Spring Shenanigans

 March

Sams parents came to San Antonio to celebrate Sam's birthday early since they would be in Puerto Rico on his actual birthday. I love when they come to visit! They always spoil us. His dad had a bishop training here with Elder Renlund so Sam's mom went to to the temple with us . We then took some flowers to Sams grandparents graves, drove past Connie's grandmothers home (and since it was under construction, Connie took us inside on a personal tour)  and then picked my father in law up from the Bishop training.
We went out to lunch at this fancy Burger place Sam wanted to go to. We met up with Sams uncle and cousin at the burger place and they invited us over to see some changes they made to their house. (The house used to belong to Sams grandparents so he was excited for me to see it). When we got their, they had a cake for Sam and gifts on the table. Sams parents and I went in together to buy Sam a gun. A Walther PPS 40 caliber. He is SO excited! Now we need to get him a concealed carry gun class. He is excited to be able to "protect his family" now. haha

This is the wall paper in their bathroom. I felt like I was in a jungle. Sam said it looked like this for years. :)

I'm terrified of the gun. I keep thinking he is going to shoot a wall or something even when it isn't loaded. Sam says I need to go to a shooting range to become more familiar with it. haha

We switched to a new doctor for the baby. He prescribed be some nausea medication. There was some difficulty with insurance because he prescribed me 2 pills a day and my insurance only covers 1.2 a day. Weird! but on Friday I was desperate and asked them to give me whatever they could!

That Sunday I decided I was fine and didn't need the medication. On our way to church I realized I made a mistake. As we pulled into the parking lot, I told Sam to park far away from people because I was gonna get sick. Unfortunately, since it was such a nice day, there was a group of young men sitting outside having class and they got to witness me puking all over Sam's car. I was so embarrassed!!!  I ended up running  to a more private area to finish getting sick. Sam was so patient as he cleaned up his car. I told him to go inside and take the sacrament and I would wait outside in my soiled clothes. No sense in BOTH of us missing the sacrament. 

The following weekend, Sam and I drove up to Waco to visit Neils and Kelly. I had never been to Waco before so I was pretty excited but I kept my expectations low because I had heard there isn't much to do in Waco. We had the BEST time! It was so fun getting to spend some one-on-one time with Neils and Kelly and they took us to do ALL the tourist-y thing in Waco. It was such a fun trip! And I thought Waco was pretty charming. Now they just need to visit us in San Antonio!

On friday, Sam and I drove down up to Waco from San Antonio. Neils and Kelly took us to a local restaurant "The Salty Dog".  I decided to get one of the "dog bowls" which was actually SUPER delicious. It had smoked sausage and tater tots smothered in chili,cheese, carmelized onions and jalapenos. I couldn't eat very much though. The portion was HUGE! Sam got the grilled cheese burger with an egg on top (The "bun" of the burger was actually two grilled cheese sandwiches) . Such fun dishes!

 When we got back to the apartment, we had cake and icecream to celebrate Sam's birthday.  We then googled a list of wives tales to figure out the gender of our baby. Our results were...inconclusive. haha Then we played this fun game called "What do you Meme".  That was a pretty hilarious game!

 Trying one of the wives tales where you dangle a ring on a rope above the belly.

 What do you Meme?

 Hazens like Sperrys :)

On Saturday Morning, Neils and Kelly took us downtown to go out for breakfast. While we were waiting for a table, we walked across the street to check out the local farmers market. 

I forget the name of the breakfast place, but Sam and I were surprised with how inexpensive it was! We both bought a pancake AND a meal. Oh did I mention that the pancakes were the size of an ENTIRE plate?  Sam got a french toast breakfast sandwich where french toast was the bun. I'm sensing a theme here...

After breakfast we drove to Magnolia. The line to get inside the store and the bakery was CRAZY long...so we just walked around the grounds. It was a really cool place with gardens, food trucks, and a play area with music playing as you walked around. Chip and Joanna really know what they are doing to make most of their success.

 After visiting Magnolia, we went to the Dr. Pepper Museum because HAVE YOU MET MY HUSBAND??? It was actually pretty interesting to figure out how it was invented and see all the old Dr. Pepper bottles. One of my favorite parts was watching the old commercials. So silly. At the end of the museum, we went to the cafeteria to buy...you'll never guess...Dr. Pepper! I got a plain old Dr. Pepper but Sam got a Dr. Pepper Float. 

