Megan, Larry, & Allen Balsmeier

Allen's New Look

2012-01-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

January 1st, 2012...Allen got his first haircut. Talk about a handsome little boy!

A little nervous at first...

Such a good boy

Yay for first haircuts!

Before

After

Christmas and a New Year

2012-01-17T18:24:00.000-08:00

Well, 2011 has come and gone. And what a year it was. Before I get to the year in review I'll share a bit about Allen's first Christmas.

Of course, Christmas Eve was Larry's birthday and he turned 28! Thirty is just around the corner. Muahaha. We went to temple square and looked at the lights. It was freezing but I'm glad we were able to take Allen.

Salt Lake Temple on Christmas Eve...Larry's 28th Birthday

Handsome boy on a cold night

Me and my boy at temple square

Then we drove around forever trying to find a place that was open so we could get Larry's b-day dinner. We finally got Applebees to go and went home to watch a movie. After the birthday festivities (i.e. cake) Allen opened his Christmas Eve jammies...so cute in his monkey jammers!

lots o' candles!

Just opened his Christmas Eve Jammies

Christmas morning, we opened presents and headed off to Church for the one hour block. Of course, I managed to be late. But anyway, it was the first time since 2008 that we'd been home to do Christmas so that was nice. Now that I'm not a kid anymore (when did that happen?) Christmas really doesn't matter to me in regards of presents. All I care about is that I have the gospel and my family.
Allen cared more about Larry's birthday balloon than his presents, but oh well. If he doesn't care so much about presents, it'll be easier to teach him that Christmas is really about Jesus...right?
Christmas night we got together at my sister Kaylynn's house with all of my family. It was the first time in years that we'd all been together on Christmas so that was really fun.

Such a pretty boy ;)

"His" balloon

Christmas morning...we did presents this year...see!

Allen thought "Scout" was pretty cool

Cute lil boy

He even got his own guitar!

First Christmas toys

Kodi got a Christmas toy too

Allen with his Campbell cousins on Christmas night

On December 29th, Larry thought it would be a grande idea to get a new puppy, and it just had to be a dachshund. I insisted we go to the shelter for an adult dog instead. We went to two shelters but Larry insisted on getting said dachshund. I tried. I really did. So Maisy joined the family and has been annoying me (and my dog Kodi) ever since. I'm learning to like her though and she seems to like me quite a bit...can you blame her? ;)

Allen likes her :)

Maisy with her tongue sticking out because she's "special"

smiling during a sun bath

Well, new year's eve rolled around and we didn't do anything special. In fact, Larry and Allen were both asleep before midnight. When the year ended I sat on the couch thinking about what a year it was.
The biggest highlight was of course, the arrival of our son Allen. We had waited three years and been through two miscarriages and infertility, but it was all worth it. The pregnancy had also been rough and it was so amazing to finally meet our precious baby boy. Our lives met pure joy when Allen was born on February 22nd, 2011. From the moment he was born he taught us about patience, love, and a positive attitude. He was born with club feet, pneumonia, and a rare airway virus that required him to be on home oxygen for 2 months. His first few months were quite a challenging time but also a very happy time.

Allen in the Nicu on his birthday 2/22/11

So in love

First casting in March '11

Eventually, he got out of the NICU, the oxygen tubes and tanks went away, the casts molded his feet so you couldn't even tell he was born with a birth defect, and with time, everything got better. We couldn't be more blessed to have such a healthy little guy. It's been so wonderful having our sweet little boy in our home. Seriously, I looove being a mom and having such a sweet, silly baby.

Allen in October '11

Larry also started the year with a bang by having major surgeries back to back (end of 2010 and beginning of 2011). He had his ileostomy reversed when Allen was just two weeks old and had just barely come home. Fortunately the surgery was successful and Larry's health/crohn's disease was pretty stable this year. (The previous year was horrible...)

Larry after his toughest surgery yet, March '11

Not much went on in terms of "me" but I've really enjoyed being home with Allen and taking care of him. I work at the vet on Saturdays and then have a work at home job for a cloth diaper company during the week that I get to do when Allen takes naps. My "real job" if you ask me, is being Allen's mom. I'm pretty proud of that :)

Spring/Summer of '11

Our lives were up and down quite a bit throughout the year. Yet 2011 will forever be one of the best years ever because it was the year I became a mom to my amazing baby boy :) I've loved all the memories we've created together. I can't put it into words. I know it sounds cheesy, but really, I can't describe the joy of having a baby and being a parent. I feel like with all the challenges in life, it really is true that if we're faithful, "all of our losses will be made up." I know for myself because Larry and I have not had it easy. And yet we were blessed with a one of a kind spirit as our son and he makes up for everything else. We're really in awe of him and he helps us and teaches us so much. We thank Heavenly Father for him every. single. day.

First family Christmas Card!

Here's to 2012! (Now that we're already three weeks into it....:)

I like talking about Allen...Have you noticed? :)

2011-12-17T14:50:00.000-08:00

Once again, I haven’t gotten around to updating the blog in quite some time. Allen is now nine months old…actually in just one week he’ll be ten months old. I can’t believe it. We’re excited for his first Christmas. Here’s just a little review of how he’s doing:

He started to crawl right before he turned eight months. At first he army crawled but it wasn’t long before he was crawling like a pro and zooming all over the place. He likes to stick his butt up in the air when he crawls too, it’s really funny. Now he pulls himself up and walks along things. He loves to pull up on a kitchen chair and push it all over the house. So anytime I hear that screechy sound of chairs moving around I know Allen’s up and walking. Haha. He loves to hold onto our hands and have us walk him around. It won’t be long before he’s walking on his own. You would never guess this little boy was born with club feet.

Allen can even walk along the table while wearing his brace. I’m seriously impressed watching his moves, he looks like a pro skateboarder or snowboarder the way he balances and rocks back and forth. He looks like he’s about to do tricks. Speaking of his brace, we were able to get a Dobbs bar for him and hoped it would help him sleep. Turns out, we don’t like it as we’d hoped. We went back to the Ponsetti bar and like it just fine. The Dobbs bar was weird so it was hard to stand in (Allen likes to be able to stand up in his brace, and the Ponsetti is more like a snowboard that he can stand in). And because the Dobbs bar is a hinged bar (which is why we thought we’d like it) it actually twisted too much. Anyway, Allen’s feet are perfect and we accept that he’ll be the brace until he’s four or so. I do tend to pout about how he can’t wear footed jammies though ;)

Going back just a bit, since I wrote last Allen had his first Halloween. He was the most adorable baby sea otter ever. I was a zookeeper and carried my little otter around. I even took Allen trick or treating. His favorite candy/chocolate is Reeses. Every time he sees the orange wrapper he squeals with excitement…so funny.

At the end of October we got some pictures of Allen and even a few family photos (for like the first time).

He also had his first Thanksgiving. I’m pretty sure I somehow managed to forget to feed him Turkey because I was too busy juggling him and eating my own dinner. Oops.

With Christmas approaching, we took Allen to meet Santa for the first time. He just looked at Santa questionably but didn’t cry. Allen has never been one to be stranger shy. He loves everyone J If anything, he just looked concerned about Santa’s beard. I don’t think he’d ever seen a beard like that.

I’m pretty sure Allen’s favorite thing about Christmas is the Christmas tree. He loves to pull the ornaments off and is gradually undecorating the tree for us.

At 9 months, Allen weighed 18 pounds 9 ounces and was 28 ½ inches tall. His checkup was actually on his 9 month birthday and I was at the hospital at the same time that Allen was born (4:52 PM). Something about realizing I had my little boy exactly 9 months prior made me emotional. We went down to the labor and delivery floor and I just glanced at the doors and thought about what a special day that was. Then we stood by Allen’s NICU window. It brought back so many feelings. I’m just so grateful to have this little boy in my life. We love him more than anything.

Looking back...

Allen is SUCH a character. He loves to play with Kodi, our dog, and giggles when Kodi takes toys from him. He also likes to play tug of war and makes the funniest face ever when he tugs (like eeeeerrrrrr)…don’t know how to explain it but here is a video of me tugging something from him. Hilarious.

Allen loves to clap everytime we say “Yay!” and he understands when it’s appropriate to clap too. We saw a Christmas dance performance and after every song he clapped. He’s such a smart boy.

He also loves music and dancing and especially loves listening to Larry play his guitar. Oh and he loves to copy his daddy. He’s even learned this really creepy voice (anyone heard Larry do this?) well now Allen can do it. Coming from my sweet baby it’s really funny but scary. Lol.

So that’s just a little update about our little guy. As for us as a family, well nothing much is going on. We’re just enjoying having Allen in our lives and we’re so grateful for the joy he brings into our home. Allen has really been the strength that I need in my life and I just want to say that I’m so grateful to be his mom and learn from him.

I’m grateful for this Christmas season to reflect on the baby boy that our Heavenly Father sent so we could have all the blessings that we have. Our lives aren’t perfect and we have our challenges, seen and unseen. But it’s such a miracle that because of our Savior, everything just works out. I hope we can all remember the true meaning of Christmas and thank our Heavenly Father for sending his Son. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas J Hopefully I’ll update the blog again before the New Year!

Our Awesome Baby

2011-09-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Sir Cuteness at 6 months

Let's face it...I hardly ever update the blog...and it's all Facebook's fault. Chances are if you're reading my blog, you've been following our lives on Facebook. (Unless you're one of my wonderful blog stalkers. Hehe) So if you want to see pictures of the past three months of Allen's life, you can check them out there :) I'll post a few though.

Super Cool Dude 5 months old

At his first concert (Peter Breinholt)

He's a really good jumper! He loves that thing.

Church goin' baby at 5 months

So Allen is six months old now! Make that almost seven months old. Time is flying and he's growing up so fast. He is sooo handsome, smart, and well...he's pretty much awesome.

Earlier this month, I took him to his 6 month check up. He was like 6 months and 10 days at the time. Here are his stats:
16 lbs 11 oz
28 inches

His 6 month picture...we just took it in our backyard on our new patio furniture

The doctor mentioned that he seemed a little pale. Well, that's really just the way he is. Fair and handsome (That's what his name means). She thought it was worth checking his Iron levels so he got a little toe prick. Turns out he's anemic, though he's still quite the white boy. That's just how he is :) He also got his shots and only cried a little for a minute.

He hit a few milestones recently :)

At 5 1/2 months we took him to Shriner's for his follow up appointment and we got the go ahead to wear the brace only at night, or 12-14 hours a day. It's been sooo nice to have the brace off! (Before he had to wear it 23 hours a day.) I've absolutely loved being able to kiss his soft, squishy feet! He loves the freedom so much. The day he went to part time wear he rolled over all by himself for the first time! I suppose it's easy to do once you're not attached to a snowboard. Now, at 6 months he rolls over like crazy, making him mobile via rolling. He's also working on learning to crawl right now. I'm not ready for a mobile baby! Oh and he can sit up all by himself without falling over. I guess at his age that's to be expected but I still think his sitting up skills are pretty impressive. Haha.

Sitting up, checking himself out in his mirror

Workin' on those scootin' skills

More milestones...
At 6 months he said his first words!
First word: Dada
Second word: Mama

I'm pretty sure "Dada "was his first word because it's easier to say. Yeah. that must be it. Anyway, he has the cutest little voice ever. He just started saying it out of the blue and he hasn't stopped. He'll usually sit and whisper Dada when he hears or sees Larry. A few days later he started saying Mama. He usually only says Mama when he's sad or wants me. He cries"mama mommm." It totally melts me!

He's also eating baby food...er should I say, supposed to eat baby food. We can only get him to eat pizza and oreos. But "apparently" that's not the best diet for a baby, especially a baby that doesn't have teeth. :D Speaking of teeth, the little guy is teething now. He should be getting his first teeth any day now. I'm sure they'll be adorable but I'm a little sad he won't be my gummy bear anymore.

Oh so back to the baby food deal. He's not a fan at all. My sisters in law gave us tons of free baby food and he won't eat it. He looks completely repulsed by it. I've spoon fed plenty of babies and they all get over it pretty quickly. But not Allen. He just thinks it's gross. I've tried it and I don't blame him. We can get him to eat a little if and only if we let him feed himself, which makes for quite the messy baby. The doctor said his dislike of baby food and desire to feed himself means he's smart and independent. Yup, sounds like my Allen. We've also introduced the sippy cup. I need to get him more of a trainer cup though but I haven't gone to the store yet.

Taking the spoon away from mommy

Now he's happy!

Got mess?

My sweet little boy today.

Allen is showing a lot of interest in animals, which makes his mama proud. He loves our dog Kodi and giggles when he gets kisses from him. They're really cute together and seem to thoroughly enjoy each others company.

He also loves music. He smiles and wiggles to dance. He especially loves when Larry plays the guitar for him.

Allen took his first plane ride earlier this month when we went to Kansas. He was so good, like he usually is, and slept the whole time (something he doesn't do a lot of). It was also his first time going there. (Though I just had a flash back to the miserable looong drive there when I was 8 months pregnant.) It was great to visit our family there. Allen's cousins ADORE him. They all kept asking to hold "Baby Allen" and continuously told him how adorable he is. Smart kids, that's all I can say. We also saw our new niece, Sarah, get blessed. She's the newest baby on the Balsmeier side, and very cute I might add.

Let's see, what else is going on with Baby A? Oh yeah, he has a really hard time sleeping with his brace. We're often up every hour with him. Poor baby. Needless to say, he has to have something about him that makes him a little bit of a challenge. Because, let's face it, he's pretty much perfect :)

I can't describe how much we love him. He is the funniest, sweetest, most precious little boy. He loves to interact with us and play with us. He also loves to snuggle. What can I say? Our baby is AWESOME.

"Don't Blame Me, I Was Born AWESOME"

Picture Post...Growing Up So Fast!

2011-06-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Allen is now four months old! I can't believe it. At his last check up he weighed 14 lbs 4 oz and was 26 inches tall. He is such a blessing to us. He has the best sense of humor and is always making us laugh. He loves to giggle, give kisses, and squeal when we play with him. He's just so full of personality! He seems to learn something new every day...I'm pretty sure he's a genius ;) Haha. He's been doing great with his Ponseti brace and even scoots around with it. Okay so this may sound a little cheesy but it's the truth...;) Not a day goes by that we don't thank Heavenly Father for sending us such a precious little boy!

K, so these pics start at the present and go down to when he was 2 1/2 months old...

Smile!

He loves to go swimming!

Larry with Allen on Father's Day

I'm so glad he loves kitties!

We moved him to his crib...but he seems to wake up a lot. Makes me very sleepy...

He loves playing with his daddy

He's looking SO grown up

Yay for summer!

After bathtime

Me and my boy

Just chillin' on the couch

Looking like a giant next to cousin Tristan (Who was born 10 weeks after Allen by the way. He's Kaylynn's little boy)

Did I mention he's growing up too fast?

I call him Sir Cuteness...

So sweet

Yeah I know...a rocking chair is probably not the best place for tummy time ;)

Looking very dapper (Larry dressed him while I was at work.) Very cute!

Yup. Still cute.

Allen and his cousins (on my side of the family) From left to right: Makai with Allen, Jonas with Caysa, Vaughn, and baby Tristan. (This picture and the rest of these were taken by my sister Emily when Allen was 11 weeks old)

Handsome boy.

He's so yummy!

He was looking over at me :)

This picture captures his silly personality

Perfection. Enough said.

I can't even count the number of times I've heard "He looks JUST like his dad"...I guess I better get used to it!

I love his expression.

Got handsome?

Very angelic

He's quite photogenic :)

Pretty sure I'll never be able to say no to this face.

Allen's Blessing...Yeah I know that was a couple months ago.

2011-06-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

So I realized I never wrote about Allen's Blessing. It was on May 8, 2011 which happened to be Mother's Day. It meant a lot to me to have Larry bless him and officially give him the name Larry "Allen" Balsmeier III. I'm sure his grandpa (Larry Allen I) was one of the angels standing close by. Allen was given a really nice blessing. Among other great blessings, he was blessed to someday serve a mission and marry in the temple. I'm so proud of Allen already. He is such an amazing little boy and I'm just so grateful to be his mom! Here are some photos of that day. He was cute little stud in his blessing outfit. Instead of going with the traditional white, I found him a vested suit. Sooo handsome!

Okay, so this was actually taken another day. He was sooo tired after his photo shoot with Emily.

Cast signing isn't the typical activity on blessing day...but it was a good opportunity since our family was there. He got the casts off the next day. They were his sixth and final casts! (Loretta took the pics from here down)

My little man

How cute is he?!

