Zac, Kami & Zion

christmas

2012-01-14T16:19:00.001-08:00

Christmas was so much fun this year! The celebration started with all of the extended Houtz family at the cabin on Christmas Eve day. We ate way too much, acted out the nativity, exchanged gifts, showed off our homemade ornaments, and had fun visiting with all the family for a few hours. Here's our little family with Granny Houtz.

And here we are with Grampa Houtz and Zion's ornament. It was a cute little footprint reindeer, but Zion ripped the antlers off.

Then we went over to Gary and Leesa's to spend the evening with all of the Price/Ewell clan and my family came, too. We all just relaxed and enjoyed the evening. I think the ping pong tournament was the highlight of the evening.

Christmas morning we woke up at our house for the first time in a few years and it was so nice being home! Zion was so excited when we went downstairs and he saw his new play kitchen.

He loved his table, chairs and dishes, too.

We wrapped all of his other presents, but he was so distracted with his kitchen stuff that we couldn't get him to open a single present. We tried, but he wasn't really interested. At least we know he loved his kitchen.

After we opened gifts and had breakfast, Gary and Leesa and my parents each stopped in to see Zion's presents and bring him a few more to add to his pile. Zion loved the drum set my parents got him!

Here is a picture of his entire load....

Spoiled much? Zac and I got spoiled, too. We each got a few new outfits, new watches, a couple pairs of shoes, a bigger TV for the family room and my parents got us this little beauty.....

We spent most of the day at home and then we had a nice prime rib dinner at my parent's house. This Christmas was by far our best yet! I feel so blessed to have all of our family living so close to us. We really enjoyed the holiday with all of them!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

december

2011-12-24T01:30:00.001-08:00

December has been such a fun and busy month. Pretty much every day has been spent at the gym. We've baby proofed everything, put a tv in the office, taken a bunch of toys down there, and turned it into a safe place for Zion to run around while I work in the office and Zac trains. Zion LOVES playing at the gym.

This new set up is perfect because it gets me and Zion out of the house for a few hours every day, we get to spend more time with Zac, I feel like I'm contributing to the business again, and it takes some of the pressure off of Zac because I can help a lot more with marketing, finance, etc. The best part... if me and Zion decided we don't want to go in, we don't have too. We have no set schedule and can work however much or little we want. This month we've worked a lot, though.

Our days have been filled with work, and our evenings and weekends have been just as busy. Between weddings, Christmas party's, my birthday, BUNCO, a weekend in Salt Lake, and Christmas shopping, this month has seriously flown by! Here are pics from a few of those events.

We had our company Christmas party at Tucanos. We seriously have the best trainers. Thanks Cody, Matt, Isaiah and Nicole for being so easy to work with.

I turned 25 and had a fun birthday weekend. My actual birthday was on a Monday so we kind of celebrated all weekend. We shopped a lot, went out to eat a couple times, had Sunday breakfast with my family, and Sunday dinner with Zac's family. On Monday Zac only worked until noon and then came home with these in hand...

He also bought me some fabulous boots, a coat and this watch I have been obsessing over...

And then he cooked me a delicious meal of king crab legs and asparagus for dinner. I have always hated my birthday because it is so close to Christmas, so this year Zac wanted to spoil me and make it feel extra special. It worked. Thanks Zac! You're the best!

I went to an ugly christmas sweater themed BUNCO and it was a blast! Thanks for hosting Candice, and thanks for inviting me to join the group Jewels! I can't wait for next month!

We spent a weekend in Salt Lake with my whole family minus Heather. We've made it a tradition to go see the lights and take coats to the homeless shelter. This year we ended up staying overnight and getting a bunch of Christmas shopping done, too. I love that Cyd is home from school for a couple of weeks and was able to go with us.

Did I mention we have shopped a lot this month? Zion has gotten really good at taking naps in his stroller (a full 3 hour nap while we were at Fashion Place last weekend) and carseat, but I can't wait for this month to be over so we can be back to our normal schedule.

Don't worry though, we have had plenty of downtime this month. I somehow convinced Zac to watch The Vampire Diaries with me starting from the beginning of the first season. It's my guilty pleasure. I've already seen all of them, but I wanted to watch them again. I'll admit, we've watched about 55 episodes this month. Hahaha! Seriously, though, check out these peeps... How could you not want to watch a show with such gorgeous people in it?

That pretty much wraps up December thus far. Now bring on the rest of the Christmas festivities! And Happy Christmas Eve!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

ps...

2011-12-23T22:31:00.001-08:00

ps... I guess I did take one picture on Thanksgiving. Proof of my sick boys that night. Sad, but cute.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

thanksgiving

2011-12-16T22:38:00.001-08:00

Wow... I'm so far behind. I can't believe I haven't blogged since Halloween. We've had a lot going on but I'll skip most of it and go straight to Thanksgiving. Have I mentioned how much I love that mine and Zac's parents are such good friends? It makes holidays so much easier. This year dinner was at Gary and Leesa's house with all of the Price/Ewell gang and my family. I loved not having to juggle two families in the same day and just spending the whole day with everyone. Poor Zion had a rough Thanksgiving day, though. He was cutting all 4 of his canine teeth and had a horrible cold that turned to croup that night. I felt so bad for him. He could barely breath, had no voice, his cough was the saddest little bark that hurt him so much he would cry every time he did it, and he had a fever. I kept rotating ibuprofen and Tylenol, hot steam in the bathroom, and cold air outside, and he was still miserable. Thankfully my sister-in-law's kids had just gotten over croup and she had a nebulizer we were able to borrow that helped a ton. Zac also ended up sicker than a dog Thanksgiving night. He fevered for a couple days and had horrible body aches. Between the two of them, I'm not sure who the bigger baby was. Needless to say, Thanksgiving night as I was thinking of all the things I have to be thankful for, good health was at the top of my list. I'm grateful I didn't catch their bug and that I was able to take care of them all weekend. Health is one of those things that is so easy to take for granted. It's so easy to not appreciate it until you or someone you love losses it. Thankfully Zac and Zion's was just a very temporary loss of health and they both were as good as new a few days later. I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving but I do have a few of the Price/ Ewell family photos we had taken the end of October that I need to post, so here they are.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

halloween

2011-11-05T12:38:00.001-07:00

Halloween was a blast this year. I had so much fun making mine and Zion's costumes. I don't think I have mentioned it yet on this blog, but Zion is obsessed with Toy Story. OBSESSED! We have tried getting him to watch several other movies, but they only hold his interest for about 2 minutes and then he's climbing on our laps with either an iPhone or iPad in hand waiting for us to start Toy Story instead. He will literally sit on the couch and hold still for the entire movie, and he looks this adorable the whole time.

Obviously being Woody was the only option we had for Zion's Halloween costume this year. Zac and all of the trainers decided to dress up as 80's workout instructors, so I decided to match Zion and be Jessie. Like I said, I had so much fun putting our costumes together. I pretty much found everything at the DI and Walmart and then spray painted it.... Both of our boots, hats, and belts were originally different colors. His yellow shirt was a cheap white shirt that I found and dyed yellow, and I made my 5 strand braided bracelet out of some left over white fabric that I dyed yellow along with it. I made his vest and my chaps out of some cute cow print fabric I found at JoAnns for 40% off. I think our costumes turned out pretty cute and were really inexpensive.

On Sunday we went to Gary and Leesa's for a big Halloween party with all of the Price family. Leesa's homemade doughnuts were delicious! Monday morning Zac went to work looking like this.

Yes, that's a real and very nasty mustache. And this is him and the trainers that were working that morning.

Monday evening we stopped by my granny and grampa Houtz's house for chili and to visit with them and my parents for a little bit. Then we were off to another Halloween party with our friends. Brett and Juliann hosted the best party! Everyone brought tons of yummy soups and fall treats and we played a way fun game. I don't know what it was called but it was a blast. Here's our little family at the party.

Everyone dressed up in such fun costumes. Here are the girls-

And here are the boys-

Brett and Jewels, thanks again for such a fun party! We had such a great time!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

october?

2011-10-21T13:02:00.001-07:00

It does not feel like the end of October, and I'm not complaining. I have LOVED the warm Fall we've been having. I always feel a little cooped up and depressed when it gets chilly outside. I am so thankful for the nice weather right now. It's what I need. Nothing makes me happier than being able to play outside with my family. Last night while Zac was at work me and Zion went for a walk and played at the park. Zion loves climbing on the playground, swinging, and throwing wood chips everywhere. I love seeing him so happy... It makes me feel like everything is going to be ok.

I cannot believe how big he looks climbing the ladder. Luckily he didn't get any slivers in his toes, because he did not want to keep his shoes on.

I tried to get a picture of us swinging but wiggly boy + in motion + iPhone self portrait do not = success, so this is as good as it gets.

Right now we are driving to St George for the Houtz Family Reunion. I am so excited to enjoy a weekend of 80 degree weather, relaxation, family, and for Zion to be able to swim and play with his cousins non-stop. I think it's just what the doctor ordered.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

another month, another loss

2011-10-14T09:04:00.001-07:00

I lost another baby this week. We were absolutely shocked when we found out we were pregnant again exactly 4 weeks after I miscarried. Usually it takes 1-3 months to get your cycle back after a miscarriage, so we were totally shocked. We felt like it was really meant to be this time, because despite all odds we were pregnant again. We went to the doctor to confirm that it was in fact a new pregnancy and not just left over tissue that my body hadn't "shed" on it's own causing a false positive. Sure enough it was a new pregnancy. Being "high risk" the doctor wanted to monitor me closely. I had to have my blood drawn and hcg level checked every other day. The first few days it was doubling exactly the way it was supposed to. We we ecstatic! Then it started to slow until it was increasing by less than 30%. The doctor told us he was 90% sure this was going to be another miscarriage. That feeling of helplessness I felt last month when I started bleeding, times that by about a million and that's how I felt as I was sent home and told to wait for it to start again. It took five very long days for the bleeding to start. Five days of trying to hope that everything would be ok, but being terrified of having too much hope and end up being heart broken again. Last month I was able to deal with the loss pretty well knowing that these things just happen sometimes. But two losses exactly 6 weeks apart. It just feels like a mean joke.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

laundry basket dresser

2011-10-06T16:24:00.001-07:00

I have to say, I am more proud of this little project than any other project to date. I have never built anything from scratch so this little guy was quite an accomplishment. When I came across this image on Pinterest, I knew I had to build it. The actual tutorial came from Ana White's website.

I love this laundry basket dresser to sort dirty clothes. I decided to use Ana White's idea but had to modify all of the dimensions because I wanted to use square laundry baskets so it would take up less space. It was kind of a pain in the butt figuring out all of the dimensions on my own, and I made a few mistakes along the way, but in the end I am so glad that I did. The original tutorial makes a triple stack of baskets 26" wide and 3' tall and mine ended up being 19" wide (yay I saved 7" of floor space) and 4' tall. After I followed the steps in Ana White's tutorial I decided it looked a little unfinished. I wanted it to look a little more furniture grade rather than boxy so I added some 1/4" x 1.5" trim around all the edges to give it some decorative panels. I painted it Crystal Aqua by Valspar (my new favorite color) and added a little glazing over the top. Here is what my finished product looks like...

I love it so much and am proud of my first build. Although I can't say I did it all on my own because my dad cut all of the wood after I figured out the dimensions and Zac helped me hold everything square while I assembled it. I think this is the first of many more building projects to come!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

shelf re-fashion

2011-10-06T15:44:00.001-07:00

Remember these little shelves from Zion's bedroom?

Well, I'm making some changes in his bedroom and these shelves aren't going to work anymore. I thought about sending them to the DI but then I realized I might be able to make them work for an entryway organizer for the hallway leading to the half bath just in from the garage door. The problem... They are each 3' and we only have about a 5.5' wall to put them on. I had my dad cut the overhang ledge off of the right side of one, and the overhang ledge and left corbel off of the other, and then while he was at it I decided to have him cut all of the pegs off, too, and they ended up being a little under 5' when side by side. I hung these two little shelves right next to each other and used wood filler to cover up the tiny gap between them. Then I sanded them down, touched up the paint, added some cute hooks I found at Hobby Lobby and some little baskets I found at Lowes, and... finished! (actually I still need to make labels for the baskets but who knows when I'll get to that) You would never guess that they are two separate shelves.

