The Birth Story (every detail)

Sunday October 2, 2011:

We checked into the hospital at 7:00pm with the intention of inducing labor.  I wasn't even remotely softening or dilating.  The first attempt at induction started at 8pm with the insertion of a pill close to my cervix.  The hope was that the drug would soften my cervix and start contractions.  We did this every four hours for the rest of the night - a total of 4 times - with not much improvement.

Monday October 3, 2011:

I was dilated 1 cm by Monday morning and I was having erratic and unproductive contractions (that were not painful).  Unfortunately the baby's heart rate was showing extreme highs and lows in response to the contractions so they decided to do a pitocin test to check more accurately her response to contractions.  This was the first mention of a possible C-Section.  Because my contractions were so erratic they gave me a low dose of pitocin with the hopes of observing 4 contractions in 10 minutes and observing the baby's heart rate in response.  Thankfully, she responded quite well to the pitocin test so my doctor decided to give me and baby a rest for the remainder of the day and let the medications get out of our systems and see if I would have more regular contractions on my own.  If not, we would try again with the insertion of the cervix softening drug and do Monday's whole process again.  As a result we were able to get about 7 hours of sleep Monday night - a welcome change from the night before of being monitored and checked periodically through the night.

Tuesday October 4, 2011:

Around 7am the nurse came in to start the insertion of the cervix softening drug ... she guessed I was maybe dilated 2cm.  Around 8:40am the doctor on call (my doctor had been on 24 hour duty on Tuesday and was now off) came in and checked me again saying that I was dialated 2cm and she could stretch me to 3cm (and I could feel it).  While she was in there she stripped my membranes and decided now was a good time to break my water.  I am glad she did it all at once but whoa ... that was super uncomfortable!  Contractions started in about 2 hours later once they could give me pitocin and then the real fun began.  While the pitocin did have the desired affect of stimulating contractions it did have some awful residual affects ... mainly coupling and tripling of contractions.  This means I did not experience those oft described periods of "rest" between contractions.  I can count on three fingers the number of restful minutes during my six plus hours of hard labor.  I would build up to a really strong contraction and after peaking I would slowly start to come down off the contraction but before I hit that period of rest my uterus would decide that it wasn't quite ready to quit and it would start the up swing into a SECOND contraction and peak slightly lower than the first contraction.  And if I was really lucky (which I often was) there would be a THIRD contraction to top it off.  I had hoped to be able to move around while laboring - using a birth ball and a soaking tub - but was unable to due to triple contractions and all the monitors I was on - including an internal monitor for my contractions.  To make matters worse I had a BAD case of the shakes.  My entire body shook in between contractions.  It was so bad that I felt a sense of desperation and started to fear the upcoming contraction - a really bad head-space to be in while in labor (in my humble opinion).

Needless to say I was exhausted.  After six plus hours the doctor came in to check my progress.  I had heard so much deflating news over the past few days that I was convinced that I was just suffering and that not much progress was being made.  Part of it was I couldn't get my hopes up.  I even expressed at one point that I wasn't sure that we were really going to have a baby today.  The nurses assured me that I would - one way or another.  I was ready to agree to a C-Section at this point if it was brought up again.  Unknown to me the nurses were convinced that I was not progressing either and had started the paperwork for it.  The doctor checked me and announced that I was dilated 7cm!  The entire room - my parents, the nurses, the doctor, Nate, and I - all cheered!  It was such a relief.  At this point the nurse informed me that I had escaped a C-Section a second time.