One of my notes to him. "I love you little foot."

Daddy writing on Allen's casts. Poor baby was wondering why we took his pants away and wrote all over his legs!

All in all, it was a great day and a very special first Mother's Day! I couldn't be happier to be my sweet little boy's mommy.

Adventures with Club Feet

2011-05-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

It was late September 2010 when my long awaited ultrasound arrived. I was 18 weeks pregnant at the time.We found out we were having a little boy and we were so happy! But then the ultrasound tech mentioned that he appeared to have a club foot. Hmm...a club foot. It sounded familiar but I wasn't sure what it meant. The doctor was called in and confirmed that he had not one, but two club feet. I must say, they looked pretty darn cute. However, it was pretty overwhelming for both of us to learn about everything club feet entailed. In no time, Ponseti, castings, AFO's, tenotomy, Shriners Hospital, and bilateral club feet were just part of our vocabulary.


Left club foot on ultrasound at 18 weeks.

One of Allen's club feet on ultrasound at 30 weeks

When I was pregnant with Allen I nicknamed him "little foot" because he was always sliding one of his little club feet along my side...even to the point of bruising me! Anyway, I was glad that I knew about Allen's club feet from the start. It was really helpful to be prepared and know about the typical treatment plan. When Allen was born I noticed his adorable little feet right away. They were so cute!

I thought Allen wouldn't be able to wear cute little footed PJ's with club feet. But he totally could before and after the casts! Before the casts they just turned in all cute...hence the club feet.


Check out his monkey feet...

While Allen was in the NICU we applied to get into Shriners Hospital and were quickly accepted. We scheduled his first appointment when we weren't even sure if he'd be home from the hospital yet, which ended up being just a few days after we finally took him home. Shriners Hospital's club foot clinic became a part of our lives in no time. It doesn't seem like a doctor's office or anything. It's more of a fun little place. The doctors there are great. Allen got his first set of casts just one day shy of his two week birthday. His regular doctor at club foot clinic, Dr. Woiczic, evaluated his feet and went right ahead with casting. He also saw other doctors there like Dr. Santora. He was really entertaining and would tell jokes and sing cowboy songs while doing the casts.

The casting method used is called the Ponseti method. It's named after Dr. Ponseti who developed the non surgical method of club foot correction. It involves a plaster cast that goes from the tip of the toes all the way up the leg to the top of the thigh. They simply position the foot where they want it and hold it with the casts. The serial casting was done weekly to evaluate the feet and reposition the feet how they needed to be. They over correct the feet a bit because club feet want to be club feet and will try to turn in again. The Ponseti method has great results and one of the best things is that it doesn't cause long term effects like surgery would; like stiffness or scar tissue in the feet. The tenotomy surgery that's usually involved is just a minor surgery that is done before the last set of casts. It allows more flexibility in the otherwise tight achilles tendon. Okay, explanation of club feet treatment over ;)

The first couple days of the first couple sets of casts were rough. Allen was pretty fussy and wouldn't eat much. But with time, Allen got used to them and tolerated them well. He even learned to have fun with them by banging them together and lifting them as high as he could. The casts weigh more than a pound so he got some strong legs! At first, Allen's casts made it a little awkward to do things like hold him or change his diaper, but I got used to it in like a day.

Allen always tolerated getting the casts on really well. The doctors and nurses often commented on what a good boy he is. He'd just chill while getting a bottle or sucking on his binky. He'd get a little nervous when they used the loud electric saw to cut the casts off on cast change day. But he even handled that well!

Just another set of casts...

Every Monday, we went to Shriners for cast change. The routine involved getting the casts sawed off, clinical pictures to record his progress, giving him a real bath in the sink, slathering him up in lotion (those casts can cause some serious skin irritation and dryness) and recasting. He always had that new cast plaster smell about him on Mondays ;) His feet changed very rapidly. I was surprised how fast they were corrected!

Allen's feet after one of his first sets of cats. Amazing!


The repositioning of his foot caused this crease in his foot. Luckily the doctors said it probably didn't hurt.

The casts just became a part of our lives...

They turned the feet outwards to over correct them. Looks pretty uncomfortable to me!


Allen on casting #4

It's not easy having to be extra careful about keeping those casts clean. One day he had a huge diaper blow out (actually this happened twice). It was really nasty and got all down in the casts and all over them. I'm amazed I was able to get him cleaned up as well as I did. Let's just say baby legs became our best friends. They were more than a fashion statement, they were little cast heroes!

In addition to having to keep the casts clean, I had to be extra careful about keeping Allen super clean. Mustela Stelatopia No Rinse Cleanser was another one of my best friends! Although Allen got a weekly bath on cast change day, he also got sponge baths at home.

At the fifth casting he had x-rays to determine if he would need a tenotomy, the procedure where they cut the Achilles tendon to lengthen it so it's not so tight. The x-rays confirmed that he would need the procedure. When Allen was 7 weeks old he had his surgery done. He was completely awake for it as it only required local anesthesia. Being the good little boy he is, he didn't cry at all. The procedure itself only took a couple minutes. The rest of the time was just for putting on his LAST set of casts! So Allen got a total of 6 casts. The final casts stayed on for 3 1/2 weeks to allow the surgical site to heal and hold the feet in position.

Waiting to go back to surgery...

He passed the time by riding around in a fire truck...

When I got him home I found that my baby still had a label on his back...gotta love my baby with a bar code!

The final set of casts seemed to last awhile. I was so excited to have him be done with them! I'm sure he was excited too. I mean he's the one who really had to deal with them! On his blessing day we had everyone sign his casts...

It says "I love you Little Foot! Love always, Mommy" Remember, that's the nickname I gave him while he was in utero ;)

I really enjoyed getting to know other parents with club foot babies. Club foot clinic was a bustling place. I'm surprised how common it is. It's actually one of the most common birth defects. Almost all of the babies/kids in club foot clinic were boys...it definitely seems to be true that club feet are twice as common in boys than girls. Anyway, we were able to share our experiences and such, which was nice. The day Allen got his casts off we met like three more babies getting their first sets of casts on. The parents were asking us for advise and what our experience was. Having been through the adventures of club feet it was great to be able to tell them that, although it's a bit of a nuisance, it's really not all that bad. In fact it's much easier than I anticipated.

Oh and just a couple funny things as a side note about our experiences...Let's just say little babies can have some seriously stinky feet when they've had casts on! Also, we know by personal experience that people do in fact stare and look at you like horrible parents. Yes, we were asked more than once why his legs were broken. We got used to the simply saying, "he was born with club feet."

When Allen was 11 weeks old the day finally arrived. He was done with the casts! It was so awesome not having to do the recasting part of our little ritual. And his feet looked GREAT!

So excited to see what's under that fluff!

Tada! (The ouchie looking area is where he had his surgery)

So happy to be free!

Getting his final clinical photos done

It's amazing what they can do. I'm REALLY grateful for modern medicine and great doctors. They really made it a decent experience for us. And I'm so grateful that my sweet little boy will be able to walk and run like anyone else. I've contemplated how, if it wasn't for this treatment, he would be crippled. It's so sad to think about. What a blessing that modern treatment is available to us. Oh and I'm also so grateful for Shriners Hospital. They doctors and nurses are great and treatment there is 100% free. Amazing :)

Well, the next step after the casting experience is the AFO's, which are made up of a Ponseti bar and Mitchell Shoes that hold the corrected feet in place. So after getting a nice, long awaited bath in the sink, we headed on over the orthodics to get fitted for his brace. They looked pretty cool, kinda like a snowboard, and Allen didn't seem to mind them at all. They also felt MUCH lighter than those heavy casts. I had read a lot, like on my club foot support group, that the bar was a real hassle. But we have found that it's really not. We like them a lot better than the casts. (Oh and the casts weren't as bad as I thought they'd be either) Anyway, Allen loves being able to bend his knees with his AFO's on. He wiggles around like crazy, slides his feet up and down, and slams them on the ground. Funny boy!

These are pretty cool mom!

Snowboard Dude

I have loved having the AFO's because I can FINALLY see my little boy's feet again! Who knew feet good be so lovable? We're allowed to have the shoes/bar off for one hour a day. That's our happy time! Allen doesn't complain about the shoes/bar but he LOVES having them off. It makes me emotional just seeing him kick his feet and smile. I also love being able to hold him without any extra equipment! From the day he was born until he was 6 weeks old he had wires, monitors, oxygen tubes, etc. And from the time he was 2-11 weeks old he had the casts. And now, 23 hours a day, he has the bar/shoes.

During the hour of free feet time I massage them and let him kick around. And I get a precious hour of holding my baby and JUST my baby. I love it so much! I hope no one takes such seemingly normal or little things for granted. I also got emotional when I got to give Allen his first real bath in the tub at home during his one hour of free time. You know, like filled up with water that he could splash in. And that's exactly what he did. He smiled and excitedly kicked his feet. I think I cried happy tears!

Yay for bathtime!

Well, the plan now is that Allen wears his AFO's 23 hours a day for three months straight. After that he'll wear them for just naps and nights which ends up being 12-16 hours a day until he's about four years old. We have to strictly follow the guidelines or he could relapse...and we don't want that. It's been quite an adventure. Our sweet little boy has been such an example to us. He's handled it all so well with a smile on his face. His patience and positive attitude through everything he's been through, club feet and beyond (he was sick the first 6 weeks of his life) has been inspiring! My little boy is truly an example to me. I love my baby boy!

Being silly during "bar free" time

Tummy time is much more comfortable now!

And here they are now...Allen's club feet are no longer club feet! Though I must say, I actually miss those little crooked, turned in feet. But I'm glad they're all better now so he'll be able to walk, run, and play like every little boy should!

Allen's beautiful, perfect little feet

Life with Allen at Home

2011-04-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Allen has been home for six weeks now. We brought him home Thursday, March 3rd. He was 9 days old and weighed 8 lbs 9 oz at discharge. Kodi was so excited to meet Allen when he came home. He gave him tiny kisses in his car seat and was speedily tiptoeing around trying to be gentle. It's crazy that it seems like such a long time ago that we brought him home, and yet it also seems crazy to me that he's already almost two months old (8 weeks tomorrow). It just seems unreal that time is flying and he's growing up so fast!
The day he came home, my sister Emily took some more photos of him. They turned out really cute of course.

I just loved having him home in his nursery. When I was pregnant with him, I sat in the rocker and anticipated having my little boy in the cute room we prepared for him. Now he was there! I didn't imagine the monitor with alarms, oxygen tanks, etc. in there, but hey, he was home! We got settled into having him home. It was so nice. And actually, if I remember right, kind of weird having the freedom to do whatever we wanted and take care of him as we wanted to.

So cute :)

Baby Bear


One and a half weeks old

He was so little

That weekend we gave Allen his first bath at home. We put him on his turtle sponge in the tub...he really liked it! That's the one and only time I've given him a "real" bath at home.

Excuse me mommy...I'm taking a bath here.

Then Monday, when Allen was two weeks old, he had his first appointment at Shriners Hospital. When we got there, Dr. Woiczic came in and looked at his feet. She said the left was considered severe club foot and the right was moderate club foot. She explained everything and made it all sound really easy. And then she put casts on him. Simple as that! Allen didn't cry and took it like a champ. It was awkward having him in the casts at first but we all got used to it pretty fast. For the first couple days Allen cried a lot and was pretty fussy. With time, he adjusted pretty well though.

Allen in his first set of casts at 2 weeks old

That Tuesday, Allen went to the Pediatrician for the first time. His regular pediatrician was out of town for three weeks so we saw a couple of the other doctors during that time. The first one we saw told us to go ahead and take Allen off oxygen and see how he does. Totally didn't do well without it! So I tried to wean him off. Still didn't work. He saw another doctor there. She said to just leave him on it as needed.

That Friday, Larry had major surgery at St. Marks. Great timing huh?! It had to be done though and I was aware that he'd have the surgery around that time. We put in an address change since we lived there. Just kidding ;) Allen had only been out of there for a week. Anyway, Larry's ileostomy (surgery back in Nov) was giving him a lot of trouble and it got to the point that he was miserable, it was like infected and stuff. So he had his ileostomy reversed. They also had to take out more intestines. Poor guy. It was a rough surgery but it went well; and he got like 30 staples! So Allen and I trekked back and forth to visit him while he was in the hospital.

Snuggling with Daddy at the hospital

Ouch

During the time Larry was in the hospital, family members started coming by more to visit and bring meals. We really appreciated it!

Allen with Mamie (my mom)

Once Larry was home, we were finally all together again. Between February 21st and mid March, all three of us had been patients at St. Marks! Anyway, once Larry was home, we got back to regular life outside the hospital again.


Allen and his bear friends

Allen got his second set of casts the following Monday (so when he was three weeks old), this time with Dr. Santora. Sometime after that Allen went back to the pediatrician. Turns out, he was losing weight. It was hard to gauge his weight because of the casts though. And Shriner's scale broke for the first time in 10 years when I tried to weigh Allen after bath in between the old and new cast. Just my luck! They fixed it for the following week, but anyway...Allen was losing weight so I had to start supplementing a few bottles a day. The boy loves his formula. He started gaining again.

He had to go to the pediatrician one or two times a week in addition to his weekly appointment at club foot clinic. He's very used to doctor's offices that's for sure! He's such a flirt with the nurses; always smiling and cooing for them and never complaining. Everyone loves him!


Such a good boy for casting! - 3 weeks old here

When Allen was four weeks old, we met his actual pediatrician, Dr. Broadbent for the first time. I liked that he's laid back and agreed to circumcise Allen without hesitation. Finally. I mean the kid was a month old. The other doctors wouldn't do it at the earlier appointments because he was too old, on oxygen, had been losing weight, and had casts. Turns out, Allen was the first baby in their practice to be circumcised with bilateral casts. I know...isn't he special?! ;) So the procedure was a little trickier, but it went well. Poor kid is going to be mad at me later for telling these stories.

Anyway, Allen was so preoccupied with the nurse. She dipped his binky in cherry syrup and kept going like, "nummer nummer nummers" all excitedly. It was funny. He learned that when he spit out his binky he got more cherry syrup on it. He wasn't allowed to eat beforehand and so he hadn't eaten in like two hours. He didnt' even cry through the entire 25 minute procedure...no not once. Not even with the needles or anything. That's my tough guy!

He did, however, cry and throw a hissy fit when I got him dressed afterwards. He healed up really fast, like surprisingly fast in just a few days. He hasn't had to go to the pediatrician since. He needs his shots soon though.


Cracking that cute smile ;) 4 weeks old

That boy loves his Daddy!

At the end of March, when Allen was five weeks old, Larry's mom came out to visit. She hadn't met Allen yet. I know she enjoyed getting to know him! We went to her brother's cabin in Scofield for the weekend. It was really pretty but kinda threw me off because it was a winter wonderland! Allen had just started getting sick with a cough when we left. Because of that, and probably the elevation, we had to keep him on oxygen constantly again. (He had been weaned to just sleep time O2 use.)

Meeting Grandma Kathi

When we went home he was able to go back to sleep time use. His cough got really bad one day (to the point that the pediatrician’s office said to take him to Primary Children's. He had a major coughing episode where he coughed til he threw up a bunch. But it like, magically disappeared when we got ready to leave. He was suddenly all better.

That Monday, Larry went back to work. He'd been off for like 6 weeks because he had paternity leave when Allen was born and then disability for a few weeks after that for his surgery.

5 week old

On April 4^th, I had my 6 week postpartum appointment with Dr. Watts. I couldn’t believe that time had come already. He said I was doing great. I don’t have to go back there for a year. I was sad to say goodbye for a while! I love Dr. Watts and my pregnancy and becoming a mom has just been such a happy chapter in my life.

Allen at 6 weeks

On April 5th, Allen went to Primary Children's Riverton office. We had scheduled it when he was like two weeks old but that was the soonest they could see him. The doctor just took a look at him and talked about things to try and figure out why he still needs oxygen. He ordered a sleep study for him, which consisted of going all night off oxygen while on the monitor. He also had chest x-rays. If I understood correctly, the doctor said he looks almost all better, but did seem to indicate that he had a little fluid/pneumonia.

Sweet baby

I went back to work April 9th. I love being home with him but it is kind of nice to work one day a week. Larry stays home with Allen and they enjoy daddy-son bonding time. Larry takes such good care of him. I just love watching them together.

Spending time with Dad

On April 14th, when Allen was 7 weeks old, he had his minor surgery to lengthen the tendons on his feet. I'll write about that in my next post, all out about his cute little club feet!