Now we have a place to hang our jackets, diaper bag, purses, etc and the baskets are great storage for sunglasses, wallets, phone chargers, camera, camcorder, scarfs, mittens, and whatever else we need to have handy. The best part about it is we can now clean out our good sized coat closet and use it for something else. Maybe food storage? I am loving finding ways to make our little house more functional!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

kitchen table redo & some more fall decorations

2011-09-24T12:00:00.001-07:00

I would say the key to living successfully in a small townhouse is finding ways to maximize floor space and storage. We found a kitchen table a few years ago that did just that, but once again it's black and I'm trying to lighten things up so I decide a fresh coat of white paint would be nice. We moved it out to the garage so I could start working on it and then I remembered to get a before picture.

I had already taken the drawer pulls off of the front, but you get the picture. And yes that is what our garage floor looks like.... Oops. I love that this table is really long and narrow because our dinning area is tiny. And before we had Zion I liked the little wine rack to store sparkling cider and the rack to hang our fancy glasses on, but with a hands on and curious baby it is just wasted space. While I was tearing the table apart to start sanding, I realized it could all be easily removed so that's what I did. I even got Zac to help with the sanding.

After a lot of time was spent sanding, priming, white painting, sanding the edges again, and then glazing the edges with a dark stain and glaze combo... I should have put a coat of poly on top to keep it protected from little hands but I was too excited to get it back in the house... This is what I ended up with...

As soon as Zion became mobile I started keeping the table tucked up against the wall to amplify floor space, and use it more as a way to decorate. When we have guests over we pull it out and use it like normal people, but the rest of the time we just eat up to it bar style. I love how it turned out and that I can fit a couple baskets under it to store stuff.

I made a couple more little decorations to keep on the table. Remember how I still had a bunch of burlap, hemp and silk leaves left over? I used them to wrap and embellish one of Zion's little sand buckets to hold our "Thankful Tree". You've probably seen a billion different versions of "Thankful Trees" but I'll tell you our version because it's a little different. We decided it would be a fun tradition to each be given enough paper leaves as there are days in the month of November leading up to Thanksgiving day. When it's time to pull out the fall decorations we will spend a night writing down different things we are thankful for on each leaf and then hot glue them to the tree. That way it's a fun decoration to enjoy during the fall season but will also bring a spirit of gratitude into our home for the whole fall season and lead right into The Holidays. Starting the first day of November we will each pull one of our leaves off at dinner time and talk about what we are grateful for. Then by Thanksgiving day all of the leaves will have "fallen" and we can start decorating for Christmas.

The other little fall decoration I made are "faux apothecary candy jars". I used some candle stick I already had, emptied and cleaned a couple jalapeño jars and filled them with candy, and then glued a little knob to the top of the lid and painted them black. Cute and easy and the candy can be switched out for any Holiday or season.

All I had to buy for these couple of decorations were the little knobs for $1.99. Everything else I already had, which brings all of my fall decorations to a whopping $42. I think that is pretty dang good for everything I've made! I feel like I should now say something like.... Stay tuned for the next episode of "What a crazy, housewife, mommy, insomniac, does in the night ". But that would be weird so I won't.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

rainbow rice

2011-09-23T13:13:00.001-07:00

I've officially been a stay at home mom for almost two months now. It took a little getting used to at first and I missed all of my friends at the gym, but now I'm used to it and absolutely loving all of the free time I have to play with Zion and then craft and work on projects while he's sleeping. While he was napping yesterday I made some rainbow rice. Easy peasy... Just pour raw rice in a few ziplock bags, add a couple drops of food coloring and a squirt or two of Purel hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol (this sets the color and helps it dry out), shake it around until the color is incorporated and then pour it onto a cookie sheet or tray to dry. This is what mine looked like when it was ready.

Zion loves to stir things so I poured it in a bowl and let him go to town. He seriously stirred and played with the rice for over an hour. I would hide little toys in it and he would dig through and get so excited when he found them and then throw rice everywhere. Wouldn't it be fun to fill a little sandbox full and let him go crazy... And then just pour all the rice in a large storage tote to be reused? I think I'm going to do it! I love Zion's concentration face in this picture!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

feeling like fall

2011-09-18T11:10:00.001-07:00

It's starting to feel like Fall and I am loving it! I love everything about Fall.... The crisp air, the changing leaves, the layered fashion, pumpkin everything, chai lattes, the beauty of Maple Mountain, fun decorations, the spirit of gratitude, the oncoming holiday season..... And the list goes on. Well, I can think of one thing I don't love about the Fall... Football. I don't mind it but it's not something I look forward to. What I do love about it, though, is that while Zac and Zion do their boy thing and watch the games, I have plenty of time to work on projects. This morning I've been baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, heavy on the chocolate chips, for my baby sisters birthday party later today. Happy Birthday Heather. I cannot believe the baby of the family is 20 years old! We are all grown up now. I love you so much and hope that this coming year can be one of healing and recovery and that you can find great joy in living. You have fought a hard battle the past few years and I hope that you keep fighting and conquer. Love you always!!

Not only is it feeling like Fall outside, our house is becoming a little bit festive, too. I pulled out all of our Fall scents to burn in our Scentsy, and I've started making a few Fall decorations. First off... I've seen a ton of different cute Fall wreaths so I decided to come up with one of my own. I went to Joanns and their grape vine wreaths were buy one get the second 50% off, and the kind of moss I wanted to use came in a package with enough to make 2 wreaths so here's what I came up with. The first one will be staying on my front door.

And the second one will be hanging inside my house on the antique window I showed you in my last post.

These wreaths were fun to make. I used an 18" grapevine wreath and then hot glued moss around the front. I found moss at Joanns I had never seen before. It came on a roll that was 6" wide and 36" long. I cut it length wise so it was only 3" wide and then cut it into 6-8" pieces. This made it way easier to curve the moss around the wreath. You could use the bagged stuff to save a couple dollars, but it would be a lot messier and harder to glue down. And then I just stuck a bunch of fall stems in the bottom to create a fun little arrangement and hung it with a 4" wide strip of burlap. I found the fall stems at Hobby Lobby and the were all 50% off. I like that the fall embellishments have a stem that I was able to just stick into the grapevine without having to hot glue down, because I think the moss wreath will be cute for other seasons, too. For spring I think I will replace the fall stems with a few flowers and mini bird nests. Anyway, here is a really bad image of what a couple of the stems look like when they aren't hooked onto the wreath in case you want to find them at a craft store and make this yourself.

Did you notice the candles in the background of the cookie picture? I threw those together really quick this weekend, too. They were way easy. I just wrapped and hot glued the ends of some hemp rope around one of the candles and then hot glued a silk leaf onto each of them. Turned out kinda cute.

The last little fall project I made was a little fall bunting banner. I cut 9" triangles out of burlap and hot glued a silk leaf onto each one, and then hot glued hemp rope to the back to hang it by. I decided to hang it across a mirror that hangs above my kitchen table, but my kitchen table is currently MIA. Actually it's in the garage and Zac is sanding it down so that we can continue on with our black to white trend. I will post some before and after pictures when it's finished.

All of these little fall projects have cost me less than $40 and I still have a bunch of silk leaves, hemp rope and burlap left over. I think that's a pretty good deal. Have you ever looked at the price of wreaths? I found one at Hobby Lobby that I liked, but it was $70. No thank you. I would rather make my own and pocket the savings for something I want more, like the new gorgeous espresso colored Michael Kors 'Blair' watch. Did I mention I also love fall fashion?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

pinterest... addicted or inspired

2011-09-15T13:56:00.001-07:00

I just got done reading everybody's comments after my last post. Thank you all so much. I'm feeling a lot better. I've been keeping myself pretty busy and I think that has helped. I finally jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon and I think I'm in love! I find the coolest ideas and projects every single day. You might say that I'm addicted but I call it inspired because I'm actually doing and making some of the things I find. Here are some of my projects so far....

Picture gallery... I already had all of the frames but they were black and I'm so sick of black. Our townhouse is way too small to be decorated in black, so I freshened them up with several coats of primer and white paint.

I found the old window at Confetti Antiques in Spanish Fork. I cleaned it up a little, added a quick coat of white paint because the existing paint was way too yellow and it clashed with the frames, and sanded the edges. I made the wreath out of grap vine and hydrangea stems that I found at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.

I love that the old window still had a piece of the original hardware on it which makes a perfect little hanger.

Small table and floral arrangement... I found this table a few years ago at The Porch in Springville, but once again it was black so I primed and painted it white and then roughed up the edges and added a little glaze. You will notice this black to white trend in a lot of projects to come!

I found the cool vase a few years back and loved it but the slats make it hard to work with. I made the floral arrangement and then wrapped the stems in moss garland. Perfect solution.

Hanging flowers.... I have seen so many different versions of hanging flower vases and I love them all so i decided t make my own version. I found the board laying in my garage so I added some paint and cute little knobs I found at Hobby Lobby for $1 each. I stole the coke bottles from my mom. They were the Christmas edition from 1995 and had pictures of Santa Claus on them, so I soaked them in clorox water and used a razor blade to remove the image. Then i threw some flowers in the bottles and hung them from the knobs with hemp rope. I think they turned out pretty cute and decided to hang them in my tiny half bath.

I'm excited about these bottles, the cream vase, and the old window because I can change the flowers and wreaths to decorate for different seasons and holidays. That's also why I'm going with such a neutral pallet with all of my new projects. I like seasonal decorations but I hate when they clash with existing decor!

Pillows... I made a couple of these little rosette pillows to go on my couch and for Zion's little chair. They were fun and way easy.

Jewelry box and necklace hanger... My parents gave me this jewelry box several years ago. It was painted black and had a bunch of vintage looking stickers on it. It was cute but needed a little update so I razored off all the stickers, primed and painted it white, and then sanded the edges a little.

The necklace hanger was way easy. I found this tin "live well, laugh often, love much" sign at TJ Maxx a long time ago. Once again it was black and I actually decided I didn't really like anything about it anymore and was going to throw it away and then I realized I could use it for one of the necklace holders that are floating all over the land of Pinterest. I primed and painted it white, sanded the edges and added a few hooks and it works perfect as a necklace hanger.

Mod Podge pictures... Ok, from these pictures you won't be able to see the difference, but I'm telling you, there is a difference. My dad made me several frames to hold my bridals when me and Zac got married. The problem is they were canvas pictures so they didn't need glass over them and they are not standard sizes and I had no idea where to go to find custom sized glass. The solution, I printed some of our family pictures at Costco and then trimmed them to fit the frames, adhered them to cardboard with Mod Podge and used a foam brush to paint over the entire surface with a matte finish Mod Podge. Now the pictures look like fancy canvas ones and don't need glass.

Measuring cup holder... This project isn't the cutest but it's very functional. I hate digging through a drawer to find the right measuring spoon or cup. Enter Pinterest. I loved the idea I saw on Pinterest of hanging all or those annoying items inside a cupboard door. I snagged a few free paint sticks from Home Depot, cut them to the length I needed, figured out the spacing so my cupboard door would still close when everything was all hung up, drilled several holes, painted the sticks, twisted in the hooks and adhered my little friends to the inside of a door with my trusty liquid nails.... And...

A nicely organized solution.