I felt a sense of accomplishment at this point and felt totally at peace with the decision to have an epidural.  My biggest fear was that I would have to be in that rounded position during a triple contraction or that my severe shaking would make the insertion of the needle impossible.  I expressed my concerns and the wonderful anesthesiologist assured me that she would be able to do it as long as no sudden movements happened.  The hospital had this amazing apparatus for me to get into position ... it looked like an upright massage chair where I put my forehead against it and a platform for my feet and I took a hold of Nate's shirt and held him close while arching my back.  THE EPIDURAL WAS A DREAM.  I have heard horror stories about them not working, leaving you unable to walk for sometime, only working on one side, etc. but I was sooo blessed to have it work perfectly.  My entire labor I had been mostly uncommunicative - breathing and moaning through the contractions while holding Nate's hand against the bed rail while on my side with a pillow between my legs.  It is important to note that Nate was awesome during the birth.  He was there for me the entire time - I really needed to feel his presence there and he watched the monitors vigilantly.  He had expressed concern about the sights and smells of birth and wasn't sure he would be able to get through witnessing it ... lets face it ... he was scared.  But in reality he was a champ and wanted to be a part of everything.  He pretty much saw it all and didn't feel like he needed to leave or couldn't handle what was going on.  I was really really happy.  Once the epidural had taken affect I was "back" - as Nate said - and was chatting up the room.  I felt like I could actually do this.  Another two hours went by while I finished dilating the remaining three centimeters ... which were actually really restful for me.

The baby was moving down slowly - the doctor assured me that my pushing was helping and although I couldn't feel it we were making progress.  Unfortunately it was much slower then we all wanted and they were getting increasingly concerned.  I had developed a fever and they were suspecting that an infection was brewing in my uterus and might be the cause of my erratic contractions.  They told me if we didn't start pushing now and get her out soon we were looking at a C-Section for a third time today.  The nurses and doctor decided not to mention to me that the size of her head (turns out to be 14 inches) and my pelvis were at odds and thus they were concerned that we weren't going to be able to deliver vaginally ... after all that work that information would have been hard for me to hear so I was thankful to learn that information later.  As we began to get ready for pushing my mom grabbed my left leg and Nate had my right leg and I reached behind my thighs and bared down.  I was unable to identify the strongest contractions from the weaker ones (because yes I was still having double and triple contractions) and we wanted to make sure we pushed on the strong ones.  We got going on the pushing and I felt as though my eyes were going to pop out of my head.  For pretty much all labor and delivery my eyes were shut as I channeled my energy into getting the baby out.  I was trying to not get too light headed or feel like I was going to pass out.  As pushing progressed the internal monitor was removed and I was on my own knowing when to push but by this time I had a good idea.  I could feel the contractions at the top of my uterus and they weren't painful and then I could feel the pressure down below.  I was now calling the shots in the room and telling everyone when to get ready because we were going to start pushing.  My dad was across the room - out of visual range - and we put him to work counting to ten.  He mostly did a great job except in the moments when he ran out of breathe and started acting like a personal trainer and trailing off with the counting.  At that point I yelled out - "this is not a work out video - I am not pushing until you say ten, I am quitting at ten." He started to shape up then - hahaha.

Although I was told that everyone could see her head I wouldn't allow myself to think it meant more than just a spot on her head.  In reality a good portion of her head was visible!  I took my cues more from actions around me than the words I was hearing - when everyone got excited and animated I realized she was coming!  When the doctor started to get on her protective gear I realized we were close and I pushed even harder.  The doctor at this point said that she was going to use a vacuum to help her get out of there and I tried my best to make due with out it.  In the end the vacuum is exactly what she needed.  After about 45 min of pushing out she came at 7:05pm!

Finally here!  And she has hair!

Its funny to say but it all happened so fast - she was out and up on my chest in one big motion.  I was in shock that she was finally here.  She hadn't yet cried and so they took her away for a moment and Nate went with her as they cleaned her up and got her crying - I could hear her right away and I cried also.  Nate quickly brought her back to me and we had over an hour skin-to-skin contact.  I was like a broken record saying "BABY" and "She's so beautiful" over and over and over again.  She looked amazing - nice and full cheeks with smooth skin!  No wrinkly new-born baby here!  Other than the substantial bruise and a few abrasions on her head from the vacuum, she was perfect.  I cried and thanked Heavenly Father for a beautiful and healthy baby girl.  Nate and I are just amazed at how beautiful and wonderful she is.  We love her so much.  We still look at each other and say, "we have a baby!" or "can you believe that we did that?  we birthed a baby!"

It truly is a miracle and I have a deeper and more profound respect for women across the world and the ages for sacrificing so much and being so brave.  I feel honored to be counted among those women who are called mothers.  I am also humbled by the responsibility of motherhood and am thankful for the influence of the Spirit to guide Nate and I thorough this journey of parenthood. 

