August picture explosion

Sorry these are all from my phone. My camera decided to crap out on me this month. Just in time for the almost arrival of baby. Great.

My niece Maizy "giving the baby a bottle". She found it and came running over to my stomach to feed her. 

She is already obsessed with my tummy. 

Kind of adorable the things kids think up. 

Our littlest brother Josh returned from the Colorado Springs Mission this month!

We are so excited to have him home... and I'm sure my mother in law is happy to be done with missionaries. 

This cute guy makes the FIFTH one!

Best part? He returned home with a full sleeve of temporary tattoos. 

Oh Josh, how we have missed you. 

My sister in law Lindsay threw me a baby shower. It was adorable and so fun to see my family and friends.

Cute favors from my "Ready to Pop" themed baby shower. 

Ring pops or Pop Rocks, popcorn and kettle corn cookies. 

Went and saw Wicked for Zach's birthday present. His first time, my sixth. I'm only a little spoiled.

Got in a couple of fun date nights with the hubby this month and celebrated his birthday. 

Can't believe he's already 25.

Ended the summer playing with these cute kiddos a few more times. 

And my cousin Katie announced her pregnancy too! Baby Pavia will be here in February. 

The greatest decision

Today marks the three year anniversary of the day I received my endowments. I still feel like it was just yesterday that I was sitting inside those beautiful walls surrounded by friends and family. I remember being a little nervous because there was so much to learn and so much I didn't know. My Aunt Genae was my escort and between her and the sweet temple workers, I never felt alone. They stayed with me every step of the way and made me feel like a princess. 

Typically when you go through the temple it is because you are about to leave on a mission or get married. Well, I was preparing for a mission when things got interrupted with an engagement instead. I'm not complaining. I kept the same endowment date I had set for the mission even though it was a whole month before my wedding date. I remember this was a hard thing for the stake president to agree to. Understandably, his biggest concern was that the wedding could be called off or that my future spouse and I would fall into the evil temptations that surround you the closer you get to doing something so spiritual. 

I reassured him that if the wedding was called off I would resume my mission papers and that if the wedding was still on, my future husband would not even be in the same STATE again until the wedding day. This settled his nerves and he let me keep the same date.

I remember sitting in the room waiting for the session to start. I had butterflies and was excited. I had already been there an hour before my friends and family arrived, doing other temple ordinances in preparation for the actual endowment session. A feeling of peace and comfort surrounded me, literally like I was wrapped in a fuzzy blanket. I kept thinking "how lucky am I that I get to be here?"

It is a day I will never forget. In the month leading up to our wedding, I was able to go back to the temple 4 different times by myself and really learn and enjoy the peace that was there. I was able to watch one friend receive her endowments as well as another friend be sealed for time and all eternity to her husband.

 Then a month later it was my turn.

I still cry ( a lot) when I go back to the temple. Its always at the same time. The Celestial room is the closest thing to heaven on earth. It is a beautiful place for meditation and prayer to our Heavenly Father. It is peaceful and feels like home. It's here where I cry the most. I watch families greet one another with tears in their eyes from the joy that they share. I imagine meeting my family in heaven with open arms and all dressed in white. I am grateful for the knowledge that because of these temples here on earth I am able to be sealed to my husband for time and all eternity. To know that my children will be sealed to us and we are a forever family. That they will have the example of us as their parents and to raise them to strive for a temple marriage as well. I am blessed for the daily remembrance and protection that my garments provide me. I am grateful to be able to share my testimony with others. I am thankful that when my life is hectic and I feel like there is nothing I can do, I can go to the temple and receive guidance and comfort with my trials.

This day I hold dear to my heart. It is one of the most special days of my life I will never forget. I am so glad I made the decision to be a member of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Welcome Home Elder Lyman

Finally the last Lyman boy returns from the mission field. 

We are so proud of Josh. Colorado was lucky to have him for the last 2 years, and we are lucky to have him as our brother for the rest of eternity. 

Notice Mom's "death grip" on Josh's arm. She's not letting him out of her sight! :) 

All of the brothers reunited again. 

Max and Fin were so excited to see Uncle Josh again, Maizy on the other hand wanted nothing to do with him and just kept saying "I no like him." 