After the Dr. Pepper Museum, Neils drove us around Baylor University (where he goes to law school). We tried to see the Bears on campus. Yep real live bears! But they were sleeping. We did get to see some pretty scenery though :)

We then came home to relax for a bit after such a fun filled day of site seeing. Sam and Neils decided to have some "guy time" and went outside to pass a football back and forth. It was adorable! Kelly and I sat in the grass and chatted. Which all of us girls know is a perfect way to spend girl time :)

 After our "relaxing time" we went downtown to get icecream sandwiches from a food truck and then went to throw tortillas off a bridge. A Waco tradition. You try to throw the tortilla like a frisbee so it lands on the cement posts  that jut from the water. Sam made it! I didn't. After we threw all our tortillas we watched as these SUPER huge fish swam out of the water to eat them. 

That Sunday, we went to church with Neils and Kelly and then ventured home after lunch.

Sam's Birthday fell on a Monday this year, so I invited a bunch of Sam's friend to join us for dinner at Red Robin. (Because Sam LOVES burgers). There was such a good turn out! Sam is loved. He has pretty great friends! We talked and laughed and ate burgers and cake. Sam had the best time!

 Surrounded by friends!

Sam's 3rd birthday cake this year!

April

 Sam and I decided to go to the Outlets in San Marcos one weekend. We hadn't gone since we were engaged so I was pretty excited! Our first (and only stop) was to the  William Sonoma/Pottery Barn Outlet Store. We still had some gift cards so I was excited to look around. While I was bending over to look at some linens, my purse lightly brushed ( and I mean BARELY touched) a piece of furniture behind me causing it to fall backwards and smash into the aisle next to it breaking a few dishes along the way. I quickly turned around as it was tipping backwards and reached to stop it, but it all happened so fast. 

Not only did it fall on the dish shelves, but it fell on my foot as well. So i'm standing there, SUPER embarrassed because of the loud crash, worried about paying for damage, and hopping up and down because my foot hurts and my toes are starting to bleed.  Sam rushed to my side and tried to pick up the piece of furniture. Some workers rushed to my aid and got me a chair to sit and brought a first aid kit. They were very kind. They helped me fix up my foot, cleaned up the dishes and mentioned that the piece of furniture was not supposed to be there. It is very top heavy and is supposed to be propped against something. They got my information, in case I needed help with  medical costs if my foot was broken (it wasnt, Just scratches and bruises really  :) ) Oh and they didnt charge me for the damage.  I was still SUPER embarrassed though. Customers kept walking by to see what happened and  making comments about the loud noise. One woman came up to Sam and I and advised us to take pictures in case we needed to take legal action. Her husband is a lawyer :) So yeah, that was  my fun little moment at the outlets. After limping out of the store, I decided that I had enough "shopping" for the day so Sam and I decided to get some lunch.

Here is a sideways picture of the piece of "garden furniture" that fell. And that is the shelve of dishes it crashed into 

My foot. Like I said. it wasn't that bad. But you know how everything feels WAY worse right when it gets hurt. And of course this is the ONE day I decided to wear flipflops!

For lunch, Sam and I made a last minute decision to be spontaneous and try a new restaurant . We went to Centerpoint Station. Sam and I loved it. My favorite part was the bluebell milkshakes. Sam's favorite part was the Dr.Pepper BBQ Patty Melt. After his first bite he said "Where has this been my whole life?". It was a hit. So we will be going back.

I had a funny pregnancy moment while ordering my food. I told Sam I was trying to decided between the Turkey Bacon Avacodo Sandwich or the grilled chicken salad. I wanted something LIGHT. When we stepped up to the register and the man asked what we wanted, I blurted out " the bacon cheeseburger". Then I stood there in shock as Sam ordered his food. After Sam paid, I started panicking. Why did I order that???  I didn't want it. Its too "heavy" and might make me feel sick. What if it has American Cheese (Probably the food I hate the MOST). Sam laughed and went and asked the workers what cheese came on the burger. It was cheddar. Thank goodness.  And honestly after I took a bite, I decided it didn't make me feel sick and I could finish it. I decided the baby was ordering the burger because I certainly didn't want to order it. This is DEFINITELY Sam's child!