Stella Mae we love you more than words can describe!

the most photographed baby in utero

as of today - August 8th - i am 31 weeks! just a week shy of 8 months pregnant. a friend asked me the other day how far along and when i replied - almost 31 weeks she replied - "oh, only 9 more weeks to go - that's not too long" .... and that is when i started to have a mini panic. mostly about labor ... sort of about having a baby to take care of ... but mostly about labor. i have had two friends here in Oregon that have recently given birth and all i can say is whoa. but they are recovering and doing great - bumpy roads to motherhood and all. and there are all of you ladies out there reading this that have done it ... some of you multiple times! so i keep telling myself that millions of women have given birth in the course of history and certainly i can do it too. i feel blessed to be counted among you ladies and i am very excited to join the ranks of motherhood.

baby girl has been moving and shaking a ton these days, which adds to the reality that yes - there is a human being growing in my womb. the 3-D ultra sound images below (taken today) also help to solidify the reality! she is 3 1/2 pounds already (she gained an ounce this week)! she was sort of shy and had her hand up to her face the entire time we were looking at her ... we even tried to poke and jiggle her into another position without much success. this is what she was doing most of the time:


i love how you can see the definition of the hands and fingers so well! here is another shot where it's either her hand moving (so its blurry) or its the umbilical cord by her face. the other shots pretty much look like the one above or below.

i may have shed a few tears when i saw this girl's face. its so amazing how something so precious will be ours to love and take care of. i felt really really blessed to be her mom in this moment.

the reason for this super spiffy ultra-sound at this stage of the game is because i recently was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GD). not awesome. according to the doctors due to my family history i most likely will have it with any subsequent pregnancies (95% chance). i of course immediately worried that my pre-pregnancy weight-gain triggered my genes and the dietitian said that she didn't really think so. she said finding out this late in pregnancy was a good sign - keep the GD off as long as possible. of course losing the baby weight and the pre-pregnancy weight before another baby is desirable for all sorts of health and happiness reasons, it will at best delay the onset of gestational diabetes. with GD the pregnancy hormones keep my body from utilizing insulin to the best of its ability.

i get the joy of testing my blood four times a day with this little guy:



and have become quite skilled over the last four days. the trend thus far is that my fasting (over-night) blood sugar is high and so is my 1-hour post breakfast blood sugar (no matter what i do or do not eat). i can get my post lunch and dinner blood sugar down though with watching my carb intake (i love carbs of course) and limiting my fruits (so mean to a pregnant lady in the summer - right?) but we shall see. i might have to go on some medication at night to help keep the morning sugars low.

so they will be monitoring my blood sugar and checking up on baby girl via ultra-sound again in four weeks ... that will make a total of 5 ultra-sounds!

12 weeks - "are you really 14 weeks? nope you are 12 weeks" vaginal ultra-sound
20 weeks - "its a girl" ultra-sound - but she's measuring a tiny bit small
30 weeks - "just checking" ultra-sound - she looks good!
31 weeks - "gestational diabetes monitoring" ultra-sound - she still looks good!
next one - 35 weeks to check to make sure she is not getting too big

nate and i joke that she is the most photographed baby in utero on the planet.

the doctors won't let me go late for fear of the baby getting too big and if she is getting too big than they will induce early (eek!) so we will have a baby by October 11th for sure. Whoa.

anyway - since i gave you a shot of my insides, i figure its only fair to give you a shot of what we look like on the outside ... here i am in all my glory with baby girl at 31 weeks:

i wear dresses and skirts a lot these days ... so much more comfortable ... so i made sure to take a snap shot of me in one ... you know - for remembrance and all. my hair is getting so long and while i could definitely use a trim, its still really healthy and feels great. my skin - as i have mentioned before - is a whole other situation ... still awful.

i have a few other updates on projects i have been working on ... crib is up and running ... finally painted the baby's dresser/changing table ... and other projects ... AND i must show you the beautiful blankets/quilts made for me by some dear friends and family ... but all of these things need some photographs first.

one final note ... i am heading to So-Cal this thursday to see family and have a baby shower (yipee!) and its going to be the first time that nate and i have been apart since we were married 23 months ago. yeah we spend all day apart at work but never all day and all night. we are spoiled i know. i think it will be fine ... just weird. we aren't much of phone talkers so this should be interesting.