Taking a nap while waiting to go back to surgery - 7 weeks old

And that brings us to today. It's crazy to think of how the NICU seemed to last forever. Now it seems like he's been home for a long time (yet time is passing so fast!) We're back to life as normal, except now we have his little treasure that brings so much joy and excitement. I've adjusted to being a mom and everything is going great. Allen has done well off oxygen 24/7 all week. I need to call the PCMC doctor to talk about his oxygen results still, but the monitor says he's doing well at least. Oh and he weighs 10 lbs 10 oz now!

I love being a mom, especially Allen's mom! He's such a sweet boy with so much personality. He smiles a lot and loves to be talked and sung to. I just adore that boy.

We love having Allen in our lives and it's been wonderful having him home. I love snuggling with him and taking care of him. It's fun dressing him all cute and doing his hair. I just love that boy! I could kiss his squishy cheeks all day.and I do.

Not too happy about Mommy's constant kisses

He's really such a good baby. The boy really likes to be awake and looking around. He's so smart and curious. He hardly sleeps at all during the day but I've been learning what works to get him to sleep so I can do stuff like chores around the house (like wearing him in the sleepy wrap. He goes right to sleep!) Until recently, I'd be up in the middle of the night with him quite a bit; but I enjoy cuddling him and feeding him no matter what time of day it is. He's sleeping more during the night now though. Last night he slept 6 hours straight!

Monkey!

Well, that's pretty much all I have to say for now...ha, I know it's quite a novel. But now I'm caught up, finally! So my posts won't be crazy long anymore. Well, my next post will be a review of his casting and club feet experiences but that shouldn't be too long. Then I'm just going to do regular cute posts about our baby boy and the happenings in our lives :)

The NICU

2011-04-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

I'm finally catching up on the blog now. Our baby boy is almost 7 weeks old now. This post is from my very long journal entry about Allen's time in the hospital...I edited some out, but this is most of it. I warn you, it's VERY long and detailed! For a summarized version, just look through the pictures ;) I'm glad I actually remembered all of this because I didn't keep a journal while we were there. The hospital gave us this special NICU book/journal, but I was so caught up with everything I never used it. I kinda wish I had, but I just didn't really get around to it.This post may sound a little negative here and there. I really don't mean it that way. Of course, it was difficult at times. And I was certainly emotional at that time. But overall it was such a special time. I loved it. I loved getting to know my baby and every moment I got to spend with him. I remember some of my hardest days. I would be off in my room or at home feeling really down. But the moment I walked in the NICU, saw my baby boy, and held him, I felt so happy and at peace. His spirit always cheered me up!

Allen was taken to the NICU within the first hour of his birth. When I got up to my room on the second floor, I was sad that he wasn't there with me. It wasn't how I pictured things. I thought I'd have his little bassinet next to me and I'd get to hold him in my bed. Instead I sat alone, wondering what was going on. Larry was there on and off though.

At about 8:00PM that night, the Neonatologist, Dr. Smith, came in and scared the bejeezies out of me. She seemed so somber and it seemed she was about to tell us the worst news ever. My heart sank. I seriously feared the very worst. It was so scary. In desperation, I blurted out something like "Is he okay?!" and she said he was. Oh my gosh, the relief I felt. Though I was tempted to smack her for scaring me like that! Just kidding. She explained that he was sick and was breathing really hard and fast, and that he needed oxygen. She said I could go down and see him. I was so excited! I hadn't seen him in three hours! Larry helped me into a wheel chair and off we went. I didn't even care when we hit bumps along the journey. I mean that literally, it was a bumpy ride ;) I was off to see my baby!

We got to the NICU and went into the more critical room. Baby Allen was in a special bed all hooked up to wires and monitors. There was all sorts of beeping and stuff. I got used to those sounds very quickly. Oh and Allen was sporting an awesome space baby helmet...the oxygen dome. It was kinda hard to see him because of the humidity in there. He was all sweaty, but so cute of course. I held his hand and talked to him. I had a hard time that some of the nurses seemed possessive from the start. I know they only cared about him getting better but still, it was kinda hard. They talked about how stimulation was so hard on them (which is funny, cuz the NICU can be a rowdy place) and I can only touch him a certain way, couldn't stroke him, and had to be quiet. I understood that, but I believed from the start what I still believe today. A mother's touch is the most comforting thing to a newborn baby.

Space Baby

It was frustrating to have to deal with the rules, the nurses, etc. Some were more compassionate than others. I am really grateful for all the nurses and doctors there though. K, back to the story. Larry and I visited with him and took pictures. At some point, some of my siblings and my mom, dad, and step dad got to take turns coming in to see him. We could only have two people at a time in there. So Larry had to go out when someone else came in. I remember just staring at baby Allen and feeling such peace. I felt so much love for him.

Eventually I went back to my room. It was hard to leave him. I would get used to having to come and go but it was never easy. Wow, I'm writing quite a bit about that first night. Oh well :) Later that night everyone, including Larry went home. I was alone again, feeling bad for myself, worrying about my baby. My nurse would come in occasionally to squish my deflated stomach. Haha.

By the time it was midnight I still couldn't sleep. I got on the Ipad to see that Larry uploaded pictures on Facebook. I loved looking at them. But then I felt down and wanted to see my baby. I remember praying that I could get through not having him that night and that I could have him in my room the next night. I thought for sure I would get him with me in no time. But I found out that he would have to be off oxygen for 48 hours before they'd let him be with me. I realized he wouldn't get to be in my room at all.

I wouldn't go to sleep that night. So I ventured off to the NICU, all by my wobbly self. After our visit I went back to my room and finally cried myself to sleep. I only slept for like three hours once it was 4 am or so. The next morning we went to see our baby and were happy to see that he was free from the dome! We were told he would need to be on oxygen still but with a nasal canula. He was totally off oxygen! Okay well that lasted like two hours. He got the nasal canula.

We got to hold him that morning :) It was Larry's first time holding him. I just loved seeing him hold him.

Larry holding Allen for the first time.

Then we got to dress him for the first time. At that point he had only worn a diaper. They had pulled out an outfit for him, not like hospital clothes, but like donated clothes. I asked if I could bring my own outfit. I had some cute elephant pajamas in my room that I packed just in case (in addition to his going home outfit.) They said I could bring them if I didn't mind risking them getting lost. I didn't care. I was ready to have fun and dress my baby up all cute. He looked adorable! And since he was out of the "space hat" his hair had dried and was all fuzzy and super blonde!

Allen in his elephant jammies

Well, Wednesday night, I had come to terms that my baby was in the NICU. I decided to try and get some sleep. But of course, happy little people in the hallways had to make noise ;) I could hear babies crying in the rooms with their moms, family members laughing, etc. I felt bad for myself again. Actually I felt pretty jealous too. I wanted my baby with me so bad. Then I couldn't sleep because the person in the room next to me was snoring. I'm usually fine with stuff like that, but I'm talking freight train here people. To add to that, an overhead light was rattling...so I took it and ripped it off the wall. Eventually I got a tiny bit of sleep again. The next morning Dr. Watts came to check on me. He laughed at how I solved the noise issue by tearing the room apart. It was Thursday. It was time for me to be discharged :( BUT, I didn't have to go home yet. They said I could move to a boarding room down the hall. I was on my own and not a patient anymore. But I was still in a hospital room so that was nice. I spent a couple days there.

Back to baby Allen. On Thursday (I think), he moved to the regular NICU room. That's what I think of most when I reflect on the whole experience since he spent a week there. It was a very long week (again, 9 days total). We got used to our day going like this: Hurry and get ready in the morning, press the button to the NICU (Can I help you? - It's Balsmeier - Come on in…Sanitize hands, give security code...haha we did this a million times.) go feed the baby, go back to my room to pump, back to the nicu to put milk in the fridge, back to my room for a few, then go back to the baby and do his cares (diaper change, temperature), put the curtains on wheels around his little bed to feed the baby again, go sleep for 10 minutes, start all over, again and again every three hours.


Our beautiful boy, always so quiet and well behaved.

Half that time was spent doing his cares and feeding him. Of course, some of the nurses said that was too long. Others said, "he's your baby, spend all the time you need with him." Those were the ones I liked best :) A couple of the nurses made me feel like a horrible mom because I didn't leave at the thirty minute mark like they wanted me too. But there was no way I could get done that fast. It took awhile just to change his diaper, clothes, etc...the cords slow you down a little. His three hour NICU schedule was 8, 11, 2, 5 AM & PM. It's ingrained in my mind now. The thing was, he was too tired doing that schedule. So was I. I had to wake him up and try to get him to eat, and to stay awake to eat. Then I had to force him to go to sleep when he wanted to be awake. It was rough.

All worn out

The first night in that room, Larry sat and held Allen in his arms and gave him a quiet little priesthood blessing. It was sweet. We weren't sure what was going on with him and why he needed oxygen. We asked lots of questions but didn't really get anywhere. They just said his lungs were cloudy on x-ray. My hopes of having him off oxygen for 48 hours so he could go home were diminishing. He always had to go back on it when they tried to take him off. Then we bjust hoped he could at least be turned down some.

Somewhere along the way, I think on day 4, we found out they were treating him for presumed pneumonia and that he had to go through the full 7 days antibiotics. I officially started to wonder when I would ever take him home. So St. Marks was my little world. I went to visit and care for Allen every 3 hours, spending almost half that time with him, the rest trying to get things done like grab something to eat or a tiny nap. We dressed him in his own clothes and had a little bin for him so they wouldn't lose them. It was fun getting to be his parents and take care of him even though it wasn't how we planned. I have so many special memories of just sitting in those rockers and getting to know our little one. I loved how he would stretch and squish his fists on his squishy little cheeks and we'd call him "Monkey!"

Our sweet little boy

I can still picture that little world in my mind in a heartbeat. Little Allen was right in the middle of the room where the windows were. He was surrounded by cute little girls, mostly preemies. We joked he didn't want to leave the NICU cuz he had all these girls around him. It was kinda funny, we called it the "A" section. Annabelle, Avery, Allen, Audrey, Aarelyn. We got to know the other parents and talked to them a bit. Oh and we also joked that the hospital wouldn't release him because they wanted to keep him for themselves because he's so dang cute.

My stay on the second floor ended that day. I didn't want to go home without Allen. I was so happy when the NICU director came to my room and told me there was a guest room right across the hall from the NICU where I could stay for a day or so. But they ended up letting me stay through the weekend. It was nice not to have to trek all the way back and forth, up and down. I did miss the sprite machine though ;)

On Saturday we asked to give Allen his first bath. The nurse told us he already had his first bath. What?! We made it clear we wanted to be there for it! Well, turns out it never got recorded so we don't really know if he did get a bath. But apparently he almost certainly got one. So later that night another nurse said we could give him a bath and told us to bring the video camera, to try and make it special, etc. It was fun getting to wash him up all clean.

Smiling

The next day, Sunday, our Bishopric came to visit. Well, Bishop Thrall and Brother Brand. They offered to give Allen a blessing. It was such a special blessing. Larry gave the blessing. (I know I just said blessing a bunch of times. I through my writing skills out the window ;) The Spirit was really strong and I started to cry. Partially from the spirit, and also from sadness. The Bishop offered to give me a blessing in my room. It was really nice and comforting. He talked about my mission as Allen's mom and what a special little boy he is. He said he has a very special purpose that hasn't yet been revealed. I wrote notes of the blessing on a paper towel so I could remember it forever and ever ;) Then Brother Brand gave Larry a nice blessing too. It meant so much to us. Everyone was so caring through all of this. Family, friends, ward members. Through our days there they came and visited, brought meals, etc. I'm really grateful for the kindness of others. It really inspired me to help others more. I know it may not have seemed huge to them, but it meant so much to us.

My little fonzie

On Monday, we opened the blinds for a larger group of family to visit. Emily came and took Allen's first professional pictures. They turned out great.

The days wore on. A couple of the nurses made us angry to the point that I told the supervisor they weren't allowed to be his nurse anymore. Others were wonderful and I told their supervisor that I wanted them to care for him every time they were on. (Renae was my favorite! She was one of his night nurses.) I thought my life was destined to go on in the NICU...I forgot about life at home. But Larry said I had to come home...and eventually (on Monday) my stay in the guest room was over. I had to accept that I was going home without Allen.

Instead of my walk across the hall I had to hop in the car to go feed Allen. Thank goodness the hospital is so dang close. I was pretty good about going to all but one or two of his night feedings. Those were some of my favorite visits with him. It was a lot more quiet and peaceful. Larry came to visit him a few times a day too. I loved watching him hold the baby and give him a bottle and stuff. He's been such a good dad from the start.

As the days passed I got more and more frustrated that Allen was still in the NICU. I know 9 days isn't much, but for our seemingly healthy, full term baby, it was frustrating for us. By the time March rolled around, I told Dr. Smith that the 3 hour schedule wasn't working anymore. She allowed us to switch to ad lib schedule. It was kinda weird not being on the 3 hr schedule. But finally, both Allen and I were getting sleep! We also pressed them to let us take him home. I started getting really jealous as I heard about other babies getting to take the coveted "car seat test," do hospital photos, etc. in preparation for going home. Allen had been in there longer than many of them. We asked to take him home on oxygen. We knew he wasn't coming off anytime soon (our intuition). I told her that I really felt he would do better at home. She said we could try him on an oxygen tank of 1/16th for a day but if he couldn't handle it he'd have to go back on "the wall."

We also finally got permission to let him try the car seat challenge. The doctor didn't seem to think he would pass but she reluctantly said he could try the car seat test. This was all a really big deal. We got to bring the car seat in. That night we both came to his 11PM feeding. Larry adjusted the car seat and the nurse said we could go ahead and put him in. The challenge began! We had to leave while he sat in there for two hours while successfully maintaining his stats (for him it was on home oxygen). We went in the room to watch the CPR video...that passed 20 minutes of the time. Then we went home. I remember praying with a lot of faith that night. I was even surprised I actually felt peaceful and slept. The nurse called at 2AM. He passed! We were so happy.

But he still had to be able to stay on the tank through the night. The next morning I went in and looked at the tank, then back at him, then at the wall. He was still on the tank! Dr. Smith came in and I told her how he passed the car seat test. Then she said "He's on the wall." I've decided she loves freaking me out. I looked again to see if I was crazy. No, he was NOT on the wall. I told the doctor, "Nuh uh, look!" Ha. He was still on the tank.

Then the moment of truth arrived on that morning, Thursday March 3rd. She said he could go home! Ahhh! It was finally OUR turn. We went home while the nurse packed up his belongings and got everything taken care of that needed to be done before he went home (needed the hearing test from the audiologist,etc.) I made cookies and wrote a thank you card for the doctors, nurses, volunteers, etc.

We went to the NICU for the last time to bring baby Allen home! It was so weird seeing his bed all cleared out and everything. I dressed Allen in his go home outfit...he barely fit in it at this point. The oxygen guy came to the hospital and set us up with our equipment. Larry packed up all our stuff and took it to the car (holy cow, he had lots of luggage from living in there).

Ready to go home!

Then the Our365 lady came to take pictures. I didn't want to delay him going home, but since she was there taking pictures of another baby, I figured we may as well have her do Allen's too. But we weren't going to buy them. Haha. Suuure. They put him in this comfy dog bed thing and he was just adorable. It was fun and exciting having our special day. The picture girl took us out in the hall and showed us this cute video with his pics that made us all warm and fuzzy. We bought the full package. Cha-Ching!

He's so cute! He had fun getting his pictures taken. We couldn't resist.

Then we went to get Allen. We were all ready to go! It had been such a journey. And we had made it through our NICU experience. I know we had it easier and better than most, I don't know how people do it. The nurse walked with me and Allen to the front doors as Larry pulled the car around...and then we were free! And so it began. Life at home.

The Birth of Our Son

2011-03-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, our baby is now three and a half weeks old and I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. Get ready for a novel because I have tons to catch up on...and I tend to use the blog as a bit of a journal. Okay, so I'm going to start way back on February 21st. I went to my weekly NST/AFI visit at Maternal Fetal Medicine at St. Marks. It was the last day of my pregnancy. At that visit, I found out that my little boy has hair :) It was waving around on ultrasound. I was happy about that. I also found out that my labor was really starting. I was also happy about that! Not because I wanted to be done with my pregnancy...granted it was a bit tough (horrible morning sickness, back pain, and a baaad case of PUPPPS). Actually I was happy because I was having a hard time knowing if I should get induced or let him come on his own. (Of course I was happy to finally meet my baby too!) Long story short, Larry wanted to see if he'd come on his due date, February 27th (his dad's birthday). And I had scheduled an induction date for February 22nd.