 Our Shakes. Also, I just LOVE that shirt!

Sam's Dr. Pepper BBQ Patty Melt. Look at the size of the Texas Toast! 

For Easter Weekend, Sam and I traveled up to Austin to spend the weekend with family. Sam was so excited because this was ALSO the weekend of the spring Texas football game. And it was FREE! So on Staurday morning, Sam and I went to the game and had a great time. We left early due to the heat, my hunger, and my body was pretty uncomfortable sitting. (And Sam promised we could :) ). It was fun eating nachos and popcorn, cheering for Texas and sitting in the "rich people" seats.

On Easter,we went to church with my in-laws and then came home for a DELICIOUS Easter meal. My mother in law REALLY knows how to cook! And the table was decorated so festively. After dinner, we had an eater egg hunt for the Silver and the Golden Egg. A Hazen/Neathery Tradition. The eggs are filled with money!!!  My in-laws invited family friends too so there was even MORE competition! I didn't find the egg, but Kelly did and that made me happy because this was her first time finding the egg. Maybe I'll find it one year...

The one thing I was a little bummed about was that I didn't get an Easter basket. ( A Mills Tradition). So Sam being the best husband ever, took me to the store the next day and we bought candy and made a little Easter basket of our own :) I love that man.

 Kelly's GORGEOUS dress!

 Bunny Tail! Cute bum. Where you from?

Oh, another fun thing about visiting my in-laws was that Connie had just bought some baby chicks for some of her hens. They were so adorable and so soft! And as we were leaving their house to return to San Antonio, we saw a baby Rabbit!

Last weekend, Sam and I headed down to Lake Jackson so that Mary and I could go to Time Out For Woman (a womens conference) while Sam hung out with Colton and baby Addy. Mary and I drove to Houston together and got some good girl time in the car. When we got to Houston we parked and decided to follow our gps to find the conference center which our gps said was only 3 blocks away. After walking half a mile in the WRONG direction, we realized our mistake and walked back to find out we were parked REALLY close to the conference center. haha Unfortunately I had worn sandals, so my feet were pretty blistered. But it makes for funny memories. 

The conference was so amazing! It was emotional and funny and spiritual. And we got to hear David Archuleta sing! I had a great time. Unfortunately I did feel a bit nauseous the first night so Mary and I left a little early so we could get some food and lie down at the hotel room.

But other than that, and being a bit sleep deprived the next day, I had the best time. It was such a cool experience and I learned a lot!

 Mary modeling our new fancy tote bags.

TIME OUT FOR WOMEN

After the conference, Mary and I went back to Lake Jackson to meet up with our husbands. We played board games and then I went to bed early while they played Mario Cart. On Sunday, Mary and Colton took us to the beach. It was a little chillier that day but it was so relaxing walking along the beach. 

As for my pregnancy, I am still getting morning sickness. Unfortunately. Whenever I think I'm over it, I get pretty sick the next day :( Thank goodness for medication! I'm also starting to swell so my shoes and wedding rings are getting a bit uncomfortable. I'm now wearing exclusively maternity clothes. And sitting for too long becomes painful, but walking/standing for too long wears me out. So basically I'm always uncomfortable. haha But I am just SO excited to meet this little one. On Wednesday, Sam and I felt the baby kick for the first time and that was such a special experience. We both looked at each other shocked and then burst out into a fit of laughter and hugging. We are having a baby!!! We haven't found out the gender yet...but SOON! Trust me there will be another Blog Post when we find out :)

Other Random Pictures:

 I caught Sam and Neils giggling over silly videos one morning when we were in Waco. So cute!

Sam decided to make me laugh by dressing like a hipster. And yes. That IS my sweater. :)

When "Two" suddenly becomes "Three"

After the holidays, I started working PRN at other buildings. My caseload at my full time job has been pretty low recently, so it's nice to pick up some extra hours. I also enjoy working with different populations and coworkers. It's been a nice change of pace. Although sometimes I tend to push myself a little too much and that has caused a bit of stress...