Despite it All ... I Just Knew (A Long Journal Type Entry)

I wrote this on Feb 6, 2011 ... a few days after we found out we were expecting.

Coming up on a week of having a cold, I called my mom in frustration (because your mother is the best person to use as a sounding board) - mostly looking for validation in my feelings and thoughts. I described how I had a feeling I was pregnant but every time I took a test it came out negative and that I didn't want to take any cold medicine because I really felt like the tests were wrong. I was afraid that my cold was turning into a sinus infection and I did not want to re-live that experience from January 2009 (believe me it was AWFUL). My mom suggested that I go see a doctor and at first I didn't want to because I didn't want them to tell me I was wrong - that I wasn't pregnant and that I didn't have a sinus infection. And maybe even worse - that my body was all messed up and I wasn't ovulating (like my doctor in the past has suspected.) I just wasn't sure I was ready to hear it all.

Of course my mom told me to just go and get the ball rolling on the whole thing and by the end of our conversation, I was resolved to make an appointment with the doctor. I called an OBGYN and told them my story - I thought I was pregnant ... I was late but my period isn't regular and test came out negative ... but I still felt like I was pregnant ... AND I had a bad head cold that I was worried was evolving into a sinus infection but I didn't want to take anything if I was pregnant. They basically said - we can't give you any medical advice until we see you and you can't get in for a week or so. Then she suggested that I see my general practitioner and ask them to do a pregnancy test. So that is what I did .... and the next afternoon (Wednesday Feb 2nd) I was sitting in the waiting room waiting for them to call my name.

The nurse - Marci - was outgoing and fun and we chatted about my symptoms and then I said ... but I haven't taken any medicine because I think I might be pregnant. She squealed and said - "Do you want to find out?" ... Yes ... "Do you need to pee?" ... I could pee. As we briskly walked down the hall I frantically told her that all the at home tests I had taken had come out negative but it wasn't like me to be late.... blah blah blah.

I took the test and it came out negative. I wasn't heart broken but I was a bit confused. She gave me the pep talk of "its okay, keep trying" and told me the doctor would be in shortly to see me. In he came and I debated about re-telling the whole thing and decided that it must be noted in my chart or something that we just got a negative response to the pee test. We talked about my cold, he went to listen to my back ... and a techinician knocked on the door looking for the nurse Marci ... we resumed our exam and he agreed that I was heading into a sinus infection and that antibiotics were needed ... along with some cough syrup with codine and sudafed (available only by prescription in Oregon). He put in the order and then said good day and good luck. I thanked him and preceded to get my coat and scarf on to leave when Marci came running in saying "thank heaven's you are still here ... don't move!" So I obeyed and waited as the doctor and Marci came back in and said, "so you think you might be pregnant" and I said, "I wasn't sure if that was relevant anymore" and Marci piped in "yeah since I just told you that you aren't ... you must be a bit confused!"

Yes Yes I was.

The doctor sent me to the lab to take a blood test to find out for sure. So apparently the nurse that had knocked on the door was looking for Marci because she saw a second line appear on the pregnancy test - a very faint line - but as many of you know ... a line is a line. Once she found Marci they did another test and sure enough - a really faint line appeared a second time. They showed me the samples and said - "We think you are pregnant! Yay!" I had to tell everyone to calm down because I didn't want to get my hopes up. They were like - "Oh be positive this is great - you are pregnant - its so happy" and then I burst in to tears because I was so scared the blood test would be negative ... EVEN THOUGH I KNEW TWO WEEKS AGO THAT I WAS PREGNANT. Even before the 19th of January I thought I might be, but I dismissed it as wishful thinking. But after the 19th I was pretty sure, but the test kept coming out negative.