Well, turns out that the morning of the 21st, I was having contractions six minutes apart. The nurse/doctor told me to go to labor and delivery if they got any closer...but I was a little clueless on the whole timing them thing. So later that night I decided to just go into labor and delivery to get checked. Contractions were 2-4 minutes apart. Baby was coming on his own! But I wasn't really dilating more so they said I could go home. I was proud of my baby for being cooperative and solving my dilemma. I kept my induction date because I would have been admitted that day anyway. Yay! It was kinda nice spending a couple hours in labor and delivery...it was a nice preparation as I realized I was actually going to deliver the next day.

Well, we went home and you'd think I'd be a nervous wreck all night. Nope. I felt calm about having the baby soon, and a little eager, because I was miserable with the puppps...it's a pregnancy rash. You can look it up if you dare. Mine was really severe of course. I'm special like that. I was up all night itching and covered in hives. I got a couple hours of sleep and then 6:00AM arrived. I called labor and delivery to see if I should go into my "induction" (at this point, contractions are 1-2 minutes apart). They said to come down. Okay, I'm being way too wordy. Remember, this is just like my journal...and I'm letting you read it! Anyway, at 9:00AM Dr. Watts arrived. I absolutely love the guy. Don't worry, Larry is aware of my my love for him ;) He's a great doctor and I really am grateful for him.

Anyway, without further ado, Dr. Watts broke my water. Labor quickly progressed. In no time I went from a 3 to a 5. I told Larry and the nurse that I thought it was funny what a big deal people make out of labor. I was half way there and it was a breeze! Well...that lasted two seconds. As soon as I said that it all hit me. The contractions got really strong, despite the zofran that I asked for ahead of time (I knew I'd need it) I got super nauseous...then I couldn't stop puking (I knew you wanted to know that). So much for the goal, "no nausea" that we wrote on the white board.

The pain, actually I don't know that I'd call it pain for some reason....more like extreme pressure and discomfort, got worse. (I guess it was painful but it was like a different type of pain.) I decided that it was a great time to ask for ol' trusty...my epidural. Well, turns out the anesthesiologist was in a c-section and there would be an hour wait. I was fine with that. But by the time an hour and half passed I was really happy to see him. I sat up and he prepared the epidural. At that point the nurse offered a pain medication via iv...Fentanyl. That stuff was spiffy....hehe. Suddenly I felt all weird and woozy but nice and calm cuz the pain was gone. Oops that rhymed. Larry says I don't tolerate drugs well and he's embarrassed to be around me when I get them. Apparently I started talking about cleaning up...um...messes from dogs and cats as a vet tech. Lovely.

K, back to the story. I got the pain killer as I got the epidural. Turns out that's a bad idea. I felt good for a while but apparently doing that caused an issue with the epidural. It only worked on the left side and was fading quickly. I felt like my right leg was broken. The anesthesiologist kept trying to make it work to no avail. Finally, he got it to work on both sides...but it only lasted a few minutes. Meanwhile I continued to puke everywhere. It was all so much fun! At the time I was thinking that I don't know why someone would refuse an epidural. Since mine didn't work I got a feel for the whole natural thing.

At this time I started hearing babies crying every half hour or so. All the days inductions were being born! I realized I was about to have my baby too. Well, the nurse checked me again and I was a 9. Not long after I was a 10. She says it's time to push. I told Larry to have the cameras ready. I knew I'd have to push a while but we had to be ready for pictures of course. Well, the nurse turned to him and said "Grab a leg!" So he didn't exactly have his hands free for pictures and videos. And he got to be all up close and personal with the delivery. I hope he still loves me ;) Actually, Larry was so cute and supportive through the delivery. He was a very sweet and helpful coach! It made the experience even more special.

A short while later, baby's head showed up and the nurse told us he has BLONDE hair. I was surprised, even though it was in our genes. Larry had blonde hair as a baby. Pushing kinda wore me out. Apparently I have the lung capacity of a 2 year old. I kept running out of breath too soon. But baby was coming nonetheless, so I guess I didn't do too bad. At this point the epidural was non existent. Fortunately the anesthesiologist showed up again. I was 30 minutes into pushing. At least that's how I remember it. In desperation he started pumping tons of stuff into my epidural. It felt really cold going in the epidural, which was actually kinda nice. Then it finally worked and right when it really counts!

Doctor Watts showed up for the baby catch. At this point I was finally relaxed because I couldn't feel anything. I just had to focus on pushing when the monitor showed contractions. Baby boy started desatting so they put me on oxygen. I had really liked my nurse throughout the delivery. But when it got all calm and quite in the room the nurse found it a convenient time to start talking to my doctor about an abortion pill. Yes, that seemed very appropriate for the task at hand. Not. My doctor seemed a little annoyed as he was trying to deliver my baby. Larry and I watched the monitor and had to tell them that I was having another contraction and had to push again. That was the nurses job but she was busy discussing said abortion pill. At some point she got back on board with helping with the delivery.

After one hour of pushing I was ready to be done. The nurses turned on the heating bed for baby and I knew it was time! I looked at the clock and decided that I'd have him by 4:52 PM. Larry thinks I'm full of it. But really, I knew he was coming then. I put my all into it and at 4:52 PM on 2.22.11 I delivered our son, Larry "Allen" Balsmeier III. He weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 20 inches long. Right when I saw him I knew that the name I liked, Hayden Elijah just didn't fit him. He looked just like Larry. I knew this was little Allen. Oh and when he was born, he didn't even look gross! He actually looked pretty clean.The doctor laid him on me and I just held him and we stared at each other. I love this picture. It captures the memory of meeting him perfectly :)

Baby Allen's first photo. Brand new to the world!

My blonde boy at 6 days old

Apparently Larry cut the cord...I guess I didn't notice. I don't remember when I held him for a while, if it was before or after they cleaned him up, but I got to hold him for a few minutes. I looked him over and he looked healthy/normal. Though I remember asking the doctor if he was okay, for reassurance. Oh and I thought his club feet were so cute at my first look at them! And of course I noted right away that he had tons of blonde hair! Way to compromise baby! Larry wanted a bald baby apparently because he didn't want our baby to have tons of dark hair, because he thought he'd look like a monkey. But I wanted a baby with lots of hair. So he had lots of blonde hair. Yay!
I didn't even realize that our baby wasn't crying until the silence caught me off guard. He just sat there, sweetly looking at me. I loved the whole experience...even though it was a bit of a rough and unpleasant delivery. It had a very special spirit about it. I'll never forget it. He was just so perfect and sooo cute! It was definitely love at first site.

Larry didn't even get to hold our baby after delivery. The nurses took our baby and tried to get him to cry. They mentioned that he looked a little gray but had pink lips. They called in the NICU to take a look at him. I finished up the whole delivery process (Larry was SO glad he got to see the placenta and everything! kidding) At some point they wheeled him off to the well baby nursery. Larry and the room full of nurses went with him. When my doctor finished up with my episiotomy (again, you all wanted these details) he shook my hand and told me good job or something like that. Then I was alone...just sitting in the delivery room. Like an hour passed and I decided they forgot about me. I couldn't find my call button so I grabbed my cell phone and called labor and delivery to remind them. Haha. But just then my nurse came and cleaned me up. Larry showed up too.

Apparently our baby was only in the nursery for a couple minutes before the NICU staff whisked him away to intensive care. And that leads us to chapter two: The NICU, yes all 9 days of it. I'll get to that experience when I have a chance. Then I'll get to chapter three: Bringing Allen home and home life. (Oh and Larry had major surgery at this time too.) And chapter four: Casting for club feet (which is from 2 weeks to present, since it's an ongoing thing. Yes, I told you this is a novel! Wow, I have a lot to catch up on still.

We don't have any pictures of him with us right after he was born because of everything that went on with him being born and having trouble breathing. Oh I guess I didn't mention why the nicu took him. He was breathing really fast and not getting enough oxygen.

I can't believe Allen is almost a month old!

First Family Photo on go home day 3-3-11

One week old

2 weeks old

3 weeks old

About to enter a new chapter of our lives...

2011-02-19T22:07:00.000-08:00

As of tomorrow I'll be 39 weeks pregnant. I can't believe it. After all the waiting, we will finally hold our baby boy soon. I feel emotional remembering Father's Day 2008. That's the day I told Larry he was going to be a dad. Little did I know it would be nearly three years later. But now, the time has come. We are so excited to meet our precious little boy! It really is such a sacred experience having a perfect baby entrusted to us. It's a bit surreal that we are probably going to meet him in just a few days. I'm starting to get nervous about the whole giving birth scenario ;) But I'm also so excited. I mean, this is MY baby boy. He'll always be mine. It's all just so amazing to me. I'm so grateful for our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness that is centered on having our own families.

Next time we post on here, we'll be announcing the birth of our baby boy and his name (once it's official) We'll post tons of pictures I'm sure. Yay! FYI, I've been 3 cm and 80% effaced for a couple weeks plus contractions on and off. We thought he was coming a week or two ago (once full term) but he decided to wait a little longer. Contractions are getting going mildly now. I *may* or *may not* be getting induced next week...I think I know but we'll see how things have progressed and decide for absolute sure. We want him to come on his own but I really think it might be a little mix of both that happens, if that makes any sense whatsoever. Alright, in the meantime let's look at some pics of the nursery shall we?

A happy place for our baby boy

We're all organized and everything


This is my cloth diaper stash ;) And a few disposables for early on.

I just got a much needed haircut...sorry about the myspace type "took a picture of myself" photo ;)

Going back a little bit....Baby Shower!

Thank you mom and sistas for throwing a shower for me and baby boy on Feb 5th!
We held it at Kaylynn's house and Amy put the show on.
And of course thank you to all our friends and family who came.
It was lots of fun. Now I just can't wait to meet the little boy we're celebrating!


We really appreciated all the gifts...(plus my work threw me a baby shower the week before so I got even more gifts and lots of gift cards. It all helps so much!)

It was fun not knowing when someone was taking pictures ;)

We played fun games too...okay we all know I'm a cloth diaper nerd. I thoroughly enjoyed pinning flat diapers on teddy bears. It was quite amusing to see what people came up with in one minute...like teddy bear togas!

I think pregnancy is running in my family right now. Me and my sister Kaylynn (She's having a boy in May!)

My ridiculously talented sister Emily made this awesome diaper cake!

Don't you think I'm just glowing in all my pregnant glory?! Okay, really I just haven't seen sun in quite some time.

I got lots of cute squishy stuff for my baby.


But I realized I'm looking rather chubby these days ;)		I always thought it was funny how people try stuff on their stomach...I mean really? Hehe. Here I am "trying on" a onesie from baby's grandma Kathi. (Thank you! I'm sorry you guys couldn't be here, we missed you)


There was really good food (thanks mom!) Though that may be attributing to my chubby cheeks...

32 Week Ultrasound!

2011-01-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

Today I had a follow up ultrasound at St. Marks. The tech was really nice, she's the one that told us we're having a boy back at our week 18 ultrasound. She spent some time trying to get pictures of his sweet little face even when he didn't seem to want to cooperate. He kept putting his hands by his face. She left the room for a few minutes and he started bouncing around like crazy. Then she came in and got these 3d pictures of his face! Larry was happy that I finally got my 3d/4d ultrasound (Now I can't beg him for one anymore). I didn't know they were going to do that. Baby boy looks so much like Larry. He has big lips and a handsome chin. He's a little chubster. I just love him! He currently weighs about four and half pounds. We're getting close!

It was hard to get a clear shot of his face but you can kinda see it here. That's the umbilical floating around by his face.

Sleepy baby boy

Look at those cute toes! He has big fat feet like me :) His poor little club feet are so sweet. These pictures were helpful though. We're going to bring them to my consultation with the orthopedic surgeon at Primary Children's next week.
Anyway, baby was very active during the ultrasound. It was so fun to see him. The doctor said that everything seems to be going well but he's concerned that the amniotic fluid level is a little high. That, plus the club feet and echogenic focus are still a concern for chromosomal or neurological abnormalities. But he sounded hopeful that they're just isolated issues. I hope so. I worry so much. The doctor wants to do a follow up ultrasound every week until he's born to keep an eye on him. We love this little boy so much and we're so excited to meet him! Oh and just fyi, our little daddy look alike is probably going to be named Larry "Allen" Balsmeier III. We'll see...next month! Yay!

We're not in Kansas anymore

2011-01-03T19:33:00.000-08:00

But we were! Okay I know that is SO old. Anyway, we had a good time visiting family for two weeks. We split the 16 hour drive into two 8 hour drives...that's each way. So 16 total going there and another 16 coming back. So we stayed in a hotel in Denver for the night on each drive. Not sure why I'm going so far into detail on that matter. Moving on. It was a little rough between my back pain (8 months pregnant now people) and Larry's post surgery pain. Oh and the ileostomy bags were not cooperating but that's not a subject Larry would want me to go into detail on! ;) We really had a good time out there. We stayed at Larry's mom's house. It seems we spent a lot of time just relaxing. And by relaxing I mean, I had to lay down a lot cuz I hurt and Larry seemed to enjoy playing Halo. I don't get what the big deal is about that game. Larry turned 27 on Christmas Eve. Check out this "Sushi" cake that Jordan made him. It was really good! Don't worry, it was chocolate and french vanilla I think...nothing fishy.

Christmas was nice. I thoroughly enjoyed presents for our baby boy, courtesy of my sisters in law. Larry got me Willow Trees, which I LOVE. He also got me a digital picture frame. So excited to fill it with pictures of our little baby boy! Of course, the best part of Christmas was being together :)

Hmmm...my back is really starting to hurt so I'm going to wrap this up. Basically we had a great time visiting family. I befriended Konan the rambunctious dog, sat on Sparky the "burrows under blankets" dog...oops. And got to know my little niece Rori better. We also spent some time with the Bidwells (Jennifer "JJ" and Rob plus 6 kids...oh and we got to see our guinea pigs Hershey and Kit Kat) and hung out with the "other" Balsmeier's (John & Clara plus kids) at the Topeka mall. Midway in the trip I got sick with a lousy cold and cough. New Years Eve we struggled to stay awake long enough to say happy new year. Overall it was my favorite time in Kansas. Next time we visit them we'll have our little boy! 2010 was a year of progression, healing, and answers to prayers. Here's to 2011!

Family Photos

2011-01-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

My sister in law, Jordan, arranged for us to have family photos done in Kansas. Thanks to family friend Anna Freeby for doing a great job for us. We went to a beautiful Kansas field and got some nice shots...it was sooo cold though. Oh and maybe I have confidence issues but I didn't realize my face had gotten so chubby...and my hair is messed up but hey it was pretty windy. Larry looks a bit freezing too. It was great to get some pics though!

Third Trimester! Counting down...

2010-12-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying my third trimester so far. Granted, I've had some pretty severe back pain and I still have a bit of morning sickness. Mostly the back pain though. But I'm so happy and excited to have our little boy in like 2 1/2 months!

I just love feeling him kick and wiggle...he does a lot of that. He means the world to us and after all the waiting and everything we've been through, we appreciate him so much. I feel so blessed I can't even explain it.

I've been getting a lot bigger recently. I guess our baby is doing some serious growing :) At my last check up I'd gained at least 25 lbs since my first appointment and 10 of those were in the past four weeks. Here are a couple of pictures for ya. (Taken yesterday at 28 weeks. Only 83 days to go!)

Larry's Before and After

2010-12-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

Super sad, pale Larry before surgery:

Larry feeling better and getting some color after surgery!

It's been quite a battle with the nemesis called Crohn's Disease. Poor Larry has been so sick for a long time. He finally had his surgery on Nov 29th at St. Marks hospital. It's nice living so close to the hospital because it made it easy to visit and go back and forth. The surgery was originally postponed to see if one more treatment would help over two months...well it didn't really. Then it was postponed for an additional week due to a sudden cancellation. (His doctor was sorta banned from the hospital for his attitude problem. We like him though!)

Well, as I said, last Monday he finally had the 3 hour long surgery done by a different surgeon, Dr. Cavin. He was really helpful with the whole process. Larry had about a foot of both the large and small intestine removed as well as his "faulty gallbladder." He also had an ileostomy done which pretty much means a little part of his intestine is sticking out of his stomach and he has a bag on him. I know, isn't it lovely?! This way his intestines can heal and he can continue treatment to try and keep his disease under control.

