Exquisite Joy

I've been procrastinating. I have been home since 2:30 this afternoon, and so far all I have done is take my Anatomy & Physiology Test (perfect score, by the way). My thoughts are the main culprit for causing me to procrastinate. I cannot help but think about what a blessing it is to be married to someone who is my best friend, who makes me laugh every single day, and who I love more than I understand. The beauty and great blessing of temple ordinances then hopped onto that train of thought, and it made me smile inside and tear up a little on the outside about how wonderful it is that I get to be with Derek forever. And this tiny little baby will be a part of our eternal family. We will get to be with them forever. 

It's amazing.

So while I was procrastinating, I decided to be creative so that my time wasn't completely unproductive! Thus, I put my energy into making these:

I love this quote. I put this together using a quote from Elder Richard G. Scott. The full quote reads: 

"I know the exquisite joy that comes from an eternal marriage sealed at a temple altar through the holy sealing power. When there is righteousness, a commitment to give of self, obedience to the commandments of God, and the resolve to seek His will in all things together, that joy is unspeakable. I do not have words to express the fulfillment and peace that flow from such a supernal experience, even when there is a temporary interruption of the glory of life together on earth. It is that joy and happiness I want so much for each of you. More importantly, that is what your Father in Heaven wants for you."

This one is all about children. It was inspired, obviously, by my thoughts about this sweet little baby Derek and I will be having in the beginning of October. 

The first half of this is from a quote by Elder Russel M. Nelson. The full quote reads: 

"Do not try to control your children. Instead, listen to them, help them to learn the gospel, inspire them, and lead them toward eternal life. You are God's agents in the care of His children He has entrusted to you. Let His divine influence remain in your hearts as you teach and persuade."

The last half of this is just thoughts that came to my mind. I love that families are forever. And it humbles me that God trusts us enough to send us His precious spirit children for us to raise, and hopefully teach, so that they will be able to make the decisions they need to in order to return to Him again.

I can't wait to meet this little baby! Goodness, I can't even wait until my next appointment! It is next Thursday, and I'm hoping that since I'm a new patient they'll do an ultrasound so I can at least see our little pea! 

It's sweet to think about how much joy will come not only from my marriage, but from the children that we will bring into our family. 

As Elder Scott says, "exquisite joy."

Sewing Success!

I enjoy being creative. I really do! And sewing blankets for friends or new babies in my family is one way in which I feel creative.

My older sister Courtney had her little girl on March 29th. I'm so excited and happy for them! I love seeing the number of nieces and nephews in my family grow. I decided I wanted to make a couple receiving blankets and matching burp cloths for my new niece Piper.
 In the past few years I've made multiple blankets and completed other sewing projects successfully. But these receiving blankets are a little bit... different. I had helped my mom pin a receiving blanket before, and done the decorative stitch around the outside. I should be able to make one on my own, right?

Well, the blankets were made and they worked out. However, I did not sew them correctly. I messed up one thing after another, and eventually had to creatively "fix" them. I got so discouraged at one point that I texted Derek and told him, "If I ever get ambitious and decide that I want to sew clothes for our children, just stop me."

But! Since I'm going to have a baby of my own in six months, my mom decided that she had better show me just how to correctly sew these receiving blankets. And I did it! I sewed my blanket correctly and didn't have to unpick anything! 

The blanket in progress. I've already sewn the two squares together, sewn the corners, and am going over the top with a really cute decorative stitch.

And the finished product! It's folded up a little, of course.

My mom let me pick out fabric to make a receiving blanket for a little girl and fabric to make one for a little boy. Since I don't know what I'm having yet, I'll be prepared and then I can save whichever one I don't use for this baby for another in the coming years.

If I may say so myself, isn't that fabric in the pictures above so cute?! I love, love, LOVE it.

I'm so proud of myself for finishing this project without any mishaps! 

Feels good to finally have some sewing success.

14 Weeks

I am 14 weeks today! This means that I am officially in the second trimester of my pregnancy.

Here's what I experienced in the first trimester:

- No morning sickness. Or any-other-time-of-the-day sickness. I am very lucky to have had it so easy, but I believe I won't know just how lucky unless I do get sick with another pregnancy in the future.

- Tenderness in the... well, it really hurt to give Derek a hug. Let's just leave it at that.

- Tired beyond belief. I am usually tired throughout most of my day due to lack of a proper sleep schedule and doing too much. But I was more tired than I had ever felt before! I took 3-4 hour naps each day in the afternoon and slept just fine at night. (However, I do believe that the tiredness I will feel once the baby is actually here will blow the current tired feeling out of the water.)

- Craving sweet things! ...more than usual. I have a big sweet tooth. I guess you could say that it runs in my family. But in the course of one day I would want (in no particular order): no bake cookies, cinnamon rolls, Hershey's kisses, ice cream, brownies, and a sweet pretzel with caramel sauce. Yeah, it was bad.

And last, but definitely not least...

SO MUCH EXCITEMENT. This symptom hasn't gone away, and I don't think it will! I am so excited to be a mom! I am constantly reading about what is developing this week in this little pea. My thoughts are consumed with "What's it gonna be? Boy or girl?" My family has told me multiple times that they're excited to know "what kind I'm growing".

I'm so happy that I get to be a mom, and am loving pregnancy so far!

P.S.   Derek comes home in 8 days!