Seriously, Pinterest, I love you. Thank you for giving me some stability and projects to occupy my time while I wait for this time to pass. And as a side note, I promise I'm not a terribly neglectful mom and wife. I'm used to running on very little sleep from working at the gym so I've just kept that trend going. I work on my projects when Zion takes naps and at night after Zion and Zac go to bed. Stay tuned for a lot more projects to come. I have about a billion items on my list, and soon you won't even recognize our house! We've decided that since we are like a lot of people who bought their houses 4 years ago (thinking we would only be in it for 2 and it was an investment property) and aren't going to be able to sell it for possibly a long while, we might as well fix it up a bit and make it more comfortable to live in. Coming soon... All of the ugly standard builder bathroom mirrors will be framed, new OJ (over the John) cabinets in the bathrooms, laundry room cabinets, and our kitchen is getting a facelift with crown molding and light rail molding, new hardware, and our island will be covered in white bead board! And I will be doing all of it myself. Just kidding. My dad owns a wood working business (houtzwoodworks.com) so I've hired him to do all of the hard stuff. I'll stick to the simple things, like using white paint, sewing straight lines, and glueing things together.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

heartbreak

2011-09-03T09:37:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling a little heartbroken right now. I'm not sure why I'm writing this.... I guess I just need to get it out and I can't really talk about it without turning into a total mess. Zac is the only person I've been able to talk about my feelings with. Everyone else I'm just trying to avoid because I can't keep my emotions in check when I start talking. I had a miscarriage last week. We've been trying to get pregnant for a few months and it's been so frustrating. With Zion we got pregnant the first month we tried, but this time around it has not been as easy. We finally found out we were pregnant and we were so excited! The baby wasn't due until April, so it and Zion would have been 21 months apart. Perfect. We waited a couple weeks before sharing the news and then on Sunday we took a cute picture of Zion wearing a big brother shirt and sent it to all of our family. Monday morning I woke up and everything was fine and then a couple hours later I went to the bathroom and started bleeding REALLY bad. I've never felt so helpless in my life. Zac was at work and I couldn't get a hold of him, so I just held Zion and cried. When he got home we went right to the doctor. They measured my hcg and it was in the normal range for how far along I was, and then they did an ultrasound and couldn't find the baby. It had stopped growing really early and was still too small to see. The doctor tried to be hopeful and said maybe I just wasn't as far along as we thought, but I knew it was wishful thinking. The bleeding continued and I went back Wednesday to confirm what I already knew. They measured my hcg again and it should have doubled, but it dropped instead. Now I'm left with such a void. Logically I understand that miscarriages happen all the time and it's usually a chromosomal defect and nothing the mother did, so I don't really feel guilty or angry or wonder why this happened to me. But being a mom already, and knowing how much I love Zion and how amazing he is, I'm just sad. Sad as I sit and wonder if this little baby was a girl or a boy and what he or she would have looked like. Then I think of all of the little milestones with Zion over the last 14 months, his little quirks, how independent he is, and everything else about his personality... And it just makes me wonder even more, what this baby would have been like. I know I'll get through this but right now I just feel sad. My way of dealing is to put on a happy face and to stay really busy, and I'm really good at it, but when nighttime falls or Zion's napping while Zac's at work, and nobody is around, I have a harder time faking it. I'm sure time will heal everything. Thankfully I already have one beautiful little boy and the most perfect husband to hold me up until it does.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

family pics 2011

2011-08-31T23:49:00.000-07:00

st george trip

2011-08-25T18:28:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago we had a nice little vacation in St George. Some of our clients have a fabulous home on the Sunbrook Golf Course and they were kind enough to lend it to us for a few days. We left on on Wednesday and didn't come home until Sunday. This is the longest vacation we've been on since we started our business over 4 years ago and it was amazingly relaxing. It's so nice to have such awesome trainers that can keep things running smooth when we're gone. Thank you Matt, Isaiah, Nicole and Cody. While in St George we decided to do as little as possible and I think we were successful! We shopped a little and went out to eat a few times, but mostly we just played at the pool and hung out in the house watching movies and reading. It was so nice and so relaxing. On the way home we stopped in Cedar and said our final goodbye to Cyd and I think I cried the whole way home, but other than that the trip was perfect. Thanks Steve and Karon!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

happy and sad

2011-08-25T17:23:00.001-07:00

August has been one of the happiest months and one of the saddest months ever. With tons of changes happening all at once it's been one of the hardest months no doubt. My sister Cyd that has been living with us and nannying for us since Zion was 5 weeks old moved to Cedar City to go to school, and I am now a stay at home mom. I miss Cyd so much. She has become my best friend. I love that she is always so dependable. She never has drama and is so level headed. I can always count on her to tell me the truth and call me out when I'm being a brat. She is soooooooooo good with Zion and he loves her so much. I could not and would not have gone back to work after he was born if it wasn't for her. Truthfully, we didn't really need me to go back to work but I know me and know my personality and knew it would be better for me if I did. Which brings me to my next hard adjustment.... Being a stay at home mom. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Zion and love being a mom, but the change has been harder on me than I thought. I never felt like going back to work was selfish or neglectful because I only worked from 5-8 am. Zion was almost always still asleep when I got home from work. I felt like it was a win win all around. Cyd was able to make some extra money to save up for school, I was able to get out of the house for a couple hours and do something I love, and Zion didn't know the difference because I was home when he woke up. To walk away from the gym was so hard. Zac and I have put EVERYTHING into growing our business and making it a success. When we started it we literally did not have one penny of capital and we were so young we didn't have the credit history to qualify for a loan, so we maxed out 13 credit cards to get it going. It ended up being a lot of debt... One card alone had nearly $20,000 charged on it. Not to mention the huge strain it was on our marriage. After 6 months of being in business we were just days away from a divorce. Somehow we made it through it all. We were able to save our marriage, pay off all of the debt and grow our company more than we ever thought possible. I know that I am still an owner and I still handle all of the book work but not being in there every day makes me feel kind of "left out" for lack of a better word. It's just weird to put your everything into something and then walk away. And I miss the social aspect of it. I miss my friends. Most of my clients have been coming in and working with me for at least 2 or 3 years and now I don't get to see them. It's just weird but I'm learning to adjust.

With all of that said, I am so proud of Cyd for going away to school. I honestly believe that this is what is best for all of us. It' s good for her to get away and be independent and go after what she wants. And it's good for me to be home with Zion all the time. I've noticed I'm happier during the day because I'm not as tired from waking up at 4 am. And it's nice to be able to stay up a little later at night and be able to get cleaning and laundry done and work on projects so that when Zion is awake we have more play time and less chores to do. All said and done, I'm so grateful for the time that I had working at the gym and having Cyd live with us, and I'm grateful for this new chapter that we all have ahead of us. Here are a couple pics of Cyd and Zion right before she left.

I love you Cyd and I'm thankful you're my sister. Thanks for loving my baby like your own. I couldn't ask for anything more.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Spanish Fork Splash Pad

2011-08-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

Zion loves the Spanish Fork splash pad... need I say more...

Birch Hollow

2011-08-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

The weekend of July 22nd we made a quick trip to St George. Zion had fun playing with Nana and Heather all day while me, Zac, Cyd, Cody and my dad went into Zion's National Park to do a canyon called Birch Hollow. It was a LONG day. My dad hadn't done the hike for over 10 years and thought he remembered it taking about 8 hours. He was off by just a hair.... after a good solid 12 hours we finally made it out of the canyon. We still had a good time, though. This was my first time canyoneering since I was barely pregnant with Zion. In fact, I didn't even know I was pregnant last time we went. I just felt like crud and was low on energy and then we found out we were going to have a little one the day after we got home. It was fun to be back in a canyon, but I will admit it was really hard to be away from Zion all day. I felt a little homesick without him and I don't think I will be up for another long canyon any time soon.

Zion's Birthday Party!

2011-08-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm FINALLY getting around to blogging about Zion's Birthday. The past month has been absolutely CRAZY (which I will blog about next) but first, let's focus on the BIRTHDAY BOY! I can't believe Zion has been in our lives for over a year now. Although, it's hard to remember what life was like without him. He makes everything so much better and so much more fun. I love the stage he is in right now. He is so curious and all over the place and an absolute blast. Zion, I love you so much little buddy. Thanks for letting me be your mommy. His birthday was on Saturday July 9th so we had a big BBQ and played in the water at Nana & Papa Houtz's house. We had a ton of family come and Zion was spoiled rotten with gifts. I wish I would have been better at taking pictures of all the people that came and all of the gifts he got. I decided to do a blue theme for the dessert table. I made a ton of yummy treats... blueberry cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, oreo balls, chocolate dipped oreos, chocolate dipped pretzels, blueberry limeade, and then had a bunch of other blue stuff.. blue squeeze-its, almond joys, dove chocolates, and taffy. Needless to say, nobody went home without a ton of sugar rushing through their veins.

Zion loved opening all of his presents, but I think his soft rocking horse was his favorite

Zion and his cousins had fun playing in the water

I think the best part of the night was watching Zion demolish his cake. It was absolutely hilarious. He just kept on going until it was completely crumbled!

After all that cake, it's a good thing Zion had some water to wash it down. The party couldn't have gone better. We started at 3pm and it ended up going 6 hours! I couldn't believe it. Everyone was having so much fun. Thanks to all of our wonderful family that came and celebrated with us. We love you all!

1 Year Pics

2011-07-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

Between our crazy schedule this past month and our photographers crazy schedule, Zion's official 1 year pictures won't be taken until next month, so I used my very amateur skills and attempted taking a couple photos for his birthday invite. I'm excited to get his real ones done next month, but until then, these ones worked.

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July weekend we decided to see how Zion would do camping. We decided to stay close in case he hated it and we needed to come home, so we just went up to Whiting's. ZION LOVED IT! He loved playing in the dirt, was mesmerized by the fire, and took full advantage of all the attention he was getting from my sisters and parents. I played so hard during the day and slept like a gem at night. I think many more camping trips will be in our future. Sadly, my camera battery died so I only got a couple pictures.

After our weekend up the canyon, we went home showered put on our pj's and went over to my parents house for a little firework show. Zion HATED the fireworks. He was so adorable and excited while we waited for them to start, but as soon as the first one went off he cried his little eyes out. It was the saddest thing ever.

Needless to say... we probably won't be trying fireworks again this year.

Weekly Hikes 3

2011-06-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sad to report that we haven't been very good little hikers the last couple weeks. We have been so busy at the gym... starting ZUMBA classes, interviewing teachers, hiring a new trainer and then just life stuff... Father's Day weekend, boating, SLC shopping day, cousin's wedding, Park City shopping day, helping grandpa Houtz in the garden...and the list goes on, that we haven't had a whole lot of time to do hike. We have managed to get in a few walk on the Provo Canyon Trail and a few on the Hobble Creek Trail. Here are a few pictures of Hobble Creek.

We've also been able to fit in a couple Stewart Falls hikes. It is seriously one of my favorite hikes. It's so easy and gorgeous! The first time we went we saw a mommy and baby moose just off the trail, which was cool but kind of scary. They are big and mom's are very protective.

And the second time we went we took Cyd and Cody and then went to Happy Sumo after! YUMMY! Zion fell asleep in his pack again. One of the nicest things about hiking is that we never have to schedule it around nap time. Zion is so chill that if he's tired he'll just sleep in the pack. It makes summer life so easy!

And just because he's cute when he's covered in chocolate... here are a couple pictures of Zion at my cousin's wedding. He LOVED smashing and eating the cake!

Boating

2011-06-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

Last week Zion got to go boating for the first time. We went out on UT Lake for a few hours with Cyd, Cody and their friend Anna. Oh my gosh, I have never seen Zion so adorable. To say he loved it would be an understatement. We had the music blasting and he just danced around like crazy. He even liked being in the lake which surprised me because it's still pretty chilly. I thinks it's about time we invest in a boat of our own. Thanks for taking us Cody! Can't wait to go again!

Father's Day

2011-06-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Father's Day weekend was so much fun. Saturday we went up Provo Canyon to Big Springs Park with my family. We played kickball and roasted hot dogs and had fun talking. Zac carried Zion for part of the game. They kicked a home run and Zion thought it was hilarious running with daddy.