Unfortunately the ostomy didn't turn out how it's supposed to, but it still functions right. Since he's been on prednisone (another nemesis of Larry's) the tissue was really damaged and tore so easily it made the tissue difficult to work with) We're hoping the ostomy dealio is temporary and they can hook him up later.

After the surgery I was surprised to see that he actually had color in his face. He looked pretty good (and handsome as usual). The pain was pretty bad at first but got better. He was discharged from the hospital on Thursday Dec 2nd. He's been doing okay but seems to hurt more now :(

I really am proud of Larry for being so patient and strong through everything. I don't know how he does it. But through it all he's taken good care of me. I love him so much :) We've really appreciated the prayers, meals, and support of friends and family. It has meant a lot and uplifted us. Thank you so much!

22 Week Ultrasound

2010-10-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

I had my follow up ultrasound on 10/27/10. The month prior, the doctor was unable to see the heart well so he wanted to check it when baby was bigger. This time it was clearly visible and everything looked normal. Yay! We could still see the bright spot but the doctor wasn't concerned about it. This time we had a different doctor. He seemed more relaxed and told us our baby boy looks great and he thinks it's highly unlikely that he has a chromosomal abnormality. He thinks the club feet are isolated and his only issue. And he assured us that it's easy to treat. We're so grateful to be able to relax more about everything. We just love our baby boy so much!

I've been doing a lot of research trying to understand it all. We're hoping to take him to Shriner's Hospital. Right now the plan is to have him evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon when he's born. We'll then wait a week to get his casts on so he can relax at home with us. The treatment is called the Ponseti method. It's a non surgical method that uses physical therapy and casting to correct the feet. There is only a minor surgery involved instead of a series of big surgeries.

To put it simply, he'll get casts on both legs that go from his toes to groin. They'll be changed once a week. When he's about three months he'll have a tenotomy, which is a simple surgery where they cut the heel cord (achilles tendon) to allow the muscle to lengthen. Then he'll have a cast for a few more weeks. After that he'll wear a bar with little shoes attached to it. He's gonna be a good snowboarder in no time.

I'll have to give him sponge baths since he can only have a real bath once a week. I feel like he's a tough little guy and will probably handle it all better than me. I just love him so much already, I feel bad he has to wear casts right from the start. But it'll fix his cute little feet quick so he can walk normally and play like little boys should.

So...back to the ultrasound. Baby boy was doing yoga so it was hard to get clear pictures. I'm not sure how doing yoga influences a good profile picture though. They only gave us a couple pictures and the profile ones were unrecognizable. I feel kinda bitter at the tech for it. I've nicknamed her "poundy woman" because she was pretty much attacking me and baby with the ultrasound wand to get him to move. We didn't appreciate that ;) We only got two distinguishable pictures...

This is his cute little face...he looks kinda like a kitten. Thank goodness he's not a kitten though :)

This is his cute little hand.

Since we didn't get a lot of pictures, it made me really want a 4D ultrasound for Christmas. (Hint hint...wink wink.) I just want to see him better on ultrasound...it's $150 though. Larry isn't going for it at this time. I'm determined to get my wish though! Maybe I'll wait to ask again when he's on some serious pain killers...hmm. Speaking of which, the poor guy has been really sick. He should be getting his surgery soon hopefully. I feel so bad for him.

I wanted more pictures so I pulled out the ultrasound video from his 18 week ultrasound and took screen shots. Yeah...I'm talented like that. Ha.

My baby has the cutest little toes! :D I just can't get over his cuteness.

Look at the cute little club foot.

I think this is the other club foot. I know one of them looks more turned in than the other. See his cute leg with the little foot turned to the side?

He is so precious! Look, he's sticking out his little tongue. I love this little boy!

Our Little Boy!

2010-10-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

Look, he's smiling!
What can I say? We are SO in love with him already. On September 29th we went in for the big ultrasound. It was so exciting and wonderful to see him on the screen and realize what a miracle he is. He measured right on target for his due date, February 27th 2011. Then the big moment came where we saw his legs kicking about and, as we could see right at that moment, the ultrasound tech told us we're having a little boy! We both thought so and mentioned it many times before we found out. But there was something about that moment. I just felt so in love with my baby boy. It was just pure joy.

He was kicking and moving a lot during the ultrasound...which he's always been good at. I just adore him and love feeling him kick. He especially likes to kick when I eat strawberries. Hehe. He was so cute on the ultrasound (of course :) he kept licking his lips, sticking his tongue in and out. He must have been thinking about strawberries.

The ultrasound tech started looking closer at his feet and told us that she was going to have the doctor come in because she thought she saw that one of his feet was clubbed. Well the doctor came in (little did we know he was about to scare us like none other) and told us that he wanted to take a good look at our little boy. I started to worry a bit. Then he said that both his feet were clearly clubbed and that he'll need to be treated right after he's born. (If you look in the "I'm A Boy" picture you can tell that his feet are turned down and inward.) Fortunately it can be fixed so he'll be able to walk normally. He may just walk a little later than babies tend to. He'll most likely have surgery and start physical therapy from the time he's born. And he'll wear casts that go from his feet to the top of his legs for about 6 months. Then he'll wear a brace on his feet that looks like a little skateboard. We have decided to take him to Shriners Hospital. We're really grateful to have all the options of such great children's hospitals right here in Salt Lake City.

Well, as I was saying, the doctor told us about his clubbed feet. We think they're so cute and he's still perfect of course. But I felt sad that he'd have to go through the challenges of getting them fixed. Yet I was relieved that it was something they could correct. But the part that really scared me was when the doctor looked at his heart and told us about a bright spot, or calcium deposit in his heart called an echogenic cardiac focus. He said it's pretty common, but with the clubbed feet, it could indicate chromosomal abnormalities. They were especially markers for downs syndrome. Way to scare the crap out of the happy parents to be! I quickly came to terms that it's okay if he had downs, though I hope he doesn't so he can have an easier life. It was the other syndromes they told us about that are really severe that scared me, since those babies can't live. I grieved and struggled and focused on that...took the fun out of things. We went home and cried and worried so much.

They did a quad screen to look into the likely hood of down's syndrome and stuff. A couple days later, (which seemed like forever) my doctor (Dr. Watts) called and said they were normal and negative for an increased risk of down syndrome and it was only 1-2%. He also tried to reassure me not to worry about the other syndromes. Yet I still went to fearing the worst. I'm finally feeling better and being rational. I feel at peace when I focus on how his brain and spinal cord are normal, he has long legs, and measured perfectly. The chances of the chromosomal abnormalities are really low yet I still worry here and there. I have to try really hard to be positive and have faith that my little boy will be okay. Because he will! I'm having a follow up ultrasound to check on his heart in a couple weeks (they couldn't see the right ventricle well because he wouldn't hold still and kept moving). They also want to check on the bright spot.

If you're wondering what we're planning on naming him...well...we're not going to decide until he's born. It's kind of a battle between me and Larry as we don't quite agree. How do I explain this...Larry Allen II wants to name him Larry "Allen" III since his due date is on Larry Allen I's birthday. It does seem appropriate since his dad is in heaven and probably thought it was a wise choice for our little boy to be sent to us at this time. So I like it but I just wanted to choose his own unique name. I want to name him Hayden Elijah, which is a great name if I do say so myself ;) I have my reasons and meaning behind it to. Mostly because I always thought my first little boy would be named Hayden (then I met Mr. Larry and found out he may have other plans). But also because of the meaning of the name Elijah, after the prophet who had some strong characteristics that I'm convinced our little guy has.

I can't say how much we've appreciated all the prayers and support. It really has strengthened my testimony of the power of faith and prayer. We're so grateful for our family and friends who called to talk to us, came and visited, brought us meals, (and baby gifts for our sweet little guy) and helped us stay positive. We are so grateful that our Heavenly Father is entrusting us with such a precious son to raise and love as our own.

Now for more pictures of our preparations for our little BOY!

See he's growing and so am I!

I got him this little outfit. It's so fun to shop for him. It can take a little time though cuz he's special and I have to find him clothes without the built in feet. And they need to be loose enough to fit over his casts.

The nursery :D We've already gotten quite a bit done...we were too excited. It's coming along great! It's fun making a cute and cozy place for our little guy to relax in.

Our baby on the way!

2010-08-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't updated the blog in a long time. You probably already knew that Larry and I are expecting the cutest, sweetest baby ever February 27th 2011. The due date is special because a few other significant things that happened on that date.
1. Larry's Dad's Birthday
2. Larry II and I got engaged
3. I got my Patriarchal Blessing

Of course, baby's aren't born exactly on their due date all that often, but you never know.

Here's the lo-down on the pregnancy so far...

June 16th: Positive pregnancy test! 3 1/2 weeks

July 6th: First ultrasound, saw and heard baby's heartbeat! 6 weeks 2 days

Okay, so you can't see much here because the baby was so small. But notice the waves at the bottom of the pictures. That's the baby's heartbeat :) It was such a relief to hear the heartbeat. We could even see the tiny heart beating on the ultrasound.

July 27th: Second ultasound, baby already looking cute and moving arms and legs! 9 weeks 2 days. Baby measuring right on for due date.

Baby grew a lot! First profile shot of our baby. Larry thinks the baby looks just like him. Ha. I know some people have a hard time understanding what they're looking at. Baby's face is on the left side of the pic. If you don't get it, I'll just assure you that you're looking at the most precious baby ever. Okay, I'm biased already. I hadn't shared the ultrasound pic yet because it's so special to me.

August 17th: Well, that's just today...the newest thing going on is that I can hear the baby's movement with the fetal doppler. He/she moves a lot, it's so cute :)

It took a lot of time, prayers, and well, fertility medication to have our baby coming along. Then more medication to sustain the pregnancy. I struggled a lot with my fears (due to my history of miscarriage) but Larry gave me a couple blessings that helped me a lot early on. We appreciate all your prayers and know they have helped. It's also been so great to have the doctor tell me everything looks great and is going well.

It's been a difficult pregnancy as far as morning sickness goes. I've never thrown up so much in my life...like you all wanted to know ;) I've been on medication for it and thankfully, only get sick in the evening instead of all the time now. I'm not complaining, though. I was told early on that it was a good sign! So that helped get me through it.

Anyway, in October I'll have an ultrasound to find out if we're having a little boy or a little girl. Neither of us have any clue. It seems most the time I have it in my mind that it's a boy...but hey, I go back and forth. Girl or boy, it doesn't matter. We're just grateful to have a healthy baby.

I'm about in my second trimester now at just over 12 weeks. Speaking of which, I've read different things...not really sure when it starts. Either way, it's a relief. I still have a hard time with my worries but it gets better and better with time. It's been especially nice to be able to listen to the baby's heart beat every day with the doppler. My doctor was impressed with me for being able to find it starting at 8 weeks. I think it was one of those tender mercies to be able to hear it and calm my fears. I'm so grateful to have our baby coming to us. I know he/she is a very choice spirit of our Heavenly Father.

Not being able to communicate well can be funny

2010-08-17T12:08:00.001-07:00

It seems that Larry and I, like many couples, have trouble communicating. This phone conversation was a good example…
Larry: Hey, did you look at Sams?
Megan: Club. No, you said to look at Home Depot.
Larry: I know, did you look at Sams?
Megan: Club.* No, but I can. I didn’t know I was supposed to. I just looked at Home Depot.
*(anyone who knows me really well knows I have a pet peeve of shortening names of things. Hence, if you ever say Sams, I will complete it by saying Club.)
Larry: What are you talking about? Did you look at Sams or not?!
Megan: K I’m getting confused now.
Larry: S-A-N-S….Sans!
Megan: What the heck are Sans?
Larry: WHIRLYBIRDS!
Megan: Oh, FANS!
Needless to say, Larry is now deeply questioning my intelligence. The funny part is how I was talking about fans, but couldn’t comprehend that “Sams” was “fans.” I seriously blame pregnancy for my recent lack of comprehension.

Our Two Year Anniversary

2010-04-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

Larry and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary on April 22nd. We've been through a lot together and I'm grateful for all the support we've had from friends, family, and above all, our Heavenly Father. We decided to take some much needed time off to relax together.

First we had a short trip to Park City. We stayed at the Marriott where we went for our one day honeymoon. It brought back memories of our wedding time because the room looked the same. When I say "room" I should say "house." It was bigger than our condo! Anyway, it was nice to stay there but I think we regretted spending lots of $$$ on dinner. Oh and the hotel. But I like it there so I was fine with that :D I just like spending time with Larry so I was happy. We don't have cable at home so we got a bit caught up watching TV. We watched like three hours of animal planet. Some show called "fatal attractions" about people who keep wild animals as pets...and then their "pets" attack them. It made me sad to see animals kept in those circumstances. They're wild animals! Anyway, enough of my rant on that. Oh and I know, very romantic ;)

This is a cupcake :)

Me and Larry enjoying our stay in Park City

We came home for a day and prepared for our camping trip. Then on our anniversary day we headed to Southern Utah. We pitched our tent at the Snow Canyon campgrounds. It was really pretty and the weather was nice after the first day. We enjoyed cooking meals on the fire and sleeping in our cocoon sleeping bags. Those things are pretty comfy. We played a monopoly card game and other games; that was fun. It reminded me of the days when we were dating. We went bike riding and hiked a lot (which helped me realize I'm not in very good shape anymore). It was fun and we really enjoyed being together with all of life's stresses and worries put behind us.

Yes...that is a marshmallow fork stuck to me.

Out final day we made a little visit to my sister Emily and her family for a few minutes. Then it was off to Zion National Park. We were lucky because it was the "national parks are free week." We drove around and enjoyed the tunnels the most. Ha. I'm scared of heights so I was ever so slightly nervous while driving up the canyons. Larry had fun teasing me by trying to scare me here an there. Fortunately he is safe driver so I was fine. Before we left Zion, we took a short hike to see the weeping wall or something. It was all very pretty. Then, Saturday night, we headed home. Sunday my sister Heidi gave her homecoming talk...she's been home for two months so I'm sure she's glad they finally had her do it! K, there is our little update :)

Our camera died so I didn't take pictures of Zion. But here are some more pictures from the rest of our trip.(there are a couple more on facebook too) Larry looks ever so handsome, but me...well, I was camping without my blow dryer and such...so you know :( Anyway, we really enjoyed our trip. I feel so much love for Larry and I couldn't be more grateful to have him as my eternal companion. Here's to hoping for an especially great year together and many more to come!

This is the rock wall where pioneers wrote their names with grease in the 1800s. I seriously started climbing up there but Larry informed me that I would probably die so I took his advice and well, didn't climb it ;)

Larry (being inspired by the Pioneers) proceeded to deface his very own rock wall (other people had done it too...which doesn't make it right, but just sayin!)

He was very proud of himself...

We are now the "Bal5meier" family.

I just think Larry is the most handsome guy I ever did see...I love that hubs of mine.

My diamond in the rough...I had Aladdin songs stuck in my head after doing that.

Yay for sand dunes! I know the pic is blurry...

Larry really liked the old volcanos and lava rocks. Crazy stuff.

What Can I Say?

2010-03-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

So...I'm in the blogging mood. I don't do it enough...I'm pretty sure because I usually don't care to share whatever I'm up to or how I'm doing. But it's a nice Sunday evening so why not write a bit? I don't have any pictures to glam up this post though. That's my new goal...we need pictures! We have very few pictures of us together since we got married. I chalked it up to having braces...But on March 10th I got them off! WoohoO!! Now Larry can't call me train tracks...it's amusing watching him pause to think of some new nickname to give me. Hehe. Sucker.

Anyway, I'm loving this Spring weather. We're going camping in a month for our anniversary...I know it doesn't sound luxurious but we're so excited! I love nature and Larry so put the two together and I'm one happy girl! We'll take pics and post a lovely story about our adventures (in Southern Utah) after it happens.

A couple other updates...on January 25th we got a new niece, Aurora Grace Arnold ("Rori"). We haven't met her yet but she's really cute! Also, my older sister Emily...wait a second, I don't know why I bother saying "older" I mean I AM the youngest. Hehe. Anyway my sister Emily announced on Valentine ’s Day that she and Brett are having another baby. Their youngest is almost four so it's been a while. We're happy for them. They just found out they're having a GIRL so that ends the streak of boys on my side of the family.

I'm still doing my daycare biz and that's going well. Our store is going just fine too. We have some new ideas that we're excited about and we feel that we'll have success with. More to come on that later.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention, for anyone who was interested to know, that we didn't get the results of what caused our last miscarriage as was anticipated. Usually they’re “unexplained” but still! For those who don't know, I was in the Eager Study, on my last month in the study, when we finally had another baby on the way (18 months after we lost the first.) I was happy to be staying in the study but had a feeling it wouldn't work out again. Yeah I hate when I have feelings of stuff I so don't want to hear.