A few days into January, I realized I had been feeling extra tired recently and a little bit nauseous at night.  And I was late...with you know...menstruation.  SO I decided to take a pregnancy test.  And then another pregnancy test. Just to make sure. And both pregnancy sticks affirmed that yes, I am pregnant. I always thought I would be jumping up and down with joy. But honestly, I was more shocked than anything. It was like a reverent shock. More of a "woah" kind of moment.  I hid my "evidence" and silently planned how I was going to tell Sam.

Sam had been joking with me earlier that day, saying that I call him "Big Daddy" when I am flirting with him.  Which I DON'T. Ever. That's weird! haha So I decided to incorporate that joke into my announcement.
Sam had recently started the church basketball season, so I decided to buy him a basketball on my way home from work and wrote "Hey Big Daddy" on the ball with a sharpie marker. Then underneath the basketball, I placed baby socks in the bag.

The next morning,  I told him to close his eyes, because I bought him a present. I handed him the bag and he pulled out the basketball. He laughed out loud as he read the "Hey Big Daddy" and then I said, "There's more" as I pointed to the bag. Sam pulled out the baby socks with a puzzled look and then looked up at me with shock and said "Really???". When I nodded my head he instantly smiled and hugged me. It was such a perfect and simple moment. All of my favorite moments with Sam are just like that. Simple. Perfect.

Hey Big Daddy!

We then called my family to tell them the good news. They were all so happy!
We wanted to surprise Sam's parents in person (as this is going to be the first grandchild). We called them to see what they were up to that day. Neils and Kelly were visiting Austin because some of Kelly's family was in town. Sam's mom invited us to join them for dinner but we already had plans to have dinner with my Aunt Elaine. Sam's dad was returning later that night from a hunting trip. So it looked like it was going to be a busy day for everyone.
Sam and I decided to make a impromptu drive up to Austin anyway to share the news with his family. We were so giddy with the idea of surprising his parents. We went to the store and bought a cookie cake where we wrote "Meme & Pappy" (sam's maternal grandparents went by meme and pappy) and we placed a couple of pacifiers on the cake.
When we arrived at Sam's parents house (at 9pm) , Connie was in the kitchen and turned around surprised. "You decided to come after all! Are you staying the night". When we said "no",  she said..."Okay, whats going on? Why are you here...really!".  When we showed her the cake, she immediately screamed with joy and started hugging us.
We found out that Sam's dad was on his way home and would be home any minute. Just minutes after Neils and Kelly came home with her family, Vince walked in the door. He was excited to see everyone and started talking to Neils and Kelly about what they had been up to that day. He then started talking about his hunting trip and showing pictures. I could see the anticipation on Sam's face as he waited to break the news.
Finally, Vince asked Sam and I what had brought us to Austin and Sam handed him the cake. Vince looked at the cake and said "Aww". Then looked up confused, looked back at the cake, looked around at everyone confused, then looked back at the cake.  Then said "ARE YOU SERIOUS?". Neils and Kelly, who were sitting across the room said "What does it say??" And then Vince turned the cake around for everyone to read.  That moment was PRICELESS. Sam and I were laughing so much!  I think my favorite moment was when everyone realized Sam was going to be a dad! Such silence. So funny! And of course we had to facetime Hattie to let her know the happy news as well. I love surprises!

The Meme and Pappy Cookie Cake

It's TAX season! You'd think that since I married a "soon to be" accountant, that we would have had our taxes done right away, but I forgot that my husband and I have completely different personalities. I like to do things right away. Get them over with!  My husband on the other hand, is a procrastinator. And a successful one at that!  So even though we decided that Sam would be in charge of doing the taxes (to reduce my stress), we ended up doing them "together" because I was too anxious to wait. :) Basically I just kept "reminding" Sam until he agreed to sit down and do our taxes for an FHE activity. haha

Doing our taxes :)

Don't worry, even though the print is too tiny to read, I blurred all the information anyway. :)

In January, it was our ward's turn to clean our church building on Saturday mornings. Sam and I woke up early one Saturday (which we have been doing a lot lately due to our early schedules...whether we like it or not...) to clean the building on our assigned day. Afterward, we decided to go out to breakfast. For SOME reason, of all the places we could go, we decided to go to Denny's. (NOT our usual choice) It just so happened that when we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed that Sam's uncle Jeff and aunt Elaine had just arrived at the restaurant as well. What a fun coincidence! We decided to share a table and we had a pleasant breakfast talking, laughing, and catching up.