On Sunday we spent the morning at home and then went to my parents to BBQ for lunch and then over to Gary and Leesa's to spend some time later that evening. I can't say how thankful I am that Zion has such an amazing daddy. Zac, thank you for being such a great provider for our family. As you know, we already have more than I ever dreamed of. Thank you for working so hard but more importantly, thank you for balancing your hard work with tons of play time. I love that you spend several hours with us every single day hiking, watching movies, playing at the park, going for walks.... the list goes on and on. Thank you for being the first to jump out of bed at night when Zion cries and needs his binky and the first to jump up and change his diaper when he's stinky. Thanks for making being a dad a priority. You really are amazing and I couldn't ask for anything more. I love you so much and I know Zion does, too!

Art City Days

2011-06-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Springville had their annual Art City Days. Me and Zac aren't big fans of the carnival so we decided to completely avoid that while we can. I'm sure in a year or two Zion will want to go, but for now, what he doesn't know won't hurt him. We were actually pretty lame with the festivities this year. The parade was the only excitement we got in on and I'm so glad we did. Zion loved it! I thought for sure he would be scared of the sirens and loud cars, but he was totally fine.

Weekly Hikes 2

2011-06-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

(6.8.11) Y Trail... again

(6.10.11) Big Springs

(6.12.11) Big Springs again... it was my mom's Birthday so she, my dad and my sisters joined us!

Weekly Hikes

2011-06-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

Since hiking the Y on the 27th... we have been on a roll. This is the first of many "Weekly Hike" updates to come. I love that I married somebody that loves to be outdoors as much as me. We really have so much fun during the summer, not to mention we save a ton of money because we hike and pack picnics almost every day. Way cheeper than dinner and a movie! Here's what we've done the past week...

5.29.11 Y Trail... again

6.1.11 Rock Canyon

6.4.11 Maple Mountain (as far as we could until snow covered the trail)

6.5.11 The Grotto

6 Years Ago

2011-05-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

Exactly 6 years ago, May 27th 2005, Zac took me to hike the "Y" for our second date. It wasn't the best experience because I tried to be tough and failed to mention my asthma and that I was recovering from knee surgery, but he kissed me for the first time so it was worth it. We've made it a tradition to repeat the hike every year, with the exception of last year because I was super pregnant. Today was extra special because we were able to take Zion and it was his first hike. We absolutely love hiking and are ready for summer to really get here so we can spend tons of time outdoors and hike every week! I'm so thankful for our date six years ago, and the amazing life that has come from it!

Our Gym- Energy Explosion

2011-05-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

I just realized... Every now and then I will mention a little this or that about our gym, but I've never actually posted about it. Weird! Because it is such a huge part of our lives. Zac and I started Energy Explosion the summer of 2007. It's a private personal training studio, so the only people allowed in the gym are those that are working with a trainer. At any given time we have a maximum of 4 trainers working with 1-3 people each, so the gym really does stay super private. All of our clients love the privacy and the accountability that they get from working in such an intimate environment. Besides the two of us we have three other trainers... Isaiah Price, Matt Lovelace and Nicole Ellis. They are all top notch and the very best in the industry! And I'm not just saying that to be nice. Our loyal clientele is proof of how incredible they all are. The majority of our clients have been coming consistently 1-4 times a week for years. In fact we still have several of the clients that started training with us when we first started our business out of Zac's dad's garage 4 years ago. I love what we do and feel so grateful for the opportunity that we have to impact people's lives every single day. Our bodies are the only vehicle we have to experience all of human life and we are only give one. I love that we get to educate people on taking better care of their vehicle and living life to the fullest! Here are a couple pictures of our gym and trainers, except for me, because I had already gone home for the morning when these pictures were taken.

Outside the gym

Zac Price

Isaiah Price

Matt Lovelace

Nicole Ellis

Cheerio Game

2011-05-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

Zac & Zion playing the Cheerio game...

I guess the object of the game is to see how many Cheerios can be placed on Zion's head and face before he squirms around and they all fall off. Zion's face says it all, "Wow, Dad! You're pathetic! This is really what you do for fun? Get a life!"

But every now and then I guess he kind of thinks it's funny. Boys will be boys. *Sorry Zion has string cheese hanging out of his mouth. He hasn't learned how to chew with his mouth closed yet. Kind of gross.

Grandpa Gary & Grandma Leesa

2011-05-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

Zion is happy to announce the marriage of his Grandpa Gary and Grandma Leesa!

Yep... they made it official on May 1st. They had a super laid back BBQ and ceremony at the park by their house in Harvest Park. Because they both have been married before they wanted to keep it super casual with family and really close friends. I am so happy that they are married. Leesa is AMAZING! We love her so much. She has done so much for the Price family and we are so grateful to officially call her mom and grandma, even though we have consider her as both from the very beginning. And we are luck to have a bunch of new siblings and a niece and a few nephews out of the deal, too! The two families have blended so well and it really is like one big "Brady Bunch Family"... 9 kids, plus 5 spouses and 6 grand kids with a 7th on the way. We couldn't be happier or more supportive of the two of them. Love you G & L!

9 Months

2011-04-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

Zion turned 9 months old on April 9th (yes I'm now almost a month behind). I seriously cannot believe how fast he is growing. He weighs almost 20 lbs now, and is just shy of 29 inches long. I bought him some new summer clothes from Gap a little bit ago and it broke my heart.... 12-18 months. They are still pretty big, but summer is still a couple months away. What made me sad, though, is that I bought them in the "toddler" section and not the baby section. :( As sad as I am to see him grow up, I will admit that he gets more fun every single day. He is all over the place and into everything. He loves to climb the stairs and wants to be able to walk on his own so bad. He still sleeps like a gem both at night and during nap time. He loves to wave and clap and talks all the time. He is completely over his stranger danger and has become a little flirt. When we take him out he will spot a girl from a mile away and smile and wave until his arm falls off. The other day we were in Victoria Secret, I was trying some stuff on and Zac and Zion were waiting outside the dressing rooms. Zion waved and stopped 6 different girls in the couple minutes I was in the dressing room. Zac said now he understands why in movies single guys always try to borrow people's kids to pick up on chicks. hahah! Anyway, here's a little video of Zion just a couple days before he turned 9 months. Enjoy!

Vegas Vacation

2011-04-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

Last week me and Zac had so many clients gone for Spring Break that we decided to take advantage of it and head to Vegas. We booked the hotel Wednesday and left Thursday. We stayed at the Trump which was amazing! The whole thing is non-smoking and they don't have a casino so it's definitely the place to stay if you have kids. We mostly just shopped, walked around, hung out at the pool and ate yummy food. Our friends Brett and Jewels were down there for Jewels birthday so we got together with them a few times. They introduced us to a place called La Creperie in the Paris.... OH MY GOSH! The crepes were amazing! Zion's two favorite parts about the trip were looking out the window of the hotel and swimming in the pool. I cannot believe what a little fish he was. He would splash and laugh like crazy, and the first 10-15 feet at each end of the pool were only 4 inches deep so he could crawl around and splash all by himself. Of course we were right there next to him, but I think he felt like such a big kid being able to swim on his own.

Baby Cooper

2011-04-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

Zion got a new cousin 2 weeks ago. Isaiah and Sharee had their baby on April 3rd and it has been so much fun playing with him. I can't believe how big Zion is next to little Cooper. Being around a tiny one has made me and Zac so baby hungry! Here's some of the crowd waiting for the little guy.

All the Price boys

Don't you think Zion needs a little brother/sister?

The Zoo

2011-04-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

We took Zion to the Zoo for the first time on April 1st. He had a blast and we were surprised at how well he was able to pick out the animals.

Park Days

2011-04-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

We have loved having a few days of warm weather here and there the past month. It's been fun to take advantage of the sun and head to the park as often as possible. Zion loves to swing!

Spring is here!

2011-03-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

Spring is my favorite time of year! I have been loving the warm weather and spending time outside with my family. Sunday we spent the afternoon with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Leesa at their new playground in Harvest Park. Zion had fun army crawling down the hill, eating the grass and playing with his cousins.

Lazy morning

2011-02-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

I love having lazy mornings at home with my baby. Waking up and then cuddling on the couch in our jammies and watching cartoons. The only thing that could make this better is if daddy were home with us.

Isaiah & Sharee's Wedding

2011-02-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

02.12.2011- Isaiah & Sharee made a commitment to spending their lives together. Their wedding was beautiful and everything turned out perfect. They got engaged about 3 weeks ago so their wasn't a lot of time to plan the wedding, but it turned out perfect. A couple of our clients, Steve & Rhyll Croshaw, were kind enough to let them use their family lodge for the event. The lodge is amazing so they didn't need to do a whole lot. It was amazing how everything came together so quickly and so well. My mom supplied most of the decorations, which were things she purchased for mine and Zac's wedding, and Leesa and her kids did pretty much all of the work from set up to take down. A lot of people have horror stories about how awful their step-moms and step-siblings are, but that couldn't be further from the truth with Zac's family. They really are so awesome! We were really bad at taking pictures so I'll have to post some when I get a chance to steal them from other people. This is the only family picture we got.

This picture of Zion and my sister Heather has to be one of the cutest ever! I love his big cheesy grin! His first tooth broke through today and I'm so sad. I'm going to miss his gummy smile. I LOVE IT!

It was a long day for Zion but he was a little trooper. Zac got home from work at 12 and we went right up to start frosting the 1000 mini cupcakes and 4 gallons of frosting I had made. We planned on going home after the ceremony and family lunch to give Zion a nap, but it didn't end up working out. We tried to get him to take a nap but it was to loud and too much action was happening for our curious little monkey. Finally, around 9 pm Zion was so exhausted he fell asleep while Grandpa Gary was walking him around. He didn't ever get fussy or anything. Around 11 pm we had everything cleaned up and were able to get him home to bed. Needless to say he slept pretty much all day Sunday. All the action was exhausting for a 7 month old.

Super Bowl Sunday

2011-02-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

Zac was so excited to watch the Super Bowl with Zion. It was a cozy pajama day at our house, so Zac dressed Zion in one of his little football onesies. He also made him use his "Packers colored bink", and keep a tight hold on his little football during the game. I loved seeing Zac so excited to be spending "man time" with his little buddy. (Sorry for the terrible picture quality..... they were taken with my phone)

I enjoyed having time to finish making the cupcakes for Isaiah's wedding this Saturday (a total of 1,000 that are now frozen and just need to be thawed and frosted the day of the wedding), cooking yummy bbq chicken and homemade mac & cheese for our splurging "game day food", and making tons of these cute little flowers to go on head bands, little clips and safety pins to add to clothes/ bags/ whatever.

Chill days at home with my two favorite boys are the best!! Even if we have to have football on.

Sewing projects

2011-01-29T16:24:00.000-08:00

Zac got me a sewing machine for my birthday. I've been wanting to learn to sew for a long time. I took the required 1/4 year sewing class in 8th grade, but other than that I have never sewn a thing. I figured it would be a fun little hobby, but mostly I just want to be able to design and make my own things. For the past month and a half it has sat in the closet, but this past week I finally pulled it out. My first project was this little minky tag blanket. Zion loves soft stuff. He digs his head in and rubs it against anything he can find that is soft.... including the velvet booths at Happy Sumo. He also loves playing with tags so I made this little minky tag blanket for him to play with.

Today I made this cute giraffe blanket for Zion. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I didn't have a pattern or anything, and the cream material was pretty stretchy and hard to keep straight, but I think it turned out pretty good.

Zion has had a little cold for the past couple weeks so I've been keeping the humidifier running in his bedroom. I have it sitting on his nightstand, but the moisture is so bad for the wood that I have to keep something under it. I've been using a folded blanket but it drives me nuts every time I go in there. I wanted something that matched and looked like it was supposed to be a part of his room. I found a really long table runner that matched the rugs in his room perfect.

So I cut it into strips and pieced it back together leaving frayed edges to match the frayed-ness of his rugs. It looks so much better than the folded blanket! (And no, that is not where I keep the rug, I just put it there so you could see it next to the little table cover)

I have had so much fun sewing these three little projects this week, and I am so excited to do more. I have a ton of project ideas bouncing around in my head.... thank goodness for nap time so I can work on them!