So they took my blood as I cried and they told me that the results usually took a day to get back from the lab but because they too were sooo curious they were going to put a rush on it and Marci would call me by 5:00pm (it was already 3:45 by then). I walked out of there in a daze and headed to the pharmacy down the street. My whole world had just potentially changed and I was sooo excited and overwhelmed and still reserved that it wasn't true. By the time I received my medicine and explained to the pharmacist that I no longer wanted the prescribed sudafed (doctor said to play it on the safe side and not take it which was fine by me) because I thought I might be pregnant ... Marci called!

Amidst signing for the medicine and talking to the pharmacist I heard Marci say that the blood test was similar to the other test - faint but for sure positive! I was definitely pregnant and there was no way I would have found out at home for another week or two. She said they would look closer at my blood to determine how far along I was and call me the next day. Again I was in a daze as I drove home to tell Nate the wonderful news!

I came home and told Nate that I needed a hug. We hugged for a bit and I took off my sweater and showed him my hot pink bandage where they took my blood. He asked me why they took my blood and I hugged him and said because they want to find out for sure if I was pregnant! He was super happy and squeezed me tight. We are soooo excited!

The next day Marci called with the results that they think that we are 5/6 weeks pregnant! That gives us an October 3, 2011 due date. Whoa. That is pretty close to what were were shooting for! By my estimations, we were more likely 3 weeks when we found out. We have since had a few baby doctor appointments and I have been overwhelmingly sick. Immediately it was discovered that I had a yeast infection and a urinary track infection - AT THE SAME TIME (seriously who does that).

Updated April 4, 2011:

A month after finding out I got ANOTHER Sinus infection ... only this one was on par with the sinus infection from 2009. I was down and out for a week and wished for death. Amongst all this I was nauseated like I have never felt before. All sorts of foods would sound good one week and the next week I couldn't stand the thought. I was totally off fruit for a month - it just didn't taste the same and I couldn't eat it. We met our doctor during sinus infection #2 and we really liked him. He gave me a strong anti-biotic (but still okay for baby) and it still took days to recover. That was awful. Then my on-going eye infection/irritation returned in my left eye and the eye doctor tried to help me. After two visits and a week, we got it straightened out. Then last weekend Nate woke up on Saturday with a terrible head cold and I woke up with a swollen right eye! Seriously ... can I get a break here? Pregnancy is going to kill me from discomfort.

We both recovered in time to keep our appointment to see the little flicker of the heart beat of our little fortune cookie. It was magical. After that appointment I shared the news with my co-workers and bosses and everyone has been really supportive and congratulatory. I feel very blessed. I have another ultra-sound tomorrow (Monday 4/4) to determine if we are 14 weeks or 12 weeks (like Nate and I think we are ... not that I want to drag this on any longer ... it already feels like forever) ... but my doctor wants to try to be as accurate as possible.

More to come ...... and it only gets better in the second trimester ... right?!

i'm spreading the news ...

remember this awesome Halloween costume idea that i thankfully realized was inappropriate for church trunk o'treats???

well its too bad we won't be at this stage next Halloween:


that is because our little "bun" will no longer be in the proverbial "oven" ... if you know what I mean (wink wink)!

Yes we are having a wee one! And we are so so so excited about it. Its been tough to keep this one under wraps - because I am the WORST at keeping my own secrets (case in point - telling people Nate and I were getting married before he had the chance to tell a few choice family members).

We just saw the little flicker of the heartbeat today and it was magical. We have a follow up next week to get a more accurate idea of how far along we are (our doctor had to rush our appointment due to a patient in labor and ready to deliver) and when our official due date will be (sometime in October).

We are super duper excited to have a baby and feel really blessed that all is going well so far! Yay for babies ... more details to come!

i mustache you a question ...

Yeah, I am a copy cat. But imitation is the highest form of flattery ... right? I saw a ton of people do this for a Valentine, although most are kids valentines ... but I thought my husband would get a kick out of it so I threw it together using my best bridal shot and a free download of mustaches to choose from (i can't find the exact one i used but this one is pretty cute). Side note ... google mustache template ... wait, I did it for you HERE ... its pretty awesome.

Anyway, Nate smiled and laughed and then said sweetly, "look how pretty you are." Its a wise man that says "are" and not accidentally "were."