Well, I was given a container in case I had another miscarriage. Sorry if that's too much information...I took it with me to the hospital (I was having problems obviously) and miscarried there. We made it very clear to the hospital staff over and over again that we needed the "sample" :( kept in the fridge and without any thing added to it. The Eager Study was going to perform a genetic test (costs about $4,000) free of cost to us.

Well...I waited weeks and weeks for the results. Finally I found out that the nurse at the hospital didn't follow the written and verbal instructions we gave. They added formalin to the specimen which destroyed it. Thus, we didn't get the answers we really needed. Infertility is really expensive and frustrating! My doctor recommended testing that cost an additional $3000 but we had to decline and take other routes with lower costs. I always feel weird talking about this very personal family matter on the blog but I feel like sharing for some reason…for those who care to know.

I have to admit, it's hard being in "the baby business" when I do want one myself and don't know when that will happen. I'm still a youngin’ but that's what tends to scare me. Most 21 year olds don't have these types of problems so it's a matter of concern. I got a new doctor who is helpful and concerned too so that helps! I know that we'll have a baby when we're ready to be fit parents...or something like that.

I really do trust in the Lord's wisdom and timing. I've had plenty of experiences along the road of life this past couple years to realize that there's wisdom in why things have happened how they have. I never even thought I'd be married at this point in my life so I feel blessed to have the opportunity to become a mom at a young age. I think Larry worries about my desire to have a baby when I can just have him instead ;) Just kidding Larry. But I think most women naturally desire a baby of their own when they see cute babies being born left and right.

Sometimes I feel really discouraged and "wo is me." This morning I was being a baby myself and Larry was helpful to remind me that Heavenly Father really does know more than I do. Then at church everything pointed to how God's wisdom is perfect and we can find good in everything that happens to us.

Life has been tough in the Balsmeier family for many reasons but that's only made me realize how much Heavenly Father really does know and love us. And I find myself enjoying (did I just say that?) the challenges that life brings...not sure "enjoying" is the right word. What I mean is, I'm seeing the "tender mercies of the Lord" in my life more and more. I'm literally seeing the spiritual growth in me and then I realize...oh yeah...He does know what He's doing! We all have challenges that go unseen to others but never to our Heavenly Father. Don't ever forget it! Wow, apparently I just wrote in my journal and made it public to the world. Oops. I just hope it helps someone somehow.

2009 Happenings...

2010-01-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

Um...I don't feel like being creative or even writing in complete sentences. Here are some noteworthy happenings of 2009. It was a difficult year but it had its blessings and we made progress in our lives.

Remodeled our condo (new carpet and paint)
Completed another semester at LDSBC. Took the rest of the year off.
New nephew Vaughn Jaten born Feb 12.
New niece Kailyn Bidwell born Feb 18.
Remembered our baby's due date Feb 23.
Got laid off from my job.
Taught Relief Society for the year.
Went to Kansas for Jordan & Blake's wedding.
Celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary.
Larry gave me two baby guinea pigs for our anniversary.
Became a 21 year old.
Took our first vacation together-had fun in San Diego.
My grandma passed away August 27.
After much unemployment, started my own daycare.
Larry sold his beloved car.
Started our own business, MegBeeBaby.com.
New nephew Ethan Balsmeier born Sept 23.
Larry got a promotion and raise.
After a long wait, got pregnant again.
Had another miscarriage.
Larry turned 26.
Went to Kansas for Christmas.
Welcomed in 2010. We hope it's a very good year with many blessings.

You Know You Don't Get Out Much When...

2009-12-08T19:48:00.001-08:00

(Prepare yourself for a nice long list detailing my life)

•The highlight of your day is the UPS man coming (no Larry, not because I like their brown outfits. I love getting packages!)

•You spend an hour editing photos...because you can.
Before...

After...

And yes, when my custom made wet bags arrived I was very happy. You would be happy to get packages too you know. I can arrange that if you'd like to buy something ;)

•99% of your communication is with an animal or baby.

•You give your dog a pacifier...because you think it's funny and looks cute.

•You check facebook compulsively just because that's what you type as a reflex when you get online...all 987 times each day. Because you're home and you can do that.

•You can't remember the last time you left the house. (Larry sold his car and he usually has mine...can't go anywhere)

•You scavenge for food and succumb to eating stale chips...because you need groceries but can't get them.

•You spend your leisure time cloth diapering a stuffed bunny. If you know my business you'll understand...maybe.

•You take the time to prepare a picture of the bunny for a blog post.

•You have pictures of bunnies in diapers but none of you and your spouse going out on dates and such...not even of you and your spouse just sitting there.

•You think the trip to the grocery store is a date.

•You think it's August when it's December. The snow and cold helped me figure that one out. But again, I don't get out much to be aware of it.

•You miss school.

•You miss having a "real" job. I do like what I do but still...

•You tell your spouse about your day and all you really mention is something about diapers and the UPS guy coming.

•You start talking about socially unacceptable things when you actually come in contact with people...like how I remember vets throwing...um surgically removed parts...at vet techs.

•You just told more people about that...

•The most adventurous thing you did was in a dream...and you were surprised that Chuck Norris didn't show up this time.

•You have time to write blog posts like this.

Okay, I'm done for now ;) I bet I have lots more but I can't think anymore. After all, I spend most of my day not thinking much.

It's funny that I used to be gone 12 hours a day or so and my time at home was spent doing homework. I used to think "If I had time I would do this and that and use it so well." Uh...don't think so. I'm mad at myself for wasting SO much time. It's ridiculous.

Oh yeah...We Have a Blog

2009-11-15T09:44:00.001-08:00

It's been a looong time since I posted. Here's a brief update of what we've been up to. Larry got a promotion and raise. I've been doing my daycare for a few months now. And we started a business. Check out megbeebaby.com if you haven't already. Okay, so it's not that exciting to see the coming soon page. It will go live December 1st hopefully. I got my business license and ordered my inventory. I'm really excited about it. I'm going to stop blogging now because we are both really sick and need to get better.

San Diego Trip

2009-09-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip in San Diego California. I'd love to write all about it but I'm hitting the delirious stage of the flu...what a crappy souvenir. Anyway, it was so nice to have a week off together, just relaxing for a real vacation. First off, I just want to thank Jordan & Blake for letting us use their flyer reward thing so we could fly for free! We stayed at the Hampton Inn, which was nice. And we had a rental car, which made our lives much easier. Driving in CA wasn’t even bad…I guess cuz it was San Diego. It’s worse in Salt Lake in our opinions.

We got there on Thursday August 20th...after settling into the hotel we headed for the San Diego Zoo. It was nice and all, but it wasn't as great as I thought it'd be. We saw a whole lot more plants than we did animals. I actually thought the Hogle Zoo was better when it comes to seeing animals up close.

On Friday we went to Sea World. Larry had gotten passes for free at work. At least his work has its perks! We loved Sea World. In fact, it was our favorite part of the trip...for me at least, and probably Larry too. We especially loved the shows. We saw all of them while we were there. The Shamu Show was fun, but kind of cheesy..they even do a Shamu Chant to worship the great killer whale...the dolphin show was fun, those dolphins are so cute.

We saw Sea Lions Live which was really funny. Later that day we saw Sea Lions Tonight which was even funnier. I laughed so hard it hurt. They made fun of their other shows that we had seen that day and it was just hilarious. We also saw the Pets Rule Show which was really cute and funny. It was just tons of fun and totally worth it...wait, it was free, but still. We wrote their Journey to Atlantis ride which is like a mix of the log flume and a roller coaster. Larry loved it...I did too. So we spent a bit of the day wet but it was fine. To end our day there we went to the Shamu rocks show...I loved these cute whales that totally smiled...after the show there were fireworks to top it off.

On Saturday we went to the San Diego Temple which was beautiful. Later that night we went to Coronado Island. The beach was stormy looking and overcast but it was still fun...just cold. Sunday we went to Church...then we went for a walk at the Mission Bay Beach. Of course, in our attempt to keep the Sabbath Day holy, the weather was beautiful and it was so tempting to go swimming. But we didn't. We just walked along the shore together until we got to a nice spot to sit.

Monday we went to the Wild Animal Park. We weren’t all that impressed with it. It was just a lot of walking...and I saw more animatronic dinosaurs than real animals. There were cute baby cheetahs though. As we were walking my knee slipped and semi dislocated yet again. Then it was sore and I couldn't walk anymore. So we rode the Carousel. Larry rode a fierce Panda and I read a majestic leopard. Afterwards we headed back to Mission Bay. We had tons of fun playing in the waves.

Then Tuesday we went to this Science Center called RH Fleet. It was alright but we really weren't impressed. It was a lot like the Clark Planetarium. We saw a free IMAX under the sea movie...something like that. And we wasted our money on this virtual dinosaur thing; forget what they're called but it was really lame. We did this thing where you sit down and a machine takes your picture and then shows your age progression up to the age of 75.

Needless to say, Larry is now contemplating suicide and divorce. I don't trust the dang thing. We Campbell's age young and nicely...and I think Larry will too. Of course he claims he won't live long. I hate when he says that. Way to crush your wife's heart hun. Larry spent most of his time there being upset at greedy little children. We were playing with the exhibits and kids kept running up to them and stealing them right out of our hands. Anyway, enough about that. We headed to Mission Bay again and went Boogie Boarding. Tons of fun but kinda scary to get thrown off in those serious waves.

I don’t quite remember if it was Monday or Tuesday, but one of those days we went to Old Town San Diego and looked at the cute little road side shops. We just got bracelets for me…Larry said he didn’t want anything but later gave me a hard time that he didn’t get anything. Sheesh. Then Wednesday the 26th, we flew home..back to life…back to reality.

All in all we had a blast. It was an event filled trip and we came back with tans. Yay!

We really didn't take a lot of pictures on our trip for the following reasons: 1-we didn't want to get our cameras wet so we didn't always bring them, 2-we didn't want them to get stolen while we were playing at the beach, 3-I forgot to change the stupid batteries, and yes I brought plenty, just left them in the hotel room, and 4-one of the cameras didn't work & only took blurry photos..until we got home of course. If you want to see more photos go to Facebook. I'm getting kicked off the computer so I'll add pics later :D

Megan's Daycare for Babies

2009-08-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

Well, after months on the job search I decided that it was time to go back to child care. I actually really enjoy it and I'm looking forward to doing it again. I'm especially happy that I'll be working from home! Larry's been really supportive of it...I think he's happy as long as I have some sort of a job. I feel good about it :)

Here are some pictures of my daycare room...I still have more stuff to add to it but this is it at the moment.

Life's Experiences

2009-07-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

We attended Shelby's funeral today. I was very moved by the Spirit I felt.

I've just been thinking a lot again...imagine that. I've been realizing more and more how content I am with the experiences I've had in my life. I'm grateful for those experiences and how they all tie in together. I seriously feel like I have nothing to complain about and everything to be grateful for.

In the past few months I've been able to know two babies that have inspired me tremendously. I think about baby Gracie who has been through so many difficulties in her five months of life. And I think about baby Shelby who has returned Home to Heavenly Father after an amazing life of triumph over her struggles. It all brings everything into perspective. Life really is so precious.

Witnessing others experience trials has enlightened me and brought a deeper reverence for the relationships we have in this life. Not only in this life but through the eternities. I love the friends and family I have with me on the journey. I'm not trying to sound cheesy...I really feel these things deeply.

I'm grateful for the struggles I've had in different aspects of my life. It's always interesting to realize what their purpose is. For example, the miscarriage that I recently wrote about after one year. There were different things I learned but one of them in particular really stands out. I have learned to be sensitive to the unseen pains and sorrows of others. And I've learned to bear each others burdens. Having just a little taste of loss and longing has helped me be a better friend. We each have trials in our lives that others don't know about. We all have our crosses to bear. When we help each other carry those crosses, the greatest miracles happen.

In Memory, One Year Later

2009-06-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

I feel uncomfortable talking about the miscarriage. Sometimes I feel like I'm pretty open about it...and other times, I feel like I hardly talk about it. No matter the case, I feel like I'm just trying to fill a void I can't understand. I just want to remember. I know what I felt before our angel left us. I loved them. We both did.

Yet many times, in the back of my mind I hear "you weren't that far along, and you were so young, it doesn't matter, stop mentioning it, you weren’t entitled to a baby now anyway." But none of that’s true. The only way to begin to understand is to go through it yourself. But even then, everyone has a different situation. For me, it's hard that we lost our first baby.

I think one of the hardest parts is not knowing exactly how it works; If the baby is now our guardian angel that we'll see on the other side or if the spirit never came and the baby will come again. All I know is that everything really does work out for our eternal welfare.

I really am doing well. I accepted what happened and I know God has a purpose to everything He does. It's just that longing that never leaves. I want what I had to come back to me. That's just how it is. I have my moments where it's a real struggle. But usually I just feel like my mind is paralyzed. I can't even find the emotions I felt for so long. My mind is just numb. It is definitely a roller coaster. I'm sad...then I'm numb...then I'm trusting...and so on.

I wrote this poem to describe how I feel.

Why is it that my heart is still aching?
It’s subtle but certain, my heart is just breaking.
The pain isn’t fading with each passing day.
My mind is numb, but I kneel down to pray.
I ask God to help me, to offer His care.
While something within me cries “this isn’t fair.”
I tell Him I trust Him, I trust in His plan.
I just can’t do it; I’ve done all I can.
I’m looking for answers, what is this I feel?
I’ve accepted the loss but I still need to heal.
Taken so soon, there was no goodbye.
Then He answers so softly, I’ll hold you...just cry.

Just Some Thoughts...

2009-06-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

So I just felt like blogging a bit today...been up for two hours and still sitting here in my pajamas. I use my blog as a bit of a journal...but usually not too personal. Today I feel like writing though, hopefully not to my regret.

As some of you know, we are approaching the one year anniversary of the miscarriage. Father's Day was hard. We found out about the baby the previous Father's day. (Of course, Father’s day is hard anyway because Larry misses his dad.) Some people think that when you have a miscarriage it was nothing, you should just get over it. I'm still surprised at what it's really like to go through. How much you long for what you've lost no matter how much time passes. The only way to understand is to go through it yourself. I’ve moved on but it will always be in my mind. That’s just how it is. Anyway, I'll talk more about that later.

Things are going fine with us. We've just been stressed out because of my not working. I have at least one job prospect/interview a week and they don't pan out. The office job I had planned on doing wasn't right for me, so it fell through. I have two leads right now though: A veterinary reception job (which I really want) and going postal (which scares me)-I applied for Heidi's old job at usps…pays well though.

I've been trying to get my business going but haven't been able to market it much. So I haven't made any money doing that. I'm just feeling overwhelmed lately because I thought for sure I would have a good job by now. I'm a really good employee, educated, and have great customer service. I just can’t get anything. The jobs I could get pay beans. I'm collecting unemployment though, which helps a little.

Larry has been working a lot lately...not fun. Since he's a salaried employee, it doesn't bring us any more money. I feel confident that we'll be okay. We pay our tithing and do what's right. The Lord will come through for us. My optimism doesn't overshadow the burden that Larry feels. (He has a lot of medical bills on top of everything else) I just hope I can help Larry feel less stressed in the mean time. I think it bugs him that I’m so optimistic and honestly feel like things are good, because the stress is on him. I just feel like we're very blessed and everything will be okay.

I'm so happy that I'm married to him. There are times when we have difficulties, but who doesn't. It doesn't last long though because Larry has a way of making me laugh and turning things around in no time. I feel like things are going well for us and I'm happy. It's just been boring not doing much. And it kinda overwhelms me to realize that I could have gone to school this summer and graduated. Of course, I didn't because I thought I'd have a job.

So there ya go, a little insight into the life of Megan. It sounds kinda depressing. But in reality, I'm happy...just bored...and wondering what life has in store. I feel iffy wondering if the Lord will keep us in Utah or bring us to Kansas. I know that whatever happens will be right. Thanks for reading my ramblings! :)

K, these are just random photos...

Rain, rain, go away...(Kodi has a rain coat, and that makes him awesome)

"Please, no more pictures"

Larry serenading me with his guitar

I'd smile, but I still have braces and don't want to get all shimmery on you :)

For Father's Day, I got my dad a tie...since it was an obvious father's day present, I thought I'd wrap it as obvious as possible. How cool is that wrapping paper...it's even wearable. Don't worry, the tie underneath was nice.