1/2 a year already!

2011-01-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it.... my little man is already half a year old. Actually more than that because I'm almost a month behind. He turned 6 months old on January 9th. Here he is waiting for Dr. Penrod to come check him out.

Zion grew a ton between his 4 & 6 month check ups. He gained over 4 pounds and is up to 16 lbs 8 oz (30th %) and is 26 inches long (33rd %). I cannot believe how much he has grown, but then again he loves food so I really shouldn't be surprised. He has been eating solids 4 times a day for quite a while now, and snacks on graham crackers, and I'm still nursing him 4-5 times a day. I think his favorite thing, so far is my homemade tomato basil soup. But he really love my butternut squash & carrot soup and also my split pea & ham soup.

He is still sleeping great at night and I absolutely love checking on him in the morning and seeing where he has rolled. He makes good use of his entire crib while he sleeps.

He still loves absolutely loves his jumper which I am super grateful for. We take it down to the gym with us when we go work out and he'll jump and laugh the whole time he watches us. This is a picture of him jumping while we were busy getting the base trim hung in our new gym.

Zion loves going on dates with mommy and daddy. I still have a really hard time leaving him. I think it's partly because I leave him in the morning to go to work for a few hours, so I don't want to feel neglectful and leave him when we go on dates. I don't think Zion minds. I think he's pretty happy to accompany mom and dad on their dates. Here he is looking like a stud in his little tie.

And another date at Malawi's. This is one of our new favorites.

Happy Sumo is his favorite.... he loves to chew on the empty edamame pods with just a tiny bit of soy sauce on them. Ok, maybe it's not his favorite, but it's mine and Zac's. While we were pregnant with Zion, we would go to Happy Sumo after every doctor appointment to celebrate our little Zion monster. Now it's so fun to go and take him with us!

I love it that Zion will still let us cuddle him while he naps. Most of the time he naps in his crib, but every now and then we get home from work and it's nap time and we just want to cuddle with our little buddy while he sleeps. Isn't this the cutest?

Other fun things about Zion-
*He loves to wrestle with his daddy
*He gets really quiet and holds perfectly still when he hears mommy or daddy's voice from the other room, and then when we walk in, he laughs and screams and gets so excited to see us
*He started taking baths in the regular tub a few weeks ago and loves being able to spread out, kick and splash so much
*He loves his sippy cup and holding it by himself- I don't love the mess it makes
*He still falls asleep in his carseat whenever we drive for more than 10 mins
*He loves to play peek a boo
*He has been sitting up by himself really good since he was about 5.5 months and it makes him look so old
*He loves to be on his tummy now to sleep and play with toys
*He hasn't figured out how to get up on all fours and crawl, but he can pretty much get anywhere/anything he wants by rolling around
*He has a crush on his Aunt Ninny and flirts with her so much we all start laughing

And the not so fun-
*Zion has developed a pretty bad case of stranger anxiety. Aside from me, Zac and Aunt Ninny, he cries when people hold him. If he still has a visual on one of us he does ok, but if we aren't in the room he gets so upset. I hope this stage doesn't last very long!

All in a day

2011-01-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

Once again, I've been a really bad blogger. Life is just crazy these days. Trying to balance owning a business with being a good mom and a decent house keeper... I just need a few more hours in each day. I have so much to catch up on, including Zion's 6 month check up, but that will have to wait for another day. Right now I'm too lazy to go get my camera and load pictures, and all I really want is to watch the Bachelor and go to bed. Like I said, life is crazy! Here's a glimpse of what my day looked like today and what most of my days are like-

*Up at 4 am to be to the gym to train for a few hours starting at 5 am (Zion stayed home with Cyd aka Nanny Ninny)
*Home to give Zion a bath and get him ready to run LOTS of errands
*Made all the beds, picked up the house, did loads of laundry, did the dishes
*A trip to the grocery store
*Back to the gym to pay bills and take care of stuff in the office
*Talked to Granny Houtz on the phone to find time to help her with my cousin's graduation quilt
*Ran to Home Depot to get paint for the base boards my dad is working on for the gym
*Dropped the paint off to my dad
*Made homemade tomato basil soup
*Did the dishes again
*Gave Zion a quick sink bath because he was covered in soup, but he loved it so it was worth it
*Ran to the fabric store (Zion stayed home with daddy and took a nap)
*Made Cyd an oven roasted turkey & pesto sandwich to go with her soup
*Ran back to the gym to do my P90X workout with Zac (and of course Zion got a leg workout in jumping in his little jumperoo)
*Baked 150 cupcakes (I volunteered to make all the cupcakes for Zac's brother's wedding in a few weeks so I'm getting a start on them now and throwing them in the freezer until the big day)
*Made a protein shake for dinner because I was so sick of cooking, Zac had leftover soup
*Gave Zion another bath because Zac tried spiking his hair with Pomade and it was nasty!
*Went tanning & to the grocery store again (Zion stayed with daddy)
*Did the dishes for the third time & continued doing laundry
*And now I'm sitting on my butt watching the Bachelor and writing this quick blog

And as a side note, I'm still a nursing mom so I found time to nurse Zion several times throughout the day. Did I mention I'm tired? Before I take all the credit, shout-out to Zac, for being such an amazing husband and dad and helping me with everything all the time. The benefit of owning our own business is that we set our own hours so Mon, Weds, Fri and Saturday Zac is home by noon at the latest, and I only work weekdays until 10am. Tuesday's and Thursday's are kind of crazy for Zac at the gym.... 5am - 11am and then back at 3pm-9pm, but it's worth it to have him home so early the other days. I love having him home and I really appreciate how much he help me. Well that's my life- all in a day. Goodnight!

CHRISTMAS 2010

2010-12-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas was the best ever! I can't believe that last year I was exactly 10 weeks pregnant on Christmas day. We woke up early and did the "IntelliGender" test and it said we were having a boy. We were so excited, but that was nothing compared to the joy and excitement we experienced this year having our little boy here with us. We started our celebration on Christmas Eve with the annual Christmas party at the cabin. Sledding, gift exchange, yummy food, grandma's turtles, grandpa's ornaments and a nativity made it such a great day. I love Christmas Eve at the cabin and I'm thankful for what a fun tradition it has been my entire life. Later that afternoon we went to Gary and Leesa's house for a Christmas party with Zac's family. We started a new tradition this year called the "Namaste Christmas Gift Exchange". We all drew names and rather than buying a present we gave gifts of service and talent. I think it was such a fun idea and it made us put a lot more thought into what we were giving. The highlight of the night was definitely the Dance Central on the Xbox Kinect. SO MUCH FUN!!! We ended the night at my parents house for a slumber party. My mom gave us all new jammies and we spent time drinking hot chocolate, snacking on cheese and crackers, wrapping presents and lots and lots of talking. Santa found us and Christmas morning we woke up around 7:30 to open presents. Zion was spoiled, of course, and me and Zac made out pretty dang good, too! Zion's favorite gift was his jumperoo. He jumped and laughed and jumped and laughed all day long. He was so dang funny. After a breakfast of Shirley's cinnamon rolls, eggs, sausage, and banana pancakes with buttermilk syrup, we stopped by Gary and Leesa's for a minute. Then we went back to my parents house and spent the rest of the day playing with Zion's toys and watching movies with my family. This really was the best Christmas ever. Even though people always say kids make everything better, I never really understood, but now I do and I couldn't agree more! Zion, thanks for making this the best Christmas ever. I love you little buddy!

Here's our little family Christmas morning at Nana and Papa Houtz's house

In front of the Christmas stash

Zion loved the wrapping paper

SPOILED little guy! At home in his jumperoo with his mountain of toys. He got some really cute clothes too, but they were already in the laundry when I took this picture.

Catch up Nov-Dec

2010-12-26T18:06:00.000-08:00

I have been such a horrible blogger, so I'm going to do a couple posts to try to catch up.

We split Thanksgiving... the first half of the day we spent at my parent's house with all of the extended Houtz family, and the second half of the day we spent at Gary & Leesa's with Zac's brothers and all of Leesa's kids and their families. It was a great day!

Thanksgiving night the "Elf on the Shelf" brought special Christmas jammies to get Zion in the Christmas spirit. He loved them and the Elf!

Zion has really been packing on the pounds. He had acid reflux so bad when he was a newborn, but now that he is eating baby food his milk stays down. He has gained 3-4ish pounds since his 4 month check up. He LOVES food. So far there is nothing he hasn't liked, even my homemade split pea and ham soup. I pretty much make all of his baby food. I just throw whatever fruit or veggies we are eating in my VitaMix and then freeze it in little snack size Ziplocks. He absolutely loves clementines. When he sees me peeling one he gets all excited. I bite the end off and then let him gum it a little and suck the juice out and he goes crazy! It's adorable. The next picture is of Zion eating his bananas at CPK.

I turned 24 this month and had the best birthday ever! My family spoiled me with gifts and then we all went to Happy Sumo for some delicious sushi and then to my parent's house for my mom's amazing homemade key lime pie! YUMMY! Here are some family pictures we took walking around Riverwoods after sushi.

Zion got to play baby Jesus in the Larsen family Christmas nativity. I think he did a pretty good job!

I think that quickly raps up the last month. Christmas post to come!!

Look who's 4 months old

2010-11-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe it has been 4 months already. Time goes by so quickly, but we are soaking every minute of it up. It is amazing how much Zion is changing every single day, and I feel so grateful that me and Zac are able to spend so much time home with him. I feel like our work schedule couldn't be more ideal for raising our little monster. I absloutely love the stage he is in right now. He is so much fun! We took him in last week for his 4 month check and the little guy is exactly double his birth weight! He's up to 12 lbs 4 oz (5th percentile) and 24 inches (15th percentile). Here are a few recent pics-

Waiting for Dr. Penrod to come check him

He started eating rice cereal and loves it

Zion still loves bath time

And watching cartoons

I love this little man more than anything. He is the best thing that has ever happened in my life, and now that he's with us, I can't imagine life without him. Love you little bug!

Baby ZION Shark

2010-11-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

Everything is better with kids. Even though we only have 1, and he doesn't understand a thing about it.... HALLOWEEN was the best having a little buddy to share it with. He made the cutest little shark!

Our little family

Zion with Nana and Papa Houtz

Zion with Papa Houtz & Grandpa Gary (Zion's busy watching tv)

Zion with Grandma Leesa

Zion with Aunt Heather

3 months old

2010-10-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

Now that the little guy is almost 3 months old (this Saturday)... I guess it's time to play a little catch up and post about his life so far. I have been so bad at blogging since he was born. We have seriously had one thing after another and been so busy with him, but even more so with our business. We just got done moving our gym to a new bigger location and it has been a ton of work. I'll post all about that later. Fortunately Zion has been such an easy baby and has handled all the chaos like a champ. Now that life is settling down a little bit, I'm setting a goal to blog twice a month. Zion is changing so fast and I want to be able to remember everything. Like I said, he has been such an easy baby. He has been sleeping through the night, anywhere between 9 & 12 hours, since he was 8 weeks old. He has created such a nice schedule for himself... he eats right around 8 am, noon, 4 pm and 8 pm, and usually only takes one 3-4 hour nap after he gets done eating at lunch time. I'm not sure how we got so lucky, because we really haven't done anything to encourage this schedule- he has just done it all on his own. He is developing such a fun personality. He is so smiley and talkative and such a dramatic little guy. He is getting so much bigger, but is still pretty small. At his 10 week well baby check up he weighed 9lbs 12oz (6th percentile) and was 22.25 inches (16th percentile). Here are some of the things that Zion loves and hates-

Things Zion loves

* His binky
* Going for rides in the car
* Bath time
* His swing and bouncer
* Anything with lights
* Watching movies (Seriously! We were watching Ironman 2 over the weekend and he did not look away from the tv for more than half of the movie.)
* The baby bjorn... especially when mom and dad are at the gym working out with him in it
* Cuddling!
* Talking to himself in the mirror on his swing
* Clasping/ rubbing his hands together... it always looks like he is plotting something mischievous
* Sitting in his bumbo chair

Things Zion hates

* Being cold
* Getting his milk taken away to be burped
* When he gets startled (Zac talks really loud and is always really excited to see Zion when he gets home from work, so this happens often.)
* Not being able to put his binky back in his mouth no matter how hard he tries
* Tummy time
* That the little giraffe on his swing won't talk back to him
* When he accidentally flips his bib up and it covers his face

Here is a pic of Zion hanging out at work with mommy and a few of him talking to me when he was getting changed this morning. I love my little bug!

