weeks, I should be okay even though I was measuring big! We went up Sunday after church and stayed at the Moody house the first two nights and then the Bliss house for Christmas Eve. It was so nice to go up a little before to be able to relax and spend time with family. I even was able to get my hair colored and trimmed for the first time in a very long time!
For Christmas Eve, we did the usual bounce back and forth between the two families. We started out in Hinckley that evening because Santa was coming over to visit. Hayden did so good and was so brave being the first one to jump up and sit on Santa's lap. She asked for a, "Purple princess dress a repunzel one." That is exactly how she worded it. After that though, she lost all confidence and had a little meltdown when all the grandkids were supposed to go take a picture with him.
 
 
I said to Nikki as I asked her to take a family picture of us, "This may very well be the last family picture with just the three of us!"
 
 
 
After Santa's visit, we went into my grandma Joyce's for her annual dinner. It is always so good to see how packed it gets in her house with all of our family! Then we headed back out to Hinckley for the night.