He in return wrote me a love letter of sorts. It was very very sweet. I may or may not have shed a few tears while reading it.

primed and ready to go

so her she is ... all primed up with some oil base primer that is such an awful thing to clean up ... i have oil based because that is what the paint guys at Home Depot kept stressing. even with water based paint to go over the top of it ... they said its the best. ugh ... i think i will go oil based once i run out of this quart just to see. (i like to learn the hard way)

here you can see my patchwork of painters tape around the hardware that WOULD NOT COME OFF ... i am still annoyed by this aspect of the buffet/sideboard.


all nine drawers waiting for a few coats of caribbean splash (don't be fooled by soon to come pictures ... the painters tape and caribbean splash are not the same color) ...


her body all empty and primed (kilz brand is what i used).


.... next up painting!

and while i was painting i stole a picture of my cute husband after a long day of work ... he lets me sleep in the wee hours of the morning and i let him nap when he gets home from work (sometimes.) is he listening to his student's oral homework assignments? or watching an episode of the Simpsons ... my money is on the later.

Lemon Pi

Nate and I just finished listening to a book on tape - Life of Pi. I do believe that my friend Maya has been suggesting I read it for a few years now. I very much enjoyed it ... although I didn't like how the book ended. It left me feeling dissatisfied ... as endings usually do (as I think I have said before, I don't much like the end of books.)


It is the second book we have listened to on tape - the others include The Great Divorce and Mere Christianity. My husband really enjoys listening to books on tape and the idea of reading books together. I think he got the idea from his parents who do the same thing. I am really enjoying it - it gives us something to discuss beyond our own lives, the news, and the gospel. Although, I must admit we tend to relate everything we read to those three categories anyway ... especially the gospel. Of course both the C.S. Lewis books are about religion and thus church doctrine informs our discussion of those books, but Life of Pi also has a unique perspective on religion. The narrator's voice is also exceptionally interesting and entertaining.

Anyway - its a good read. And no, neither of the two words referred to in the last post were found in this book. They are, however, found in the new Dan Brown book Lost Symbol which I am currently reading on my own. But I must say, I have been slowing down a bit on the reading of it because I am close to the end - only a 125 pages left. And have we learned about my reading habits ... yup, that's right ... I don't like the end of books. And so I will let this one drag out for a few weeks I am sure. Aggravating, isn't it?

the professional pictures are here! sort of ...

my photographer just sent me the link to our wedding pictures! YAY! Check them out. I will have my digital copy sometime next week and then I will share them on the blog! Until then ... click through until you have had your fill!

the family dug up a few more wedding photos

Thanks to my mother-in-law, we have a few more wedding photos to share while we patiently wait for the professional photos. Thanks Gennie!

one of our best!

Jonas reaching for my owl pendant I had attached to my flowers. How fun is that bouquet?!

Nate's oldest brother Joe and his wife Sara and their girls Libby and Jenna.

Sara made Libby and Jenna's dress - these girls are sooo super cute!

I throw this one in to illustrate my niece Brooklyn's great affection for Nate.
When we came out of the temple, her first question was:
"Uncle Nate, why did you marry Aunt B?"

Nathan, Grandma Soelberg, and my father-in-law Craig

The happy couple kneel down to talk to Jimmie and Jenna on the steps of the temple.

10 of our 13 nieces and nephews pictured here:
Hunter, Cameron, Libby, Jenna, Mikyla, Monica, Terrick, Joaquin, Jimmie, and Annabelle
(held by Kate - Nate's younger sister)

All 5 Soelberg kids!
(Ben, Joe, Nate, Kate, Steve)

Beautiful Temple, Beautiful Day

My sister-in-law Kate and her yummy 5 month old Annabelle

This girl is sooo smiley, I love it!


And our favorite picture of the bunch:

I love the attitude on my face (I was annoyed at the wind I think) and his discontent at the idea of holding back my veil all day ... hahahahaha! Also, check out the face on Nathan Soelberg ...
he makes it often ... I laugh everytime!

a few more pictures ... but not quite satisfying ... i know

18 days and counting

It has been 18 days since I gained a husband and became a wife and a Soelberg … sounds like a lot – right? But I must admit it feels really normal. Sure there are things to get used to – like sharing my bed and my bathroom with a boy, but generally it feels super natural for me. I am not sure Nate would agree … but maybe he would … I honestly don’t know.