Bear Lake 2010

2010-10-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

Every year over labor day, my grandparents rent a bunch of condos in Bear Lake for all of the family to get together. We have so much fun laying by the pool and lake, playing mini golf, volleyball, cards, and of course the annual in-law vs out-law softball tournament. My favorite part about the trip are the Bear Lake raspberry shakes that I eat daily. I seriously look forward to them all year and then just splurge all weekend! This year was by far the best because we had little Zion to share it with. He was exactly 8 weeks old and such a doll. He did really well the drive up and back, slept well during the nights and didn't fuss during the day. We had a blast, and I am so thankful for my Granny and Grampa Houtz for doing it for us! Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Zion's newborn pictures

2010-08-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

On Zion's 1 week birthday we took him up to Salt Lake to get his pictures taken by Mary Clark at DMC Studios. Several of our clients have used her and all raved about how good she is, and we couldn't agree more.

Introducing Zion Lee Price

2010-07-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

ZION LEE PRICE

Born July 9, 2010 @ 9:40 pm

6 pounds 2 ounces & 19.5 perfect little inches

Thursday night my contractions started getting even more painful. I told Zac I couldn't go to work Friday morning because I had a feeling we would be having little Zion and that I needed to get some rest. I tried to sleep as much as I could but I was in pain. I woke up and decided to get everything ready, just in case. I scrubed the house top to bottom. Did all of the laundry, sheets, bath mats, rugs, everything! Showered got ready and put the last couple things in my hospital bag. When Zac got home at noon we tried to take a nap for a little while, but I was in so much pain. I was trying to breath through the contractions, but they were worse then they had ever been. We got in the car and started driving toward the hospital. I told Zac that if I got sent home again, I was going to have them give me some morphine and sleep the week away until they could induce me on the 16th. We decided to stop at my OB's office and have them see if I had dilated any more so I didn't have to face the heartbreak of being monitored for an hour and then sent home if I didn't progress. The doctor felt one of my contractions and said these are labor contractions. She checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 5 so she called the hospital and told them I was on my way. We got to the hospital at 4:40 pm and they had all of my paperwork pulled so we were able to bypass registrations and head straight to the room. I was still afraid they were going to send me home. When we got back to the room they immediately hooked me up to IV fluids, and I asked the nurse if it was for real this time or if they were going to send me home. She reassured me that I wasn't leaving the hospital without my baby! We called our families and my mom, dad, Cyd, Gary and Leesa all came up. We let them come in the room and talk with us while I labored and ended up leting them stay in the room for the whole delivery. Of course we made our dad's look out the window during the time I was exposed. We spent the next 2 hours watching the nurse get the room set up and doing the paperwork. At 6:40 pm the doctor came in and broke my water and I was given an epidural and I was completely pain free. It was fun having my family in the room. We just chatted and joked around and had a good time. A little after 7:00 pm they started me on pitocin... still no pain. A little after 8:00 pm the nurse came in and check me and I was only dilated to a 6. I felt discouraged that I had only dilated 1 cm in the last couple hours. A little after 9:00 pm I started feeling pain in the left side of my back and belly. I told everyone I didn't think the epidural was working anymore. The baby's heart rate which had been super steady through all the contractions, started dropping just a little bit and my mom said I was probably ready to deliver. I didn't believer her because it had only been an hour since they last checked me. They came in and gave me another dose of the epidural and 5 seconds later the nurse checked me and said I was dilated 10 cm and the baby was at a +2 station and it was time to call the doctor back in and start pushing. I couldn't believe it. I started pushing and about 30 minutes later, at exactly 9:40 pm after 5 hours of labor in the hospital, I heard the most amazing sound in the world. Baby Zion was crying before his shoulders were even out. When the doctor held him up for me to see I couldn't believe how beautiful he was, and how much hair he had. We thought for sure he would be bald just like me and Zac were. He turned pink so fast and didn't need any oxygen. After all of the stress we've had the last couple months over the preterm labor, I am so thankful that Zion made it exactly 38 weeks and is perfectly healthy. I feel so blessed to be his mommy. He is the most amazing little guy. I can already tell he is going to do great things with his life. I love him so much.

Just got to the hospital

Just starting the pitocin after they broke my water and gave me an epidural

The nurse just told us it's time to start pushing

The look on Zac's face as Zion's being delivered

The look on my face right after Zion was born

Zion Lee Price

6 pounds 2 ounces & 19.5 inches long

MISERABLE!

2010-07-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

We made it to the goal of 36 or 37 weeks and now I am ready to be done being pregnant! Over the past couple weeks I've had several episodes of crazy intense painful contractions every 3-4 minutes that last for 10 hours or so, and then they all of a sudden slow down to every 5-7 minutes and become pretty mild. Yesterday was one of those days. I was having them regularly every 4 minutes all morning long. I went to the doctor for my normal weekly visit and was dilated 4 cm. The doctor decided to strip my membranes and said if the contractions pick up within the hour to head over to Labor & Delivery. About an hour later we were at the hospital. I was in so much pain and felt like I was having 1 giant contraction that never let up. They put me on the monitor and sure enough my contractions were about 2 minutes apart and lasting almost the full 2 minutes. Sometimes I would get a 15 second break in between. 1 hour later I was still in so much pain and contracting like crazy, but my cervix hadn't changed- SO THEY SENT ME HOME! Seriously, who gets sent home at that point? I guess it's standard procedure because I'm not 39 weeks yet (actually I'm not even 38 weeks until tomorrow) so they can't break my water, or give me pitocin, or do anything else to help things progress. They told me to go home, walk a lot, have sex, and come back later, and if I was at a 5, they would admit me, give me an epidural and get things going. Unfortunately I was in so much pain and so exhausted from the long day and not sleeping a drop the night before, that I was only able to squeeze out a couple little walks before physically and emotionally I just couldn't do it and decided to just go to bed. Now, it's 6 am, the contractions have completely slowed, and I'm a mess! I'm thinking at this point my best option is to figure out a way to break my own water. Then they can't send me home! Either that or I have to wait 8 more days, until next Friday when I'm officially 39 weeks, and they can give me a little bit of pit or break my water to help labor progress beyond this point. Any ideas??

36 weeks!

2010-06-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

This has been a great week! Zion passed his non-stress test and had more than enough fluid when they did the ultrasound, so they didn't make us deliver early! When the doctor checked me, my cervix had only changed slightly (closer to a 2 than 1.5) which means all of the precautions we've had to take have worked. My belly grew a little bit... I'm still measuring 3 weeks small, but they just figure Zion is going to be a smaller baby. Tomorrow I am 36 weeks so the doctor gave me permission to start being a little bit active again and to stop taking the medicine that slows my contractions. He even gave me permission to go back to work Monday... until we reminded him that I'm a personal trainer, and then he quickly changed his mind. Even though we've made it to our goal of 36 weeks, and we're out of the danger zone, he still thinks it's best to keep Zion cooking for a while. He said if we make it to 37 weeks the odds of Zion having to spend anytime in the NICU are pretty much 0! I can't tell you how relieved I am that this little guy has stayed put and that I don't have to stress about having a premature baby and a possible NICU bill without health insurance. I told the doctor that my main concern, now, is that all of the preventative measures we've had to take are going to make it so my body won't go into labor on its own and that I'm going to end up being pregnant as long as an elephant. He reassured me that I definitely won't be pregnant as long as an elephant and that if I haven't gone into labor yet, they will induce me 1 week before my due date. Apparently the hospital is really picky about women being induced with a first pregnancy before their due date, and has a certain criteria as far as "ripeness" that has to be met, and I'm already so close to their requirements that he has no doubt I will be able to be induced a week early. What a relief! Now I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. I can pretty much go into labor any time, and we don't really have to worry about Zion having any health problems, and if I don't go into labor, I only have to be pregnant for 3 more weeks max! I am so grateful that everything has worked out so well, and I can't wait to meet our sweet little boy whenever he wants to come! Here's my belly at 36 weeks.

35 weeks!

2010-06-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hooray! We've officially made it a week since our last appointment, and on Friday we will officially be 35 weeks! Today we went in and got some encouraging and some not so encouraging news. It looks like the precautions we have been taking for pre-term labor are helping. They sort of "checked" me today. Not to invasive because they are worried about aggravating my cervix and uterus even more, but they were able to get a general idea. I'm now 100% effaced, but without really poking around, they think my dilation has stayed about the same, which is encouraging. The not so encouraging part is that my stomach is measuring 3 weeks to small (a little less than 32 cm and it should be at 35 cm) Last week I was measuring a little small, and that's part of the reason they did the ultrasound to check for fluids. My fluids were fine and Zion was measuring right on his due date, but this week I'm measuring even smaller. Basically, I kind of shrunk this last week which makes them think I am losing fluid and that Zion might not have grown this past week... both caused by all of the stress on the little guy from the pre-term labor. Tuesday we are scheduled at the hospital to have a non-stress test done on Zion and another ultrasound to see where my fluid is at now. If either number isn't up to par, they will deliver little Zion right away, because the risks associated with both of those things are even greater than the risks that come with a premature baby. If everything checks out the way it's supposed to, I have a regular appointment scheduled for Wednesday and they will decide what to do with me then. So, it looks like we are just playing a fun little game of waiting. Waiting to see if I go into full blown labor, and waiting to see if I don't but they have to deliver him early anyway. Or.... it might turn out that in another 5 weeks I'm totally frustrated out of my mind because they've been treating me for pre-term labor for such a long time that I end up not going into labor on my own and I have to be induced. Once again, I guess we will just have to wait and see! Did I mention I might pull every single one of my hairs out... one by one... in the mean time? All of the anticipation, anxiety and stress is driving me nuts!

Update

2010-06-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

My contractions have been getting worse. They still aren't painful, annoying yes, but not really painful, but they are getting closer together and lasting a lot longer. Yesterday we decided to take a trip to Labor & Delivery at UVRMC because my doctor's office was closed. We don't have health insurance on the little guy... I have coverage, but he doesn't and won't until after he is 2 weeks old and is approved by my insurance company (the joy of being self employed). So we are trying to be extra cautious and keep him out of the NICU. They hooked my up to the monitors to check Zion's heart rate and my contractions and the doctor immediately ordered a shot of something that made me feel really funny, to stop the contractions. They checked me and my dilation hadn't changed from Wednesday to Saturday, but I'm now 90% effaced. They did a few routine tests, and everything is still looking perfect with me and Zion. There is not one thing to indicate any type of a problem... my blood pressure is perfect, weight gain is exactly where it should be, ultrasounds have shown proper fluid and placenta development, all of my lab results have been good, no infections, no swelling, no water retention... nothing! And Zion is measuring exactly where he should be, and in all 3 of the ultrasounds we've had, his organs have been developing right on schedule. They have no idea why my body is progressing so early. It's not totally rare, but it's early for a first pregnancy. Zac and my dad have decided that we "just cook 'em fast", because my mom had all of us a month early, too. They sent me home from the hospital with medication I'm supposed to take every 3-4 hours to help slow the contractions, along with a big list of things I'm not supposed to do. The goal is still to make it to 36 weeks at least, and hopefully that will keep little Z out of the NICU. We go back to the doctor on Wednesday, so I guess we will have an update then.

Zion's nursery!!

2010-06-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

It looks like the little guy is wanting to come early, so today we finished up the last couple things in his nursery. I think we are all ready to go now!