My 21st Birthday

2009-06-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

So I hit the big milestone...I turned 21 on June 11th :)(Meaning I now have a horizontal drivers license, yay me!) Of course I'll still be megan mormon, don't worry. I had a good birthday, thanks to Larry. He took me to the Roof for dinner. I love that place. And we got the best table too; right there closest to the towering Salt Lake Temple. We both stuffed ourselves with our money's worth...I didn't feel too well after that.

Here's me not acting my age...imagine that (yes I even got the "Megan just eat" line from Larry. My family was all too familiar with that phrase.)

Later, Larry gave me a cake and sang happy birthday to me. It was a beautiful rendition of course.
It was all stormy as it has been all June. I think God is still upset about the gay pride parade they had here in Salt Lake (that's when it started and it hasn't stopped since.) Something tells me some people won't like me for that comment..but hey. I even got a rainbow on my birthday. I just realized that's a funny thing to mention after my previous comment.

MegBee Productions

2009-05-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

So, I'm trying to start this little business called MegBee Productions "Be Inspired to Be Remembered"...anyone who reads our blog already knows that though. I've always liked making short videos that tell a story or give a message. "Perfect Day" is a video I made of our wedding day. It really captures how I felt on that special occasion. Crazy it was already 13 months ago.

Fun Stuff

2009-05-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today we had a fun day. I love when Larry has Saturday's off and we get a weekend together. First we headed to Sugarhouse Park for a bike ride. Larry picked out a new bike for me the other day. We figured it would be good for us to exercise together and get out and do stuff. The weather was great and it was so beautiful. I'm one of those people that admires the mountains, trees, flowers, and birds chirping. So it was nice to enjoy my wonderful Utah :) Well, I think I mostly enjoyed it while I was riding downhill. Can I just say, I do not like pedalling uphill!

Apparently I was never taught how to properly use the gears on a bike. So I got a crash course from Larry. I still don't really get it, but whatever. I just moved the thingies around to wear it didn't seem as hard. I guess I'm outa shape or something...I was dying going uphill. This police officer looked slightly amused while watching me struggle up those stupid hills. Good thing a helmet and sunglasses serves as somewhat of a disguise.

Eventually our ride came to an end. Larry beat me to the car and was already loading his bike and asked for my help. Unfortunately, I was not able to help out. Instead I laid on the grass, panting, adjusting to my legs feeling like jelly, and trying not to throw up. It was a lovely experience! But really, it was fun and we enjoyed the time outdoors together.

Here I am chugging powerade on the ride home...not a good idea after strenuous activity.

We then headed to the arcade where we hogged the Deal or No Deal game. We totally rule that game. We won over 1200 tickets! And I won the 400 ticket jackpot. Good thing we don't gamble in real life because we were crazy on that thing! Seriously, I don't care how old we are, the arcade is still fun.

On the way home we stopped for ice cream...sorry if I'm grossing you out.

Later, we went to help my mom and stepdad with their move to Herriman. We weren't there too long and I don't think I did all that much. I was being immature and trying on my mom's fuzzy black dress over my clothes. My fam fam looked at me like I'm a nutters. Well, after that, we made a stop at Michael's...who knew it could be such an amusing place...

Need I say more?

Arrr!!

K, my hair is doing something crazy weird here...just ignore that.

Alrighty that's all for now!

Catching Up

2009-05-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't blogged about anything we've been up to in a long time. So first off, our first wedding anniversary was April 22nd. We busted out the top teir of our wedding cake. It was so good, it was crazy!

To celebrate, we thought we'd go to the place we were married. So we went to the Salt Lake Temple where we went through a live endowment session. I went in behalf of my great grandma, Marie Louise Carlier. She's my mom's grandma that raised her in France. Anyway, it was special to be there together one year later.

As my gift to Larry we headed to the guitar store...I just think it's cute when he plays and sings to me.

Here's some random pictures of us lately...
He's a firefighter. Can someone explain to me why the Balsmeiers say that the way they do?

That's just me.

Kassi's new do. Okay, I just put a clip in her hair. She still needs her first hair cut...and she's eight months old. I think she's taking on a chewbaca type look. (like I know how to spell that)

Kodi got a new do too. I did it myself...I'm real big on saving money like that:) Before and after.

On our way to my mom's one day, we came across some people that nearly rolled their car down a hill. Larry went to help out. What a nice guy :)

That's just a bit that we've been up to. I'm going to post the rest of the random stuff separately...this is getting quite lengthy.

Tug 'O War

2009-05-12T08:58:00.001-07:00

So, I still haven't posted anything on the blog that I said I would...Which is funny because I'm only home all the friggin time. Excuse my language ;) I was just watching videos from like six months ago and came across a cute one. Oh, and I will not be held responsible for any ensuing nausea or dizziness.

ZZZzzz

2009-04-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is a really random post. Now that I'm unemployed (I'm not bitter) :) I'm super blogging happy. And yes, I will get to more about our anniversary soon. I just found these two pictures of me and larry snoozing with the dog. Just thought they were cute. Just ignore that my hair/make up aren't done, and I look even younger k? ;)

Baby Guinea Pigs

2009-04-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

I was just telling Larry that I was really proud of myself for only having two pets, Kodi & Kassi. Well, in a moment of weakness, Larry offered to get me a baby hamster as an anniversary present. Actually he said, "We can either go to dinner at the Roof or you can get a hamster." Hmmm...fancy, delicious, romantic dinner...or a cuddly pet? Well, you know me-I went with the pet. Although I really would like a romantic date like that. We actually went there together before though. So, it was off to the pet store (this is the day before our anniversary. Pet stores really aren't the coolest place to hang our on your anniversary.) Well, the hamsters I kept finding had attitude issues. I guess they weren't handled much. So, we decided to take a look at guinea pigs. Larry told me he had one as a pet before and really liked them. Growing up my sisters had guinea pigs, but I never did. Anyway, to get to the point, we picked out a little four-week-old female. I named her Hershey. We took her home and I was quite happy with my new pet (Except for that dreaded feeling-"oh no, you have a zoo again.") We read up on guinea pigs and realized that they are really social and need a friend. So, the next morning we visited the pet store again (on our actual anniversary. Oi.) and got another female. I named her KitKat. It's still kind of unofficial, but I'm pretty sure. I can't name 'em Hershey and Sally or something-they both need to be candy bars now. Plus, KitKat fit her because part of her ears have been nibbled off. (By her siblings...I'm not that nuts!) And apparently, they don't grow back! Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar! Sigh...well, now I have more pet stuff to blog about. I'm sorry and I hope you'll forgive me. Here's a video of Hershey making cute noises...

One Year Anniversary

2009-04-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say that I am so grateful to be married to Larry. I feel so happy and secure with him. He really is my greatest blessing. Not to sound cheesy...It's true! I'm so glad we are sealed together for all eternity. I love you Larry, more than anything. I'll post about our anniversary when I get the chance tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-04-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

I want to be the first to say Happy Anniversary to you Megan! I love you. I'm surprised that you have been able to make it through 1 full year with me! Wow, what an accomplishment! It has been so much fun. I have enjoyed being married to my bestfriend. 1 year down, millions more to go! Here's to many more wonderful and exciting years! I love you.

Larry

Muddy Paws

2009-04-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows that Kassidy is a bit of a trouble maker. One of her bad habits involves doing 'zoomies' in the backyard. Larry planted new grass so it's been muddy. I left Kassy outside for one minute and this is what I came back to. Let me in! (I don't think so) So of course, I had to give her a bath. My family came over for Easter dinner and I thought it would be nice if Kass didn't smell like a bucket of dead squirrels. Here's a video of her antics during the drying process.

Our Cute House

2009-04-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures I promised. New paint, new carpet, new stuff.
Welcome to the kitchen

And again...

Dining area...yeah, I'm aware that a lightbulb is out

Random pic of hall/living room

Living room, facing the computer (where Larry looks quite comfortable)

Giant strawberries on the TV (I'm a sucker for Larry's puppy dog eyes-why else would we have a flat screen tv?) Oh, but I must say: watching General Conference on that thing is like being there!

Our blue and brown walls...I know, we have a colorful little place

Our comfy room again

I'm hoping this room will become the nursery someday...it's currently a workout room.

The bathroom

That's "bubbles," our fishy in the bathroom

Kodi smiling in the hallway

So there ya go! :)

Adventures in Kansas

2009-04-04T20:23:00.001-07:00

Larry and I spent almost two weeks in Kansas for a series of adventures. On Friday we flew to Denver and drove the rest of the way with "the other Balsmeiers." (John, Clara, and their kids: Abbi, Jake, and Isaac) This worked out well until the day we got back to Colorado. (explanation later in this post.)

Because I missed school, I had to do homework while we were gone...nevertheless, it was good to have somewhat of a vacation. It was great catching up with everyone...we don't get to see Larry's family very often.

The first Sunday there we went to the blessing of our newest niece, Kailyn. She was so beautiful in her blessing dress! I stole a picture off J's blog...the other pictures I'll use on here are also stolen from other blogs because I only took video while we were gone. What's up with that?! Actually I took some pics on my phone but I'm not sure how to upload them at the moment. ANYWAY, where was I?

The rest of the week we just hung out. It was fun spending time with the sisters in law and the nieces and nephews that were consistently hyped up on candy ;) I got to listen to Larry tell me 5,359 times that Kansas is a happy place to live. I must admit it's always a possibility, but change scares me!

Oh and there were also strange scenes I witnessed in Kansas, such as John running across hot coals in the fire pit. I had to supervise Larry to keep him from following his poor example.

And then there was Larry stuffing like a hundred marshmallows in his mouth...not so cool hun. (Kinda gross, sorry) Video to come-Unless I change my mind and keep that to myself.

Larry spent much of his time fixing up his mom's car. Turns out, he's a great mechanic! Not that I doubted, but hey, it's good to know that his skills are endless.

On Saturday (March 28), Blake & Jordan were married on a white, snowy day. It was a really nice ceremony performed by President Knapp. (Larry's Bishop growing up-now Stake President). We're so happy to have our army guy, Blake, in the family. He's an awesome brother in law. Jordan & Blake are way cute together.

On Sunday, Larry made his special chicken Marsala dinner. It was great. Then the kids had an Easter egg hunt...I was proud of my Easter egg hiding abilities. The kids were really cute finding them.

Our niece Abbi ate a bunch of candy and got sick...turns out she wouldn't feel well after that point. On Monday we drove back to Colorado. Abbi kept telling us she felt sick. This made me worry of course. Well I was busy blowing my nose the whole way home and could hardly breathe. I came down with a bad cold a couple days before. This proved to be somewhat of a blessing. Abbi spewed partially digested Doritos and strawberry milk everywhere in the back seat (did I do a good job at making that sound disgusting?)

Larry was the closest target. We pulled over as I started to gag. I jumped out of the car hopping around in the snow on one foot. I couldn't find my other shoe. Clara threw the puked on car seat onto the side of the road because there wasn't any room left in the car to put it.

Well, we made it back to their house for the night. Tuesday morning we flew back to Utah. It was good to see my puppies again. :) I'm back in school for the final days of the semester. Turns out I had a ton to catch up on...I've been cramming ever since but I got a ton done.

Oh, and on Wednesday, I had a terrible case of the stomach flu. I wonder why? All better now...Thank you for letting me steal pictures from your blogs.I should post some pictures of me and Larry on our trip...don't think I have any though!

Home renovations, Stella finds a new home, and more!

2009-03-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

So over the past few months we have been fixing up our little condo. We put new carpet in (after the puppy helped us destroy the old carpet), we painted, and so on. Pictures coming soon....

Meanwhile, another change to our home is that we don't have a cat anymore. Don't worry nothing happened to the cat. (oh yeah, you can see that in the title) Stella found a new home! I decided it was the right thing to do. I can't remember the last time I didn't have a feline friend around...the sacrifices you make for the one you love...sigh. I did it for Stella too, and for a nice old man.

I left a flier at an assisted living center and shortly thereafter I got a call. Stella is now the companion cat of an 85-year-old cat fancier. Stella purred with joy upon meeting him and he was as excited as a little boy getting a new puppy. It was cute when he said "I was wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my life." Now Stella can get the constant attention she's always wanted, and the old man has a friend to stay with him.

As far as the "more" in my blog title, well it just sounded catchy. I don't really have much else to say. Larry and I are getting ready to head out to Kansas for two weeks for the Jordan/Blake wedding. Fun stuff!

There's my latest update...oh and It's been great knowing you all.--Once I break the news to Larry that Kassidy ate his new and expensive book...and threw up the cover, well...it's not going to be pretty.

Woof

2009-03-07T22:58:00.000-08:00

For those of you who care...here are some pictures of our puppy these days. Last time I posted pictures, Kassidy was only a couple months old. She is now six months old. And I know...she looks like a little monkey. (She acts like one too...quite the handful of a dog) Oh, and do you like Kodi's shades?

We Still Trust in His Will

2009-02-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post this in honor of the baby that we lost last summer. Today was my due date.

Today we remember this:

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die...A time to get, and a time to lose...He hath made every thing beautiful in His own time -Eccesiastes 3

Thank you for the support of all of you in remembering us today.

No matter how much time passes, I still long for what could have been. But I also feel peace and trust in God's timing. We have grown stronger because of it. We've been able to have experiences to serve that we may not have otherwise had.

It just wasn't time. But when that time does come, our appreciation for God's gift to us will be much greater.

And now...Our New Niece

2009-02-21T08:13:00.001-08:00

Kailyn Almina Bidwell was born on February 18th, 2009. 8 lbs 13 oz. 20" long. Congratulations to Jennifer, Rob, Sterling, Emmy, Josiah, and Cori. Um..I can't help but share some pictures (that I stole) of baby Kailyn!

Oh and I think it's cool that not only do I have a sister named Kaylynn, but I also have a niece named Kailyn. It's a great name :) I told Jennifer that Kailyn is at risk for being the secret 'favorite' like my sister Kaylynn. (My siblings would understand this.) Others may wonder what the heck I'm talking about...

Our New Nephew

2009-02-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

Vaughn Allen Jaten was born to my oldest sister Amy and her husband Benson on February 12, 2009. He was 7 lbs 5 oz and 20". He's such a cutie. Congratulations to the Jaten family! We're excited for another new niece or nephew any day now from the Bidwells too. (Larry's oldest sister's family) Here are a couple pics of baby Vaughn. Amy-I couldn't help but share...hope that's okay..and I stole the pics from your blog..hope that's okay too! :D

A New Year

2009-01-03T22:26:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it's 2009? 2008 came and went and it was quite an eventful year for us. Here's a review of some of what went on for us in 2008. Some things are little details..others were big events...

2008: What a year!

January 11: One year from the day we met. (March 24 made one year from our first date)We were best friends in no time. Here's a picture of us on one of our many dates.

January 12: Larry taught me how to snowboard

January-April: Larry and I did a semester at LDSBC together

January 15: Larry was promoted to Branch Manager *please note*: The following visual aid does not reflect Larry's typical job responsibilities (yes, that is a turkey suit)

February 27: We got engaged

April 1: I started working at my job with animal services

April 17:Bought our condo(officially moved in the 22nd)

April 19: I received my endowment at the Jordan River Temple

April 22: We were married and sealed in the Salt Lake Temple

May: Got braces on again..was told frequently from this point forward that I don't look old enough to be married..remind me that it's worth it and I can't complain about free braces will ya?

May-September on and off: Fostered the last kittens that I'll be allowed to foster

June 11: My 20th birthday

June 15: We found out we were going to have a baby

July 1: Dealt with the trial of miscarriage

August 13: My sister Heidi (who was also my roommate until I got married) left for her mission to San Bernardino, California

September-December: Another semester for me at LDSBC

November 1:Added our Cocker Spaniel 'Kassidy' to our family...destruction to home began

December 13: Got my ears pierced

December 24: Larry's 25th birthday

December 25: Our first Christmas as 'married folk'

--almost every month seemed to include some sort of surgery or sickness involved for one or both of us--

January 1, 2009: We now have 11:00 church instead of 9:00 church :)...k I just had to mention that randomly.

By the way I just happen to remember dates well. I really didn't write those random little things down on a calendar.

Larry and I have set some new years resolutions that we hope to accomplish...so far it's not looking so good but we'll get on track. I go back to school on Monday. Oi. I'm working part time too. And Larry continues his work as Mr. Boss at the bank. We look forward to good things this year. We've been very blessed and are so grateful to have all that we do, especially each other and the Gospel. We'll see what the year brings...hopefully good things :D I hope you all have a great year as well!!