I know you are all interested in seeing more pictures of the wedding … so am I … so hopefully we will get more photos from friends and family while waiting for the professional ones. I have sent out a plea to my family to share any pictures they may have snapped of the big day.

I also wanted to let you all know what we have been up to during our first few weeks of wedded bliss. Over 18 days we have been to the following cities:

- Newport Beach, CA
- Laguna Beach, CA
- Irvine, CA
- Bakersfield, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, FL
- Cococay, Bahamas
- Nassau, Bahamas
- Eugene, OR
- Silverdale, WA
- Port Ludlow, WA
- Des Moines, WA
- Seattle, WA

NEWPORT BEACH, LAGUNA BEACH, IRVINE
Your tired just reading the list aren’t you? Yeah. So am I. How and why did we cover so much ground? Well, we were married in Newport Beach, then we stayed in Laguna Beach at a cute little hotel on Pacific Coast Highway and went to the beach and ate breakfast at the Cottage each morning! It was very relaxing to hang out at the beach after the excitement of the wedding. We then spent Labor Day with my entire family at my parent’s community pool and topped it off with a BBQ. My nieces and nephews LOVE to play with Uncle Nate – oh, and my two older brothers also enjoyed playing with Nate, including him in a little game of catch while in the pool.

BAKERSFIELD, MIAMI, BAHAMAS
It was off to Bakersfield for a few days with the Soelberg’s and our second reception – we had so much fun and received a warm welcome from family and friends. I loved wearing my wedding dress again and enjoyed the beautiful flowers and decorations arranged by my MIL (mother in law) Gennie. We then headed down to Los Angeles where we caught a plane to Miami, spending the night there before heading out on a three day cruise to the Bahamas, visiting Cococay and Nassau. The islands were beautiful and the people-watching on the boat was even better. While we don’t quite think we “cruise people,” we did enjoy ourselves since we didn’t have to worry much about anything while on the boat.

SILVERDALE, PORT LUDLOW
Flying back out of Miami and into LAX, we spent one more night back in Irvine and then one last night in Bakersfield – we expressed are sincere thanks and appreciation and said “so long until December” to our families and headed out on the 12 hour drive to Eugene. After only two nights in Eugene we got back in Ruby (our trusty Scion) and headed farther north to the Seattle area to visit Grandma Craig in Silverdale (Nate’s maternal grandmother) and Jim & Denise in Port Ludlow (Nate’s Aunt and Uncle.) Due to health and other constraints, many family members were unable to attend our wedding and so we decided to go visit and spend time with them. We are sooo glad we did! We had such a great time and got to spend more time talking with them at their homes than we would have at our wedding.

DES MOINES, SEATTLE
While in the area we also stayed with some family friends of the Soelbergs from Nate’s “home ward” in Des Moines, Washington (a suburb RIGHT outside of Seattle.) The Gleasons and the Pedersens received us warmly and they are now some of my favorite people. We talked extensively with each couple about the past, present, and future, as well as the gospel and the Lord’s plan for us. It was wonderful!

Another reason for heading up North was to attend Nate’s 10-year High School Reunion at Kell’s Irish Pub in West Seattle. It was really fun to see and talk with old friends of Nate’s. There was a good turn out and he really had a good time, even though the bar was crowded and loud. Nate’s voice was gone by the time we left!

EUGENE
It has been a journey. We are currently house-sitting in Eugene at our single’s ward Bishop’s house while him and his wife are in Hawaii! We are so very grateful for their generosity in letting us live in their beautiful and spacious house out in the country! It has been really fun for us and has helped give us some more time to apartment-hunt and find the right place for us. We know that the Lord is leading and guiding us to the right place and continually blesses us as we strive to be like our Savior. We feel blessed and are filled with gratitude for the love and support we have and continue to receive from all we come in contact with. We pray that it will continue as we work to finish school and find temporary employment and make plans to live abroad.