But you can't blame the girl, when he left she was only 6 months old. She had no clue who he was. 

To all the Prego's in my life.

It's that time of year again where I compile my list of all the pregnant women in my life. You may remember last year having an insane number of pregnant friends, somewhere in the 20+ range. Well this year I believe we are right about the same with the baby boom.

 So here is the rundown:

Ashley S- Boy

Lindsay H-

Nicole A-

Rachel G- Boy

Heidi N- Girl

Christie R- Girl

Alissa S- Boy

Meagan E= 

Brittany K-

Kaitlyn H- Boy

Amy M - 

Rachelle P= Girl

Christine e - Boy

Lyndi k - Boy

Heather l - Girl

Katie t - 

Katie G- GIrl

Amy m - Boy

Holli W- girl

Katie p- 

So far that makes for a grand total of 19. Wow.  And I am almost positive that there are a few that are not far along and are not yet sharing the news but we will include them in the next prego post.

and literally as I am writing this 3 more ladies on FB announce their pregnancies. HA!

This is not counting the 9-ish ladies who were pregnant the same time as I was but have had their children in the last 4-6 months. 

Here's to 5 weeks left of pregnant bliss!

And good luck to all the babies of 2012... and the few in 2013 as well!

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As I write this I am reminded of the special gift it is for women to be pregnant. To be blessed with the miracle of life growing inside you.  It truly is nothing less than that. As pregnant women we complain because of the aches and pains of pregnancy, labor and delivery. We sigh and think to ourselves "how much longer do I have to be like this?" We wish that sometimes it didn't have to be this hard. However, we also forget that there are women who would give anything to have our back pains, our midnight bathroom runs, our swollen feet and our heartburn just to feel that little wiggle inside of a baby growing. My heart breaks for those women. I have had so many dear friends in my life that have experienced loss or troubles getting pregnant. If I could I would give you my uterus so you could experience the adventure of pregnancy. I have a firm belief that we have a loving Father in Heaven that knows us each individually and will only give us what we are able to handle and when we are able to handle it. We may not always know why we aren't able to have children when we want to, but having the faith to know that God has a plan for us and we just need to rely on his timetable for things to happen makes things a little more comforting. 

So to my pregnant friends,  let people touch your tummy and share in your joy. 

You don't know where they have been or what journey they are on. 

And the next time you feel overwhelmed or grumpy because of pregnancy, remember how lucky you are.

I will get off my soapbox now. 

Watch me grow!

For my family far away here is my tummy progression months 1-8. Can't believe I'm almost done. I'm one of those weirdos that aside from an occasional bad day.... I love being pregnant.

Last trip home before baby

I took one last trip home before I am too pregnant to leave the state. I can't believe only 5 weeks left till my due date and the arrival of baby girl. This pregnancy has gone by in the blink of an eye. 

My very good friend Calix came along as my road trip buddy, and my nephew came along as a stow away to visit Zach's grandparents in California and spend a week with them. 

He is such a good kid and we had a blast with him in the car. 

I love road trips and all the fun stops along the way.

We went to the Queen Mary and took their haunted ship tour. It was really cool to hear all of the fun stories from the ship. 

 Another day we went to the aquarium with my brother and him and Calix fed the birds. I declined. 

Mostly because I am not a fan of birds or anything with beaks and the thought of them landing on me did not sound fun. So instead I decided to snap the camera and catch a couple funny pictures of them "enjoying" their time feeding the birds. 

Then we went shopping, went to the beach, more shopping, lots of yummy dinners, took naps,

played in the hot tub, did facials, and did I mention shopping?

Before we left I had a baby shower with the ladies in the ward and some family members.

 As you can tell the bump is growing ever bigger each day. Starting to feel huge and getting uncomfortable. 

Baby girl was completely spoiled with TONS of clothes.  I mean this kid has a complete wardrobe until age 2. I am so blessed to have a strong support group and already know Baby Girl will be so loved and cared for. I am starting to get excited for her arrival. Like I said, I feel very large, its hard to imagine I can get any bigger before she gets here. I am down to weekly doctor visits and am becoming well known around the office. I love my Dr and I know he will be amazing on "D day". I'm not nervous for labor, I'm nervous for everything else but I know it will all be ok and can't wait to see my little family grow!