This is the view from the door. Me and Zac both love the quote above his crib... "let him sleep... for when he wakes, he will move mountains." Hopefully we can raise Zion to know that he is more than capable of making all of his dreams come true!

His bedding from a bunch of different places. I don't like animals and trucks and baby prints, so it was kind of hard to find. I think it turned out pretty good though!

His closet with the magnet picture board I made for him, and his little bouncer in the corner.

Inside of his closet with a bunch of his clothes, blankets, boppy, bumbo and bath stuff

Night stand and Nap Nanny, which I am totally excited for!

I love this quote from Winnie the Pooh "Promise me you'll always remember; You're braver than the believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" And I love the Puffed up Prince that grandpa Gary sculpted.

Changing table/ dresser that's all stocked up!

His play-yard is all set up for when he sleeps in our room. It has a handy little changing table that hooks on top and a mobile, but I haven't put it on yet. And yes that's our hospital bag and diaper bag all packed and ready to go. We don't want to waste any time getting to the hospital!

I love that the play-yard has the little bassinet top so we can use it in our bedroom now, but it will be super handy for vacations in the future.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY.....

THE CAR SEAT IS IN THE CAR!

We really hope that Zion holds off at least a couple more weeks before he makes his debut, but we are totally prepared in case he doesn't. Although, we might have to send my mom to grab a preemie outfit to bring him home in. I'm sure she wouldn't mind.

34 weeks... getting a lot closer!

2010-06-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today I went in for my 34 week appointment. They decided to "check" me because I've been having contractions about every 5 mins or so, and they are becoming stronger and a little bit painful and I'm cramping a bit. They wanted to know if they were just braxton hicks, or if they were actually doing something. Turns out I'm already 50% effaced and dilated to 1.5 cm. They did an ultrasound to check my fluid level and Zion, and both are looking excellent. He is still measuring right on date... exactly 33 weeks and 5 days. They want to keep a close eye on me, so I'm scheduled every week from here on out. The doc said it's really hard to predict how early Zion will come, but they want to keep him cooking at least 2 more weeks. If I go into full blown labor, though, they will let me have him. He will just have to have some extra care in the NICU. I'm hoping that he doesn't make his debut for at least 4 more weeks, but I think he might take after his dad and lack patience. I have the weirdest mixed emotions right now. On one hand I'm totally excited that we might get to meet our little buddy soon, but on the other hand I'm scared of all the health problems that come with premature babies. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

32 weeks and growing!

2010-05-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

e had my 32 week appointment last week. I can't believe we are down to less than 8 weeks! I'm still having braxton hicks contractions like crazy. Every 10 mins or so, but when I'm active they are about 2 minutes a part. The doc isn't concerned at all because I've been having them this close together for about 3 weeks now, and I haven't gone into labor yet. What's crazy though, is he said he just wants me to make it 2 more weeks and if I start to go into labor they won't try to stop me. THAT'S NUTS! Hopefully that doesn't happen and Zion keeps cooking for at least 6 more weeks. I want him to be good and healthy and sufficiently cooked before he comes out. I have to say, pregnancy is still treating me really good. Sure the heartburn and acid reflux is annoying, but I've learned what I can and can't eat, how much I can eat, and when I can eat, to avoid it. My back sometimes aches when I'm laying down, and my bladder only holds about an ounce of liquid, so I'm not getting as much quality sleep, and feel a lot more tired by the afternoon. But other than that, I really have no complaints. I still, for the most part, feel like a normal human and haven't hit the horrible, miserably uncomfortable, get him out of here, stage yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I stay feeling good for a while longer! Here are a pic of my belly at 32 weeks!

I love the simple things

2010-05-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love the simple things in life. Like good weather and a picnic! We had so much fun relaxing, listening to the creek, and enjoying a little picnic today. I love being busy, busy, busy, but it also feels really good to just slow down and enjoy the simple things.

5 years today!!

2010-05-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today is a very special day! It marks the 5 year anniversary of mine and Zac's first date. Thank you so much Cass for setting us up! Who-da-thunk that this is where we would be 5 years later. Our first date, we both went into with no expectations. Zac had been home from his mission for 7 months and was going to school up at the U. He was convinced that he wouldn't get married for at least 5 more years, and was only interested in a little casual dating. I had just broken up with a kid I had been dating on and off for almost 5 years and was on the rebound. When I heard about Zac, he sounded like the perfect guy for the job... returned missionary, in college, super hot, had a bullet bike... you know, the type of guy to make another guy jealous. Little did I know, 5 weeks later I would be completely smitten, head over heals in love and engaged to him! Our first date was on May 25th, 2005. The day after I graduated from high school. We went and saw the movie Kicking and Screaming and then went back to his parents house, built a fire and made s'mores. We talked and talked for hours. And sometime in the middle of the night, he finally took me home. A simple hug at the door was all I got. I was surprised he didn't try to kiss me on the first date, and it instantly made me like and respect him so much. Enough that, like I said, 5 weeks later we were engaged to be married. It was the best decision I have ever made, and I can honestly say that I love him more today than ever before. More than I ever thought I could love somebody. So thanks again Cass, for helping me find my best friend and the love of my life.

Baby shower

2010-05-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my mom worked really hard and planned the perfect baby shower for me with all of my family. Everything was so gorgeous! She had a chocolate fountain with pretzels, cinnamon bears, marshmallows, rice crispy treats, cream puffs, angel food cake and strawberries, and a delicious fruit platter that looked to pretty to eat, along with croissant sandwiches and a yummy lemon drink. All of the silver wear, napkins, cups and plates were placed perfectly on the table patterned blue, brown, blue, brown. It honestly looked like she hired a professional to come and cater the event. And then it happened..... 5 minutes into the shower the chocolate fountain exploded all over the table, floor, wall, food and everything else. This is a picture of part of the mess as it was getting cleaned up. My mom felt so bad, but honestly it was perfect. Baby showers are to prepare the mom for having a baby, and I'm pretty sure that messes and explosions are a part of that. ;) As the chocolate hardened it actually looked really cool. I'm pretty sure there are big time designers who have used splattered chocolate to garnish fancy tables, and gotten paid big money to do it.

Thanks to all of my family that came! We got stocked up on lots of the baby necessities, which we really appreciate. I meant to take a picture of the load when I got home, but I was to excited to get it organized and put away that I totally forgot. It means so much to me and Zac and baby Zion to have family that loves and supports us, so THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Thanks again mom for throwing me the shower. It was absolutely perfect! And thank you Cyd and Heather and Dad for helping mom get everything ready! I love you all!

30 Weeks

2010-05-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Last week I hit another milestone.... 30 weeks! I meant to take a picture over the weekend, but I was so busy working on the nursery I totally forgot. I can't believe we have less than 10 weeks to go. I had my 30 week appointment last week and everything is going good. I'm still having a ton of braxton hicks contractions, at least every 10 minutes and sometimes as close together as 2 minutes, but because they aren't very painful the doc isn't worried about them. He even gave me the green light to keep working as long as I use common sense, have Zac demonstrate the exercises that might be dangerous, keep my heart rate under 150, and rest as much as possible when I'm not working. I hope that I stay healthy and out of the danger zone so I can work right up to delivery.... I WILL GO NUTS if they make me cut out of work early and stay home. I don't do so well when I'm sitting around bored! But getting little Zion here safely is most important, so I will do whatever the doc tells me. My appointments are now every 2 weeks, which I'm excited about. I think the next 10 weeks are going to fly by!

P90X yoga... not so good at 7 months prego

2010-05-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

The last 24 hours have been a bit traumatic. You see, I have a bit of an ego problem and I hate to admit any weakness. I would say this has been the hardest aspect of pregnancy for me. My body physically can't do some of the things that it used to be able to do, and I get super frustrated about it. For the most part I've been able to keep up with my regular workout routine, but I've had to make some modifications. Anyway, last night Zac was getting ready to do P90X yoga, and I decided I wanted to do it too. I've done a lot of yoga in the past, but since I've been prego I haven't done any. I jumped right into it thinking I would be fine. Zac told me to take it easy and modify poses, but of course I didn't listen. Like I said, I hate to admit weakness. About 15-20 minutes into the workout I felt a huge pull in my belly followed by really sharp pains, so I stopped and decided to lay down. For the rest of the night I was having braxton hicks contractions about every 10 minutes. Little Zion was moving like crazy and I didn't have any spotting or fluid leaking so I decided I would wait until morning to call the doc. I was a stressed basket case all night long and felt super guilty for being so selfish and risking the baby's health. The doc had me come up this morning to get checked. Basically, they scolded me pretty good, and told me to go home, drink tons of water, stay in the bathtub as long as I could, and then stay in bed the rest of the day, and watch for any bleeding, fluid, and monitor Zion's movement and the b.h. contractions. So far things are improving and everything is going to be totally fine, it was just a bit of a scare. I feel bad because Zion hasn't stopped moving for more than 10 mins the last 24 hours. I think I stressed him out. Hopefully he will soon realize everything is OK, his mom is just sometimes really stupid, and get a little bit of rest. And hopefully after taking today to rest, I will be as good as new tomorrow.

On a lighter note.... Zac took me shopping this past weekend to pick out a diaper bag for Mother's Day! I'm so excited! I found the perfect bag that matches the black & grey color scheme of the stroller and car seat and is gender neutral so I can use it with our next baby! I hung it on the back of the stroller and it looked so cute. I can't wait to start using it for the little Z man. And I promise I will be smarter and safer and get the little guy here without any more scares from me being stupid.

Missing baby Zion

2010-04-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those days when you miss someone so much your heart aches? Days when the mere thought of a person almost brings you to tears because all you want is to hold them in your arms and let them know how much you love them? Days when you would give anything to let them know how important they are in your life, how much they matter, and that you never want to be away from them again? Today is one of those days for me. And it’s how I’m feeling about baby Zion. Yep, that’s the name we’ve decided on, Zion Lee Price. I guess that’s how I know that there really is a heaven and that I’ve known our baby before… because I miss him so much. We’ve spent the last 23 years apart, and I can’t wait to hold him again and smother him with kisses!

As for his name, Zion Lee Price, this is why we picked it. Zion’s National Park has always had a very special place in our hearts. After only 5 weeks of dating, Zac and I went on our first vacation together down to Zion’s for the Houtz family reunion. It was on this trip that we decided to get married. We picked out a date and spent the entire weekend dreaming of our future together. Since then we’ve gone back to Zion’s countless times. With our business we haven’t been able to take many vacations, so Zion’s has helped us keep our sanity. It’s such a quick getaway down and back in a day or two, and we love the biking, hiking, canyoneering, and just relaxing while we enjoy the amazing scenery. It truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world. But the main reason we’ve chosen the name Zion is because we love the meaning… Heaven on Earth. It’s so simple but it wraps up all of the thoughts, feelings and realizations that bringing a new life into the world has created for us. As for the middle name Lee, it’s Zac’s middle name, and if there is one thing I pray for, it’s that little Zion will be just like his daddy. Zac is the most amazing guy I have ever known and I hope Zion inherits all of his wonderful qualities.

26 weeks and a little St George trip!

2010-04-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we've almost reached the end of the glorious 2nd trimester, so we decided it was time for a little vacation to celebrate. I have to say, at this point, I'm thinking pregnancy is not all that bad. I have felt so good for such a long time, I sometimes forget that I'm pregnant. But I'm quickly reminded when I walk past a mirror and see the reflection of a "star bellied sneetch" from one of Dr. Seuss' books and realize that it is, in fact, me and not a story book character. Of course I have the random aches and pains and weird things going on, but for the most part, I really feel pretty normal. I'm sure in the coming weeks all of this will change. Like I said, I'm still in the "glory" phase of pregnancy. We decided we better take advantage of how good I've been feeling so we headed south for the weekend. Our friends Steve and Karon were nice enough to offer us their home in St George for the weekend. We spent most of the time soaking up the 80-85 degree sun at the pool. As a side note, pregnancy makes you burn a lot easier. Let's just say I'm one fried star bellied sneetch at this point. We went to dinner a couple times and Zac's best friend from high school got married down there, so Saturday we had so much fun hanging out and catching up with old friends. It was nice to be able to relax and take it easy for a few days. It was a much needed getaway and we both fill recharged and ready for the crazyness that lies ahead of us! Here's a picture of my belly at 26 weeks and a couple of Zac relaxing and practicing the guitar. He's just started learning and is having so much fun!