Sam and Uncle Jeff

Sam and I haven't been doing much socializing due to my nausea. Trying to keep pregnancy a secret is difficult. I had to pretend that I had energy at work and had to think of reasons to turn down activities at night because honestly I knew I would feel sick the whole time. But when, Ricky and Ali invited use to go to Lulu's bakery with them (which I had been wanting to do for months) I just couldn't say no. I prayed that I would feel fine during the double date. And my prayers were answered.

We drove downtown to Lulu's Bakery. We had originally just planned on just trying the 3 lb cinnamon roll but when we got there, we found out they had award winning chicken fried steak. Sam and I hadn't eaten dinner yet (because I hadn't been feeling well) so we decided to order dinner as well. I decided to just get the smallest size, and Sam being Sam, got one of the larger sizes of chicken fried steaks. We were all SHOCKED when our meals came out.  My chicken fried steak was bigger than my face. And Sam's, his was as big as the platter!  After taking just a few bites, I was full! We ordered the cinnamon roll, but we were all too full to eat more than a few bites. I think I ate too much because honestly the thought of chicken friend steak right now make me feel queasy. haha

 Sam's Dinner

 This was the "small" size...

 The CINNAMON ROLL!

The next day we headed over to Cibolo to spend some time with Mary and Colton who were in town. They were babysitting David and Elaine's children so they could go on a romantic getaway weekend after David returned from his deployment in Afghanistan. We played multiple board games, I napped, then we watched "Finding Dory" with all the kids. Around dinner time, Elaine and David came home and we all had dinner and then played this reverse charades game. Boys vs. Girls. (I think the girls won ;) ) It was so fun spending time with family! We had to leave after a couple rounds of the game to pick up my brother-in-law, Brendon, from the airport.

 Playing with the kids at David and Elaine's home

 Ben introduced Sam and Colton to a new game on the phone.

 Playing the reverse charades game

Brendon came to visit for the weekend because he had an job interview here in San Antonio. He just HAPPENED to be here for the Superbowl so we had a small little Superbowl party. And it was a GREAT game. As Sam put it, "we watched history". We were all rooting for the Patriots (Sam's favorite team), so we were all super pumped the last half hour of the game.
The next day, after Brendon's interview, we took him out to dinner for some Tex-Mex :)

Boneless chicken wings, Pizza dip, Cupcakes and more.  Our Superbowl feast :)

That  next weekend, Sam and I went to Austin. The whole family was going to be in town because Sam's dad was called as a bishop in their ward. That was such a special experience. Even Grandma and Grandpa Hazen came into town for the special event. When we got to Austin, Connie was just about to leave to get a manicure and pedicure. She invited me to join her. It had been awhile since I felt so pampered!

Getting Manicure and Pedicures

My mother in law really knows how to throw a party. While Sam and I went with Vince and Jack to the temple, she threw a baby shower for a good friend of the family. There was a hot chocolate a tea station. SO ADORABLE!

As usual, the weekend was full of delicious food and good time with the family. It always flies by too fast. Luckily, we were able to go back another weekend in February to celebrate Jack and Hattie's birthdays. We love our time in Austin!

 The Hazen Women!

We matched! 

(I'm wearing Sam's boots because I was wearing flats and we wanted to match. It was so cute watching Sam standing in his socks while he held my shoes while we were taking pictures. I love that boy.)

 The most recent time we visited Austin, I started feeling sick while at church so we left early so I could go home, eat a snack and sleep it off. Sam kept me company and read me some of his favorite books from his childhood as I tried to fall asleep. He is so good to me.

Sam and I relaxing in the rocking chairs after a morning walk around his parents neighborhood.

On Februray 13, Sam and I decided to celebrate 6 month anniversary (and Valentines day since Sam had night classes the next day) by going to Cheesecake factory. Usually when we go, we are too cheap to get dinner AND desserts. But this was a special occasion!

