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!

The End of 2016

Happy New Year!

Here is the latest update on my life:

In November, Sam and I traveled to Lake Jackson for Addy's 1st birthday. We loved getting the chance to visit Mary and Colton's new home. Addy had an adorable birthday party with a smash cake  that Mary decorated herself. And we got to go to the beach!

Later in November, Sam and I went to Austin with our friends Ricky and Ali. They had never explored Austin before so we took them around town and had some adventures of our own. That night we went to the Light's Festival which was  a very neat experience.  I would definitely do it again! We went to a large clearing where there was live music and food trucks and tiki lights lit. We each had a lantern and were given a marker to write a wish on the lantern. Then we lit the lantern's and let them fly into the sky. Watching all the lanterns in the sky was a wonderful experience!

"I love you so much"

We went to lunch at "Gordoughs". They make everything with doughnuts! But not just sweet doughnuts, they are savory doughnuts.

Sams burger with a doughnut bun.

My club sandwich with a doughnut bun.

At the Lights festival waiting for the "lighting" to start

Sitting around, eating snacks and talking while listening to the music

Lighting the lanterns

Letting go

Sam and I spent thanksgiving here in San Antonio with my family. Elaine (my aunt) and her children, as well as Colton, Mary and Addy. Mary, Elaine and I divided up the cooking responsibilities and we all feasted on a delicious meal.

 Sam playing at our Ward's turkey ball on Thanksgiving morning.

 We went to dinner with Mary and Colton the day after Thanksgiving (their wedding anniversary). It was fun getting to spend this time with them.

And then all of the sudden, it was December! I was so excited to put up our Christmas tree! Sam and I were given 5 beautiful ornaments as wedding gifts, and for a week or two, that's all we had on the tree. My mother in law (Connie) sent Sam and I a care package with Christmas decorations for our home as well as some ornaments from when Sam was a child.

 My husband attempting to teach me how to play "Magic the Gathering"

 The Christmas Jammies that Connie sent us in our care package. And yes, we we wore these on Christmas day :)

 One of the Christmas Decorations that Connie sent in the package. A Christmas Countdown!


One Friday Night, Date Night, Sam and I decided to go to Windcrest to see the lights. We had gone there last year with friends and it was RIGHT after our first date when Sam had held my hand. We hadn't even talked about what had happened (holding hands) and it was an incredibly awkward time. But Sam ended up putting his arm around me (because we were squished in the car). It was fun reminiscing about those memories.

We came upon a house with the largest real mistletoe ball in Texas. I made Sam pull over the car so he could kiss me under the mistletoe. Fun Fact: This was the first kiss under mistletoe for both of us :)

We went to a few ward Christmas parties. Our ward had a Christmas brunch and most people showed up in their pajamas. I thought it was put together really well! We watched a video of the nativity, sang carols, ate pancakes and breakfast casseroles, and then decorated gingerbread houses.

 Ward Christmas Party

 When we entered the building, they had a photo booth set up. SO FUN!

One weekend night, Sam and I decided to have a sleepover in our living room. We put our air mattress in the living room and watched Christmas movies and eventually fell asleep with the Christmas tree lit. Such a fun night!

Of course we had to visit the Riverwalk to see the Chrsitmas Lights. I wonder if I'll ever get tired of visiting the riverwalk?

Sam admitted to me that he has never been to a drive-in movie theatre. Like Ever! This shocked me. Going to the drive-in was such a big part of my childhood. So one friday, for date night, we went to the drive-in which is in New Braunfels. I think its pretty cool that it's open year round, because i'm used to it being a seasonal thing.  Oh Texas! We went and bought movie theater candies from the store and got Cane's chicken for dinner. We watched the new Star Wars movie (Rogue One) and loved it! It was so fun munching on our goodies while we watched the movie.

A friend of ours, Jared, graduated from UTSA. We went with a group of friends to the graduation. I forgot how LONG graduation ceremonies can be. I just kept thinking, I'll get to do this again in May for Sam. Yay! Sam and his friends, being the good friends that they are, screamed "you dumb idiot" when Jared walked on the stage. Jared appreciated that. Boys are weird.

After the ceremony, we went to Whataburger for dinner and then went to Jared's house to go caroling in his neighborhood. Im glad I asked to go home and change first because a cold front came in while we drove home and the temperature dropped like 40 degrees!!! It was freezing! So we only ended up caroling to one house and then sang while we walked back to the house and then played games. :)

December 19th was our one year anniversary from our first date to six flags. We had planned to go back to Six Flags to celebrate, but the weather was SO COLD! So we just had a "normal day" instead. Sam however, decided to buy me roses and get me a super sentimental card saying that this has been the best year of his life and that "we belong together". I couldn't agree more!

About a week before Christmas, I got a suprise call from Maria saying that she was in San Antonio and wanted to come visit me! I was so excited. She came by my apartment and I got to meet her cute new puppy. It was so fun sitting and chatting and catching up. I realized she and I haven't been able to do that in ages! It was such a nice surprise!

For Christmas this year, we spent it here in Texas with our Hazen family. We left work on thursday and traveled up to Austin to stay at Sam's parents house. Connie really outdid herself with the decorations. The house was BEAUTIFUL! I made Sam give me a tour of all the Christmas decorations...and I took pictures to I can share with ya'll. :)

The first thing I took notice of was the decorations that included me in the family! Connie had a friend that had a embroider machine, so she embroidered my name on my stocking. Isn't it beautiful?

When you walk in the house, you saw the "BIG" tree in the main entrance with all the presents underneath. It was so tall! But my favorite part was the Moroni on the top of the tree.