Thumb sucker!

2010-04-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like we have ourselves a little thumb sucker! Today we had another ultrasound. I can't believe how much bigger our little guy has gotten in the last 8 weeks. He weighs 1 lb 9 oz already and is developing perfectly. The Dr just got a new 3D/4D machine and it was amazing to see so much detail during the scan. He was pretty feisty for a while, just kicking and punching all over the place. Then he calmed down a bit, rubbed his eyes and started sucking his thumb. He looks like so much like Zac. He has the same nose and huge lips. I can't wait to see him in real life in 108 days max! Sorry for the terrible picture quality. Once again it's a picture of a picture so it's terribly blurry.

Starting the Nursery

2010-03-27T14:06:00.001-07:00

We are getting started on the nursery! This week our crib and changer arrived, and I absolutely love them! Now it's time to shop for bedding and all of the fun accessories and start decorating! I am so excited to get the baby's room put together!

Invisible Baby

2010-03-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

Yep that's right.... invisible baby. This past week we've done a little bit of baby shopping. Today I haven't been feeling great, so Zac tried to cheer me up. While I was taking a bath, he put together the stroller, swing, car seat, and play pen and placed an outfit in each one. He walked into the bathroom pushing the stroller and told me our little guy wanted to hang out with me while I took a bath. I couldn't help but laugh at his "invisible baby". It was so cute and needless to say, it did cheer me up. I can't wait for our little guy to get here!

Strong little guy

2010-03-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure our little guy takes after his dad. I think he's going to pop out and be ready for one arm pushups. I seriously can't believe how active and strong he is already. I started feeling "flutters" around week 14 and by week 17 I felt full blown kicks. When I was 18 weeks and 4 days, Zac got to feel and see him kick for the first time. Now he's constantly moving! The kid never holds still. Lately he's doing flips, and it is so weird to feel and see a wave of movement from one side of my stomach to the other. I absolutely love laying down and watching my belly bounce. It really does make all of the aches and pains worth it.

Love of my life!

2010-02-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

In honor of Valentine's Day, I want to share a few reasons why Zac is the love of my life. Mostly to let him know that I notice "the little things". In no particular order.....

1. He is always asking what he can do for me or what he can get for me
2. He is an amazing cook and does almost all of the cooking
3. He will sit on the porch and talk with me for hours
4. He brings me breakfast in bed every single day
5. He loves to watch "chick flicks" with me
6. He has an obsession with vacuuming the house, so I never have to do it
7. He always stops whatever he is doing and jumps up and gives me a hug when I come home
8. He has taken on bathroom cleaning duty 100% since I've been pregnant
9. He iron's the clothes when I'm finishing up getting ready
10. He has my apple and granola bar sitting on the counter ready for me to grab on the way to work in the morning
11. He always warms up the car before work
12. He always meets me at the bottom of the stairs when I'm done getting ready, to give me a kiss and tells me how beautiful I look
13. He is so clean... in fact he's doing the dishes right now
14. He does all of the grocery shopping, most of the time I go with him, but he's the main man
15. He loves to go for walks with me and talk about life
16. He always holds my hand when we are out and about
17. He leaves me love letters and hides little sticky note love messages all over
18. He brings his jacket to the movie theater knowing I will get cold
19. He tucks me in bed every single night, even if he's in the middle of something and staying up for a while
20. He's always thinking of ways to serve me.... if I've had a stressful day he will get a warm washcloth and sit on the ground and wash my feet and rub lotion on them and massage them and just listen

I could list a million more reasons why I love him. These are just a few of the things that he does. The things that I sometimes forget to say "Thank You" for, and that I know I take for granted sometimes. Zac, I just want you to know that i really do appreaciate all of the little things that you do. They all add up in a big way and make you the most amazing man and the love of my life. Thank you so much for everything. I love you!

It's a.......

2010-02-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

It's a BOY! We just found out we are having a little boy! We are so excited and even more excited that he is healthy. This week has been a crazy one for us. We weren't expecting to find out the gender for a few more weeks, but we had a couple of surprises. On Tuesday we went to the doc for my 16 week checkup. To make a really long story short-er... my uterus is huge! At 16 weeks, the top of the uterus is supposed to be about halfway between the pubic bone and the belly button. Mine is about 3 inches above my belly button. When the doc saw my belly he was totally in shock. He asked how far along I was supposed to be and when I told him 16 weeks and 4 days, he said I was measuring 8 weeks to big. He wanted an ultrasound done immediately because he thought I was either 8 weeks further along... putting me at 24.5 weeks... or there were twins. They couldn't fit me in until Wednesday. Needless to say it was the longest 24 hours of our lives. All night and the next morning we were stressed, excited, anxious, confused and having the weirdest mixed emotions. The thought of twins thrilled Zac and scared me to death. We went in for the ultrasound and they found just one baby... a little boy... and he measured exactly on track, 16 weeks and 5 days. He is totally healthy and is doing really well. They confirmed that my uterus is measuring 8 weeks to big, but said I don't have extra fluid or anything to worry about. My next appt is in 4 weeks. They may or may not do an ultrasound then, but they for sure want to do another one in 8 weeks to take another look and make sure everything is still ok. I also started leaking colostrum last week, which is way early, so it's almost like my whole body thinks it's a lot further along than it really is. Anyway, they aren't concerned at all, so we aren't either. We are just thrilled that we got to find out so soon that WE'RE HAVING A BOY! Now it's time to plan the nursery, shop, and see if we can agree on a name!

Baby has a heart!

2010-01-17T08:22:00.001-08:00

Last Tuesday we had another doc appointment and we heard our baby's heart beat for the first time. It was so amazing. I can't believe how strong, loud, and fast it was. Hearing the heart made everything seem a lot more real. Now I know we really are having a baby and I'm not just getting chubby. We've "known" for a couple months now, but everything seems so surreal, and the whole idea of growing another life is so magical, that it really has been hard for me to comprehend. Hearing that little heart is exactly what I needed to solidify this whole experience. I can't wait to be a mom, and even more, I can't wait for Zac to be a dad. He is going to be the most amazing dad in the world. He already is. He takes such good care of me and the little baby and I feel so blessed to have him.

On another positive note.... there is light at the end of the tunnel. At the beginning of the week I was so miserable and exhausted, but by the end of the week I felt a ton better. I still feel sick every once in a while, but 70-80% of the time I feel great. Also, I have been sleeping fabulously. 6-7 hours a night, thanks to the Ambien my doc decided to put me back on. We're just finishing up our first trimester and I have high hopes from here. I can't wait to see what our second trimester brings.... I'm guessing more weird dream, terribly random food cravings, and hopefully some restored energy. Wish me luck!

Exhausted

2010-01-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

The above picture is a totally candid shot Isaiah took of me the other day at the gym. I was so sick and exhausted, and I didn't have an appointment so I dozed off on the ball for a couple minutes. Everyone says that around 12-14 weeks they start feeling so much better. NOT TRUE! I'm feeling yuckier and yuckier every day. I started taking Unisom and B6 at 6 weeks, and then at 9 weeks I needed something stronger so they gave me Phenegren, and last night I was so desperate for some sleep I took an Ambien, which my doc gave me the "ok" to do every now and then... STILL DIDN'T SLEEP! Most everyone knows I'm an insomniac and pregnancy has made it even worse. I'm not sure if it's the sickness, the freakin' weird dreams when I do fall asleep, the fact that I have to pee non stop and can't fall back to sleep, the yucky cold I can't seam to shake, the fact that we just had the busy Holiday Season, having to wake up at 4 am every day for work, trying to run a company and manage employees, and now I have payroll tax, sales tax, and our annual taxes that I need to get done this week, or maybe it's all of that combined with the added stress of being a parent soon and having absolutely no idea how to take care of a baby. Whatever it is, I'M EXHAUSTED and on the verge of tears every second. I love our baby so much and feel bad for being grumpy during pregnancy thus far, but right now I need to vent a little. Please forgive me. On a happier note, we have another doc appointment tomorrow. We should get to hear the cute little heart beat! I'll keep you posted.

Play date with Korben

2009-12-30T18:57:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday we got to see my nephew Korben. He is the funniest kid ever. My mom and dad gave him this big transformer toy, and when he opened it, his first response was "Oh my gosh... this costs $70". Why a 7 year old would know that, I'm not sure. He is way to observant and smart for his age. I tried to take some pictures of him, but the kid won't hold still. I snapped a couple with him and Z playing, but he's just a big blur in all of them. And taking them with my phone didn't help the clarity. Anyway, we had so much fun and wish that we got to see him more often. I think Zac is convinced we need a boy because he loved wrestling.

Sushi Sunday!

2009-12-29T19:22:00.001-08:00

Sunday night we went over to Gary and Leesa's house for sushi. Leesa's son Jeddadiah is a fabulous sushi chef and he taught us how to make it. He made several "pregnancy approved" rolls and they were all delicious. I can't wait to try it ourselves this weekend!
Apparently the hardest part is the swift soft cutting motion. Zac kinda turned his roll into sushi salad, but he said it still tasted delicious. He just had to eat it with a fork.

Christmas and a BOY?

2009-12-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

The last week we have had so much fun celebrating Christmas. We only worked Mon-Weds and then had a 4 day weekend. On Christmas Eve we were able to sleep in late, which is every pregnant womens dream, and then we went up to the cabin for the Houtz Family Christmas Party. It was fun seeing all the little kids so excited for Christmas. That evening we went back to my parent's house for food and games. Zac's dad Gary and his awesome girlfriend Leesa came over, as well as his brother Isaiah, Grandma Haney, and Cyd's friend Kyle. We played Catch Phrase and laughed so hard. I love how open my family is... we can talk about anything, and I mean anything. Nothing is off limits or taboo, which makes for a lot of laughter when we get together. Even Grandma was throwing out some questionable subjects. We spent the night with my family and woke up Christmas morning spoiled of course. I was exactly 10 weeks pregnant that day, so we thought it would be fun to try the new IntelliGender Prediction Test with my family. It's a urine hormone test a lot like a pregnancy test. Clinical studies say it's 90% accurate at predicting the gender of your baby as early as 10 weeks. We decided to give it a try, just for the fun of it. So the result.... it turned GREEN in just a minute which means IT'S A BOY! We aren't going to start painting the nursery or buying baby clothes just yet, but I'll be interested to see what the ultrasound says. I'll keep you posted on the accuracy of the little test.

Christmas afternoon we went over to Gary and Leesa's house to open gifts (once again we got spoiled) and hang out with Zac's brothers and some of Leesa's kids. We had a great time just relaxing, talking, and being together as a family. We have loved getting to know Leesa and her kids. They are all so cool and welcoming. We haven't known them for very long, but they already feel like family. We finished off the evening back at my parent's house for a delicious dinner. I would say the Holiday was very much a success!

A reason to blog

2009-12-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well... it looks like we finally have a reason to blog! We were trying to keep it a secret untill Christmas, but due to our crazy work schedule and having to be to work at 5 am, it's been kind of hard to hide the morning sickness from our clients. That's right I said morning sickness... WE ARE HAVING A BABY! Today was my first doctor appointment at 8.5 weeks and everything is looking good thus far. We've been reading books, magazines and websites like crazy. We are having so much fun seeing how the baby develops each week. It really is such a little miracle. We are so excited for July when we get to meet our tiny one!

As a side note, I am going to be a better blogger because I want to be able to look back and see how I felt throughout the pregnancy. Sorry in advance if you get sick of all the baby posts that will be coming.