Valentines Day was a very special day! Sam and I got to see our little love for the first time. It's one of those moments, where you realize "this is real life" and "that's MY baby" and "my life has just changed forever". There. were. tears.

Sam to leave right after the appointment for class, so we weren't able to do much celebrating, BUT we did exchange gifts. I bought Sam a shirt I had seen online. I also bought him this card that has a barking, singing dog on a pogo stick. I'm pretty sure that was Sam's favorite party of the gift. Every once in a while he will open the card and that tune gets stuck in my head! Silly boy.

The Shirt I bought Sam for Valentines Day

Sam surprised me by getting us tickets for the San Antonio Rodeo for that friday. I had been wanting to go since I moved here. The San Antonio Rodeo is a BIG deal. It was such a thoughtful gift. Especially since the band playing that night was The Band Perry. Sam doesn't like country  music but he remembered that I liked them :) So sweet.

The rodeo was fantastic!  The only downside is that I spent way too much money on food that I ended up not liking at all. Next time, we will eat dinner beforehand and then just buy a special treat when we get there. :) Oh and I also couldn't fit into my cowgirl boots which was a bummer. I guess my feet are swollen? But other than that the night was perfect!

 The RODEO!

 So excited for The Band Perry!

 We sat at the VERY TIP TOP of the stadium. But we still enjoyed ourselves!

We left the concert a little early because I was getting pretty tired. I don't stay up late these days. But we left right as they were singing "If I die young" which is my favorite song of theirs so I thought it was a perfect send off :)

Also that weekend, we decided to announce our pregnancy to the world. We decided to do a Harry Potter theme because of the most PERFECT shirt my mother-in-law bought for me. She knows me well. Our little baby is Due September 15 and we couldn't be happier! We don't currently have a name picked out. That's been much harder of a task than anticipated. We will probably wait until we find out the gender to start researching names to narrow it down.

Pregnancy has been...not fun. I'm exhausted ALL the time. I have nausea most nights and recently have been getting sick in the mornings. I desperately need the hours at work so I just have to  keep it all together for a few hours each day and then I'm pretty much useless on the couch for the rest of the day. And OH the smells! So many scents just turn my stomach.  I've already started getting to the point where most of my clothes don't fit me right and I look more "chubby" than pregnant. Everyone keeps assuring me that I will have energy again and less nausea in the second trimester.  I cant wait!

Okay enough complaining :)

Now to the funny side of pregnancy. I've had some interesting cravings recently. I honestly crave vinaigrette salads, fruit, blue powerade, and orange juice most of the time. But there have been a few odd moments where I have a random craving. One night Sam came home to find me lying on the couch with the pickle jar beside me. The only thing that sounded remotely edible that night was pickles. So I ate HALF a jar! weird.
Most of you that know me, know that I'm not a big soda drinker. Id rather have juice, or chocolate milk, or even water. But one day, while waiting in the grocery line I saw a Sunkist Orange Soda and just HAD to have it. Like I couldn't even concentrate until I started drinking it.
Oh and then there was that time that I was craving an Arby's Roast beef sandwich. I cant even REMEMBER the last time I had eaten one of those! But I craved it for days until finally one afternoon I broke down and I bought a sandwich for lunch.

Pregnancy has also made me pretty emotional. I cry at everything! Poor Sam! We will be watching a tv show and I will break into SOBS! Because no, I cant just silently cry...I start sobbing as if someone close to me has died. I cry in the car when I hear a song, I cry when I realize I'm too tired to make dinner. I cry when I forget to put an ingredient in a dish or when I forget something at the store. I'm an emotional mess these days. But Sam handles it well. He thinks its funny and he sits and holds me until I can pull myself together,

I'm sure other things have happened recently, I just cant remember. My memory isn't that great right now. Pregnancy brain is a REAL thing! haha

Oh side note from pregnancy: Sam and I got "23 and me" DNA kits for Christmas and we just got our results back. Not only did we find out information about our ancestry, but we also learned health information from our DNA. It's so fascinating. That really was an amazing Christmas gift!

That pretty much sums up my life these days. I'm toward the end of the first trimester so hopefully life will get a little back to normal. But until then, I'll keep trying to soak up the silly moments here and then. I feel so grateful for my life and my family. I'm so excited for this new adventure!