More Updates to Come!

bliss

A sneak peak into the wedding day ... more pictures to come when we get settled ... all I can say is that it was wonderful ... beautiful ... perfect ... in a word - BLISS.

Photos courtesy of Kelly - thank you!

seven days ... and counting

While its been a blast being in the same city, and the same house even,
for the past two and a half weeks ...
its going to be great not living down the hall from each other.

It will also be nice to not be living with my parents (as much as we have loved hanging out with them) and sharing my mom's kitchen.

I can't wait for us to have our own place!

I am also super excited to not be sleeping alone anymore ...
seriously, its one of the things I disliked most about being single.
Going to bed alone and making decisions alone are the things I will miss least (at least at first ;\)

These past few weeks with finalizing the wedding plans, it is all sinking in.
I. AM. GETTING. MARRIED.

In all honesty I have thought a lot about how I would feel when this time came.

To be married in the TEMPLE is something I have always wanted
and I have often wondered what it would be like.

How would I know? What would I feel like?

I can't really describe either, except like this:

I have never loved anyone like I love Nate.
I love him in a complete way ... in a way that makes me want to be better
and I am excited to meet the challenges of life with him.

Each day (even when we fight) I feel like we grow a little closer ... he finds a new way to make me laugh (even without trying) and I feel my love and appreciation for him deepen.

I could not be happier!

guess who's coming to town??

but who's counting?

5 days until Nate is in Irvine!
YAY!

28 days until we are married!
Double YAY!

For TIME & ALL ETERNITY!
(whoa - right?)

I like us ... I hope you do too!

sneak peaks ... 31 days out

Since most of the people who read my sparse (as of late) posts are old friends that unfortunately will not be attending the wedding celebration, I thought I would give you a sneak peak into what I have been busy working on. I feel like our wedding reception will be fairly low-key ... with basically all the decorations done by me. I have some very distinct ideas of what I like and its my first real opportunity to try out some my decorating ideas. As many of you know - I like very flowery, swirly, "baroque" (if you will), heavy decorations. Clean and simple lines are not really my thing. So naturally our wedding will reflect this. I do however subscribe to the philosophy that less is more ... so that translates to not a lot of things but the things that are in the room are very busy and ornate. Enough talk ... now for the pictures! Remember this is a sneak peak ... which means that these are process photos ... showing you the work I have been doing which includes, painting, printing and planting mostly.

Before:
Ikea frames I have been wanting for years now but never could justify more than one since I don't really have a real home to decorate. Now they are mine! YAY!

During: Priming the original black ... lots of nooks & crannies!

After: Ta-Da! Navy blue with a little antique white dry-brushing ...
we had to trim the canvas to fit the oval because of course Ikea can't make a standard oval dimension ... sheesh. Had fun picking the font (trying to match the invitation font) and trying to get it to look just right. Also had fun (read the sarcasm here) printing the individual letters as large as I could ... then ironed on the letters one at a time so they would overlap!

Before: My dad had these sweet gilted frames up in the attack that he had rescued from the dumpster at work. Can you believe people were just throwing these away?! The red and gold was not working for us though ... so I got to priming again.

During: Primer ... again.

After: Two frames done in the same way as the Ikea frames. They turned out really well!

After (again): This is how one of the frames will be used. Printed the sign at OfficeMax for $3! That of course is without mounting, which I will do myself. I will mount it to foamcore that my dad also rescued from the dumpster at work! YAY!

My beautiful map ... I don't want to give away all the fun ... so I will tell you about this after the wedding (for those that won't be there)

Succulent Lovelies: I potted all these succulents (they are desert plants in the cactus family) in vintage milkglass that I had scouted out in thrift stores. I really like how they turned out. No two are the same really ... different plants in different arrangements in different vases or bowls. These are the table center pieces which will have navy table cloths.

SO THERE IS YOUR SNEAK PEAK! HOPE YOU ARE AS EXCITED AS I AM TO SHARE OUR WEDDING ... EITHER ON SEPTEMBER 5TH OR AFTER ON MY BLOG!

P.S. Don't panic if you have not received your invitation ... they haven't been sent yet (EEKKK - i know miss manners is shaking her finger at me ... we are having a printer issue ... should go out next week I hope!!)