A better picture of the size of the tree.

The little neighborhood pieces. Apparently Sam's Meme (grandma) had a whole village and when she passed away, Connie kept her favorite pieces. I adore them.

The "candy tree" conveniently placed in the breakfast nook  next to all of our Christmas snacks/goodies that we snacked on the whole time.

Christmas Gun. Just kidding. This is just a normal gun that happens to be super fancy. But we DID use it to blow up our gingerbread houses...so I'll call it the Christmas gun. :)

The "family history" tree, All of the ornaments are pictures of family members. Past and present. So fun.

Sam giving me the Christmas Decoration Tour. Smile Sam!

The stockings placed along the fireplace.

And it wouldn't be complete without a NATIVITY!!!

The Santa Tree (yes this is tree #4) in the TV room. Isn't this place like a Christmas wonderland?

I randomly took this shot right before the Christmas light came on. But I thought the sky looked so pretty and you can see all the wreaths.



That night, when Neils and Kelly got into Austin, we all packed into "the van" (Vince and Connie borrowed a commercial van from a friend. I wish I had a picture of it...it was wild!) and went to Zilker Park to see the Trail of Lights. We ate at food trucks and rode a carousel and Ferris wheel. It was a pretty fun family activity and definitely got me in the "Christmas spirit".

Neils and Kelly on the Ferris Wheel

Sam and I on the Ferris Wheel

The view of the Austin Skyline

Carousel!!!! I haven't been on one of these in...I don't even know how long. But its been a LONG time.

The next day, we went to the State Capitol building (where I took my bridal pictures) and listened to Tubas play Christmas Carols. Afterward we went to do our first Challenge (1 of 5) for the Hazen Family Challenge. We played miniature golf. The rest of the challenges included : bowling, Gingerbread house decorating, Christmas trivia, and a minute to win it type obstacle course. There were cash prizes for 1,2, and 3 place for each challenge and then also for the overall top three winners. The overall winner won a real silver cup ( Which can be seen on the fireplace in the fireplace picture above). Neils Won. Sam got third place. It was a lot of fun! But next year that Silver cup will be in our home ;)

Hattie's Kitty didn't understand that I'm not a huge cat fan. It kept wanting to cuddle...
Sam LOVES to pester the cat.

On Saturday, We went to see a gingerbread house display to get some motivation for our own gingerbread houses that we would be decorating later that day. It was a story book themed display. I loved it!

Here is MY gingerbread house... I won third place. Our decorating was interrupted a few times due to going out to lunch with some of Neils and Sam's old high school friends, as well as setting up chairs at the church building for church the next day, but they all turned out so well!

This is Hattie's gingerbread house...she won 1st place of course. It was amazing!

On Saturday night, Christmas Eve, We had a "Back to Bethlehem Dinner". We ate Mediterranean  food outside by the fire. I tried a lot of new foods. Some of the food was familiar, like Matza, hummus, lamb, grape juice, and fig newtons, but all the other food was new to me.  All of us women wore scarves to make it more authentic. Oh, and we ate off of wooden plates and bowls.

The Ladies

I randomly took this picture of Hattie and Enzo on the sofa and for some reason I just really love it!

Wearing one of Connie's scarves that she got from one of their many travels.

Our "Back to Bethlehem" feast!

The fireplace

My plate with all the different food items.

The Next day was CHRISTMAS DAY!!!! We had a delicious breakfast and then got dressed to go to Church. After church, we came back to open our stocking and presents. I was spoiled. Sam was spoiled. And everyone liked the gifts we got them. It was a success!

We all had a lazy Christmas day, in our matching Christmas jammies that Connie bought for all of us. and the later that night we had our Christmas Feast. PRIME RIB!!!

HUGE pieces of prime rib. I couldn't even finish half of it. All of the sides were so delicious too. I'm pretty sure I gained weight from all the eating we did over the 5 days we were together.

Christmas table setting

My meal. Yes. I took a picture.

One of my favorite gifts was this picture of Christ. It's so beautiful! I had been wanting a large picture of Christ to hang in our home and this is one of my favorites!

One of my favorite ornaments on the main Christmas tree. It wittle Sam! Ahhh he's just so cute. I cant stop looking at it....okay. moving on.

On Monday, or was it Tuesday? The days are starting to mesh in my mind...we traveled to visit the Ranch to see the progress on the ranch house. It's coming along so nicely. Every time I visit, I'm just in awe of how big it is and how cool its going to be when its completed.

Sam and I taking in the view.

The lower part of the ranch below the house

We also, shot our gingerbread houses. They had boxes of Tannerite next to them which helped them to explode.

Vince teaching me how to use the gun.

Finding my target.

My house had the smallest amount of Tannerite and this was all that was left!?!

That night Sam and I traveled back to San Antonio to start work again the next day. Back to real life.
Jumping back into work again was hard but I also started working PRN as well so it was even more difficult. Longer days. But that means better pay checks right?


For New Years Eve, our friends Mike and Ally, invited us to share New Years Eve with them and their children and Ricky and Ali. We all brought yummy food and played "Just dance" and other games and then watched fireworks (New years eve fireworks are a much bigger deal in Texas than the fourth of July...because its not the dry season)

Watching Fireworks

A pink Firework Exploding behind us

Drinking sparkling grape juice with the glasses Grandma Hazen bought us. Cheers to the New Year.

This is the time for reflections and goals.

I'm sitting here thinking about my past year. This has been one of the happiest years of my life. I found my best friend and fell in love. I gained a new family and I traveled to new places.  2016 has been good to me.

Hopefully 2017 will be good too. I'm looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead. :)