It's been a fun week

2008-12-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone already. We had a good time celebrating Larry's 25th birthday on the 24th. Larry wanted to go snowboarding but I suggested that we go sledding to save money. -I felt bad about this because I really wanted to spoil him on his birthday. We went to flat iron mesa where it was freezing and there was nothing but ice and patches of grass. Any of you who are familiar with flat iron would understand that we were wise to not attempt sledding on this. (FYI for the Balsmeiers, the hill is really steep.) Of course, the snow we could have used would come in abundance on Christmas instead...We then drove around to find a place where Larry could get the sushi I promised him. But, being Christmas eve, they were all closed. We went home, ordered pizza, and watched movies instead. Larry reminded me frequently that I should have let him go snowboarding. It was a nice guilt trip. I promised him he could go soon.

I got Larry a birthday cake and tried to find the right one. I knew he wanted butter cream frosting and yellow cake. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a selection. I chose a cake that had a plastic thing in it that said "Happy Holidays" and had snow flakes on it. To reduce my guilt for buying him a cake that really wasn't a b-day cake, I had them take the holiday thing off and write "Happy Birthday Larry." He wasn't fooled and reminded me several times that I did not get him a real birthday cake. (He's kidding really, but likes to point out the joys of being a Christmas Eve baby.) Okay, I'll be honest. I had reminded myself for months that I would do a really good job on getting him a good b-day cake. However, it was midnight the day before his b-day when it suddenly came to me that I hadn't gotten his cake or made the arrangements I wanted to...oops. This will be held over my head for approximately seven years.

Anyway, I got Larry an art set with a bunch of art supplies. But his favorite present was the one I bought on a whim: a balloon art kit. Since then our house has been taken over by balloon animals. On Christmas I also gave him a balloon architecture kit and some new clothes and stuff. Larry surprised me with real pearls. My name means pearl so I thought that was cute. He gave me a necklace, bracelet, and earrings. This explains why Larry took me to the mall a couple weeks ago to get my ears pierced. Yes-I'm 20 years old and finally got around to it. Our dogs seemed to enjoy Christmas too. They ran into the living room and shredded their presents open like little kids.

We visited Amy, Benson, and Jinx on Christmas. We were their only visitors because, due to the snow filled roads, the others couldn't make it. Larry enjoyed driving through the snow just fine as other cars and trucks were stuck in the snow. We then visited with Jenny and my Dad. And later we had some friends over for dinner. On Saturday we headed over to my moms house for a get together with the Landvatters. Larry entertained the kids by making balloon animals on demand.

This post is getting really long so I'll wrap it up. I hope you all had a merry Christmas and that you have a very happy new year! By the way, we wanted to say congratulations to Sterling for getting baptized. And happy birthday to Jonas on the 29th.

Here are some pictures of Larry's works of art...
Horsey

Flowers

Penguin-Larry made this one up all by himself :D

2 horses in the Parthenon

dragon fly

Larry, I'll do anything for you

2008-12-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

Isn't this adorable?! Larry wanted this on our blog for all of you to enjoy! :D

Christmas is coming

2008-12-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's already that time of year again. Christmas is coming up quick...and that means Larry's birthday is coming too. I can't believe he's going to be 25! Surprisingly, I'm ready for both his b-day (on Christmas Eve) and Christmas. I'm surprised how excited I am; not because I want presents, but because I can't wait to give Larry his presents. He's fun and easy to shop for. This is our first Christmas together as a married couple, but we spent last Christmas together too. Anyway, of course Christmas is not about presents. It's about Christ. Yesterday in church our Bishop spoke and talked about this little present that was under their tree every year. When he was young he was disappointed because it was supposed to be the best present and all it had in it was a little piece of paper that said "the greatest gift of all." Later in life he realized its significance. The greatest gift of all that we've been given is the gift of Eternal Life, from Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for my Savior and I know He lives and loves all of us. I'm grateful that our Heavenly Father was willing to send His Son as a sacrifice for us.

sick of being sick

2008-12-09T14:49:00.001-08:00

I'd just like to say that I'm always sick at the most inconvenient times. I've been sick with strep throat and the flu and I'm not happy about it. To make matters worse, it's the last week of school and I haven't been able to go. (I've been missing work too) I hate missing school! We all know I'm a nerd like that. I just like knowing what's going on. And of all the days to miss I had to miss today. Why is that a big deal you ask?? Because Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke at the devotional today. LDSBC is a small school so it's a lot more personal. I had been looking forward to being there for an address by an apostle for a long time. It was also a big deal because Elder Nelson announced that John (Larry) Richards is replacing President Stephen Woodhouse as the new President of the college. I have a lot of LDSBC Pride in me and I was so disappointed to miss that. All because I'm sick. I'll stop complaining because I have a lot of blessings and I know better than to complain...

Sick Buddies

2008-11-21T21:46:00.000-08:00

So apparently, Larry and I get sick a lot. Since Larry has Chrone's Disease, I don't think he likes when I get sick too. He thinks I'm stealing his thunder. On Thursday I had chest pain and felt really weird/sick. I had to go to the ER at St. Marks. They did an EKG, X-rays, IV, Ultrasound, and whatever else they could to figure out what my problem is. They couldn't figure it out because I'm always difficult like that. So, tomorrow I'm going to the doctor. They'll probably refer me to a gastroenterolist (like Larry's people...again, I'm just stealing his thunder.) The ER doctor thinks it might be something with my esophagus. I guess I had some sort of esophageal spasm. They gave me a nitro glycerin tab to make it chill out. Larry stayed with me for all 6 hours in the ER. We were entertained by eavesdropping on other people's conversations. Let's just say someone probably doesn't have to tell the nurse everything about aunt Judy's problems. Meanwhile, I was hooked up to a bunch of monitering machines/oxygen and wanted desperately to escape to use the bathroom like 10 times-like you all wanted to know that--they gave me a whole bag of fluids via IV really really fast. Speaking of the IV-when I got x-rays I had to put my hands above my head. When I did, the cap on my IV came off and the fluids were pouring onto the floor-only to be followed by my blood which proceeded to pour onto the floor. I moved to avoid it and the radiologist pointed out that I moved. I was like-yeah, well I could bleed to death if we don't reattach these tubes pretty soon. Haha. I'm okay. It was quite an adventurous day. I'm feeling pretty sick still. Larry hasn't been feeling well lately-with Chrone's Disease. And I'm still covered in nasty sores from getting eaten by who knows what. That was last weeks deal with the doctors. I had a major rash and hypersensitive reaction to some sort of bites. We took the dogs to the vet to get them treated for mites or fleas or whatever. Of course, people aren't supposed to catch the dog mite-but lucky me...Hopefully you'll all still by my friends...

Our house now a days

2008-11-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd post some pics of our house these days. It's changed a bit since we first moved in-It has more furniture and stuff. We're hoping to get a new couch, new carpet, and curtains instead of the messed up blinds...someday (Larry says Stella has to find a new home first--and we probably need money..I can dream can't I) Anyway, here it is for now...

I thought we were robbed!

2008-11-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

I think we need to renaim this blog Kodi and Kassidy Balsmeier. Lately they're the only one's on it. I promise I'll be good and start posting about us soon...but not today. Hehe. This is what I came home to tonight. I seriously thought someone broke in for a second there because the house looked like it had been rummaged through and there were check books and bank statements all over the floor. Upon further examination I also found that the dog's toybasket had been pulled out. The pup was isolated in our room and the cat was in the guestroom. It could only be one dog: Kodi. Not sure why he wanted to look through bills and bank statements. It's not like they taste good. Maybe he wrote a few checks and subscribed to Dog Fancy magazine. Who knows. Here are the pics for your amusement...maybe it only amuses me.

Kodi has issues I think

Kassie checkin it out

It wasn't me! (looking guilty with a receipt in her mouth)

Kodi got the toys out for the pup, how nice.

Nothin' but Trouble

2008-11-13T19:14:00.000-08:00

I realize that you are probably all tired of reading about dogs...but that's okay. A post about dogs is better than no post at all right? I had a funny video of Kassidy being her usual misbehaving self. But it wouldn't work...so here's a short one. It's not as funny but you may think it's cute. I don't think it's all that cute..in fact my leg is bleeding right now because she bit me and treated me like a tug toy.
Let's see if the other video will work now. Warning: You will need Dramamine to safely watch this.

dark, snowy, and cold...

2008-11-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure where Fall went. Apparently it's completely over. I guess that always happens in November (weather wise in Utah) but it came so quick. It snowed all day yesterday. Most of it melted and mixed with the leaves on the floor so it's all mushy and weird outside. (We have huge trees outside that make a big 'ol mess of leaves.) So anyway, it's cold outside and that makes me sad. It doesn't help that Larry turns the air conditioner and fan on instead of the heat. I'm freezing at night! And Larry won't let me get near him for warmth because apparently he needs his space and isn't the cuddling type. Of course I take this personally. Then I go to sleep cold and mad and have bad dreams about Larry being mean to me. It couldn't be good for our relationship! Because of day light savings and the season it gets dark really early, which makes me all depressed. It's a good thing I have Kodi and now Kassidy to distract me from being all mopey. Larry should distract me from being mopey but my mind is still frustrated from being cold and mad while I sleep. Note: I still love you Larry! But turn the heat up will ya...and get used to sharing!! This post sounds so negative! You see what snow, cold, and darkness do to me?? In case any of you are also moping around because it's cold and dark outside, here are some more pics of our puppy...maybe that'll cheer you up.

What Were We Thinking?

2008-11-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

So today I had plans to do just a couple things: go vote, yeah I did that, return a car battery to walmart, yup did that too, and finish my homework-done...So what's there to do when you get everything done? Apparently the right thing to do is reward yourself by going out and buying a puppy. That's right, Larry and I added a new addition to the Balsmeier family. She's an adorable 8-week-old Cocker Spaniel puppy. We overlooked the fact that I'm already a hypocrite by finding new homes for my bunny and cat...and that I work for the animal shelter and encourage everyone to adopt. We're happy with our new puppy though. I guess it's just meant to be...or that's what we'll tell ourselves. Kodi gets along with her and doesn't seem too jealous...not yet anyway. We just thought he needed a friend that's all. Our new puppy is yet to be named but we'll keep you all posted. By the way, she seems to really love Larry, (and Larry seems to like her too) it's really cute. She follows him around and climbs up on him to sleep in his lap. Well, here are some pictures of our new pup! :)
*Update* We've named the puppy Kassidy (Kassie for short).

Six Months of Marriage

2008-10-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Yup, we've made it that far, can you believe it?! A whole half a year. Here's a picture to remind you of what a perfect day April 22, 2008 was...

Larry and I are happily married...but lets be honest, it hasn't always been wedded bliss. Marriage can be quite a challenge, but it's also a great blessing. There are those moments where I look at Larry and feel the deepest love for him...and there are those moments where I realize God must really want me to learn patience and humility. I'm happy that Larry accepts me for all my quirks. He takes good care of me and I love him more than anything.
To celebrate tonight, we went to the cheesecake factory. I'd never been there before. Larry was patient with how I got all excited about how cute the butter was (in pretty gold foil too!) and how I asked him to take it home just because it's cute...I am officially way too easily amused. Anyway, we're excited for the journey we still have ahead of us. We're just youngin's...

You are so busted...

2008-10-20T16:46:00.001-07:00

This is what I came home to this evening...

Who could have done this??? Was it Stella?

I don't think so --here's where the culprit brought in his antagonist to make her look guilty as he fled the scene...

Of course...It was Kodi (Thus explaining why Kodi was not translated...see below post)

Note to self: Never leave the house with out putting the garbage can where Kodi can't get to it. Larry is quick to point out that we shouldn't have to hide the garbage can...I agree. I don't know what to say...Kodi is very lucky that I got home from work before Larry did. He's not as forgiving as I am when it comes to trash can violations.

He's a really good dog...

2008-10-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

For a second there I thought Kodi was going to be translated...

Update: **To find out why Kodi wasn't translated see above post**

I feel like a hypocrite...

2008-10-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything on our blog. I guess I just haven't been in the blogging mood. Actually, I think it's just that nothing too terribly exciting has been going on. Anyway, we are in fact still alive and doing well. The latest in the Balsmeier house: the pet dilemma. Anyone that knows me knows that I spoil my pets and treat them well...Sometimes Larry gets jealous of them. And anyone knows that when I get a pet I keep it for life. Well, after many discussions with Larry we've decided to find new homes for our cat Stella and our bunny Hank. I cringe as I write this. How could I?! Don’t let my peeps at the animal shelter find out about this. If you've met my cat Stella you know that she loves attention more than anything else in this world (well, maybe besides food). We think she deserves a home where she'll get the attention she so desires. And Hank is just lonely because his best buddy Toby passed away last month. So if anyone knows someone looking for a new pet who will give them a really good home let me know! I'm doing this for you Larry!

To view Stella's ad: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=4507507&cat=112&lpid=

To view Hank's ad: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=4507009&cat=111&lpid=

Red means stop...unless you're driving my car

2008-09-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

In addition to the stresses of school I had to deal with car problems. Ok, there wasn't much stress involved with that, just a few moments of panic. I noticed my breaks were barely working, but I failed to mention this to Larry apparently. Then yesterday I was driving home and my breaks failed completely; I swerved out of the lane to avoid rear ending someone and coasted down the middle yellow lane-luckily it was there. As I drove down the lane, unable to stop, I passed a police man and smiled as I nonchalantly yanked on my emergency break, which also failed...He didn't seem to care and he and others appeared to question my driving abilities. I signaled to get back in the lane and made it home safely-somehow. We took my car in today and paid a nice chunk of money to have the car fixed. The report was funny: "pedal goes to the floor..car doesn't stop..tried the E-brake, doesn't work either...advise full replacement..." Now we're in tip top shape and my car actually stops on command!

Back to School

2008-09-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we've posted because we haven't had our computer. But now we're back in business! Life has been very busy (and stressful) this past week. I went back to school at LDS Business College for Fall semester. (LDSBC-what we call 'the biscuit.') I'm taking five classes on top of working and I'm overwhelmed with having a ton of homework. But hey, that's life! I love that school and I'm so grateful to go there. However that doesn't mean every class is my favorite. I keep whining about my history class because I don't like the format. But Larry doesn't let me whine and tells me that I'm lucky I get to go to school. Actually he tells me to quit whining or quit school. My response is that I won't quit school or whining because I'm not a quitter. Meanwhile I find myself spending hours on homework while I jealously watch Larry relax. Luckily Larry has been helping out a lot lately so I'm not as stressed out about things like keeping the house clean. So that's the latest with me. Larry and I don't really have any thing exciting going on except for enduring to the end. Yay! Ok, I'll be more positive...we're happy that we have each other and keep each other entertained with an assortment of quirks. Hopefully we'll be able to go do stuff like drives in the canyon. I love fall, it's so pretty! Since Larry was pretty sick over the summer we didn't get to do much. He's been feeling better lately but it would be great if you could keep in your prayers. :) He's been getting remicade treatments at the hospital. Can we say "good thing we have insurance?" Without it the treatments would cost $10,000 each! Alrighty, well I'm done jumping around talking about random things...

We'll miss you Sister Campbell!

2008-08-13T17:15:00.001-07:00

Today we said goodbye to my sister Heidi for the next 18 months. We'll miss her a ton but we know she will be a great missionary and will change many lives for good in San Bernardino California. It was a busy week leading up to her departure. Last Saturday I had the privilege of being Heidi's escort for her endowment in the Jordan River Temple. And on Sunday, we hosted the open house following her farewell talk. Who knew you could fit 35 people in our living room?! Today was, as they say, bittersweet. Heidi is such an amazing person and she's such a good example of someone who humbly follows the Lord and not the world. She's been such a good big sister and an example to me. We've been very close through out our lives and it'll be so weird to not be able to call her up to talk about nothing and laugh about every thing. I loved the Spirit I felt when we went with Heidi to the MTC. It was so cool to see my mom pin the official missionary tag on Heidi. It sounds cheesy, but it was a proud moment for me. We then went to the family/missionary departure thingy. That's when every one gets really emotional. When the moment arrived to say good bye I gave Heidi a big hug and said nice stuff to her but I don't think she could tell what I said because I kept making weird snorting noises through the bawling. After every one said goodbye I was able to steal the last hug (another one) from Sister Campbell. And then she was off. We're happy that not only will Heidi be blessed for her service, but so will her family. We could use the blessings! It'll be great to welcome her home when that time comes, but in the mean time, we wish her the best and know that her mission will be awesome!