Dollie Rhae's Birth Story

I've been pretty excited to share this. 3 reasons: 1. Because I LOVE hearing other people's birth stories. And for 6yrs of marriage, nearly all of our friends have had kids, some w/multiple, and I've always imagined what my first birth story would be like. 2. I loved my first birth experience so much that maybe some of the things I did to prepare could help other women love theirs too. 3. I don't want to forget the experience. I want to come back and read all the details.

So this is gonna be pretty detailed. Just the way those of you who like these stories, like me, prefer!

It started about 5 yrs ago while watching Jay Leno. Jessica Alba was there talking about giving birth to her first baby using the method "Hypnobirthing" and how amazing it was. It sounded super interesting to me. The seed was planted.

Now fast forward a few years. Bodie and I decided it was time to have a kid. Got off birth control and expected to be preg in a couple months. Fast forward 1yr 9months, and a bunch of medical tests (which were all normal) later and we were FINALLY pregnant! Woohoo! Well at this point we had been married over 5yrs during which time I had heard stories, opinions, experiences, etc...from SO many friends having babies. Good, bad, ugly. Hearing all of this, plus doing my own research, I had decided long before we were pregnant what I wanted. What was important to me.

Now I know that for most people "winging it" and just going to the hospital and having the baby is just fine. But for me I really wanted to have a natural birth and in order for me to do that I couldn't just wing it. I had to plan and prep a lot. My pain tolerance isn't good. And so I needed a plan to help me.

Enter Hypnobirthing. A lot of people would say to me, "why would I want to go natural and feel that pain? I would rather not feel it if I don't have to." Well that's just it, Hypnobirthing isn't about having a natural birth and withstanding the pain. It's about having a natural birth and not feeling so much pain. Here is a GREAT video about it: hypnobirthing video Now I know what you're thinking. People would laugh at me when I explained that to them and I heard a lot of "good luck with that, hope it works..haha.." I got a lot of wide eyes, and grins from Mom's. They had given birth, I hadn't. I was "naïve", and didn't know what I was in for. And what could I say to them? Nothing. Until I did it. But I preached it. And I was excited about it. I didn't let people get me down, or get me nervous. Also people would tell me that my plan was all good and great, but to be prepared for it to not work. Well my answer to that was this: I understand things can go wrong. But why would I plan for the worst? Who does that? I would rather plan for a great experience. I think that goes for anything in life. Anyway...  It ended up that one of my best friends had done it and loved it. Perfect! Even better! So I ordered the book, which came with the cd (HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method: The Breakthrough Natural Approach to Safer, Easier, More Comfortable Birthing), and started to prep. I read the book in about 2 weeks, and listened to the cd a lot. Also watched a lot of videos on you tube. That was basically it through pregnancy. I did review the book again my last trimester. There are classes, but Bodie was gone to Cali for 7 months of my pregnancy so we didn't take them. I refrained from listening to people who had bad birth experiences and really kept my mind positive. Lots of relaxation and a ton of visualizing of what giving birth would be like for me. Let me tell you, it's hard to stay away from all the negativity. I would have to stop people from carrying on their stories because I just didn't want to hear the bad stuff. It wasn't anything to do with them, or what unfortunately went wrong, or wasn't enjoyable for them, it was just that I couldn't have those images in my mind if I wanted my plan to work. I listened to the cd's daily, and every night. Also I prepared the outline for my birth plan early on, first trimester, although toward the end I changed quite a few things. And of course in my plan I included that if anything did go wrong and medical intervention was needed that they would have our complete cooperation.  I also chose to have a midwife and to deliver at the hospital. My midwife was very familiar with Hypnobirthing which was a bonus.

So some of you are thinking wow this is too much...that I'm a weirdo...who cares about all that! Just have the kid! That's ok. Because all of this planning was well worth it for me.

So my due date was June 11th. And 3 weeks before that I was a 3 and 80%. My midwife said I wouldn't go another week. Another week passed. Next appt,  a 3 and 85%. She said again, your gonna go in 3-5 days. Another week passed. Now it's week 39 and I'm a 4 and 90%. She was so sure this week. (I still hadn't had any contractions). All this time drawing closer to my due date and Bodie's ironman which was the 23rd. So by this time I'm eating spicy foods, walking a ton, etc...all the while thinking "it's all good. I'll have the baby before ironman." We'll then my due date came. Tues the 11th. I go in for my appt and she was so surprised to see me. At this point I think she felt kinda bad for getting my hopes up the past 3 weeks. So I was still a 4 and 90%. She said she really couldn't imagine me going another week. Well at this rate another week was very likely, based off the last 3. And if another week passed that puts me at the 18th, 5 days from ironman. So I hesitantly told her that if another week passed and baby wasn't here then I probably needed to be induced so I had a few days to recover to be able to stand around all day at the race. She said ok and told me they could break my water and start me on some pitocin. Wait, What!? No. I told her I thought she could just break my water and wait for a bit without pitocin. She said that would be "half" inducing me...well I started bawling. I cried and told her that I did not want pitocin and that I wanted to go natural and if I had pitocin I didn't know if I could. She was a little shocked at how upset I got haha, so she calmed me down and told me to not even worry about it because I would go before next week and it would be fine. But she said we needed to at least schedule it just in case so I had a spot. (One reason that an at-home birth is so tempting) So, we scheduled it for a week later on the 18th, which was Bodies 29th birthday. At least if that day came it could be a little more special! So I left and was super emotional. I came home and told Bodie and just broke down again. I had just planned and prepared for so long for my natural birth, and now I was scheduled to be induced. Dang Ironman! (Haha jk jk, the ironman was a ridiculously huge life event for Bodie and I was so excited for it.) So Bodie basically said this, "Katie, you have been talking and planning using Hypnobirthing and about how it's all the power of the mind...so I think if you truly want to have this baby this week then you need to do what you've been talking about, the power of the mind. If you really want to have the baby this week then you will." Enough said. He was right. That day/night, and the next day and night I literally would just take time focus and visualize and tell myself that the baby was coming this week. Also I amped up my waking like crazy, and did a bunch of stairs, and also squats. Side note: Bodie was working nights, so he worked all tues night, and then worked all day Wed, and went in Wed night too. His mom and I watched a movie Wed night, and headed to bed at about midnight. She asked me if I was feeling anything...the answer was Nope, nothing. So I text Bodie and told him I was heading to bed about 12:30am and that I would see him soon. He was getting home about 2am..I went to sleep at 1am. At 2am, 1hr later, I woke up to what I knew was a contraction or as hypnobirthing calls it a uterine surge. I had another one 10 minutes later. YES! Finally! I had been waiting patiently for those! I text Bodie and asked him if he was almost done. About 2:20am I think I had had like 4-5 surges. I told him I was having contractions, and they were 5min apart and that it was prob a good idea for him to head home. He was just finishing a site and was on his way anyway. So I put my cd in, and my headphones, and started my breathing, and visualizing. I laid in bed for a bit, then got up and packed a few more items in the hospital bag. Bodie got home about 3am and he gave me a priesthood blessing that everything would go well. We told his mom we were leaving and headed out about 3:30. It took 30 min to get to Sacred Heard hospital. We got up the birth floor at 4am and I sat in a wheelchair and we waited for quite a while. I had my headphones in this entire time since leaving the house. I had my eyes closed and just focused on relaxing and getting in the "zone". I guess we waited about 40min. I went into the triage and they checked me and I was a 4 1/2. Then I asked Bodie to grab me the garbage can, I needed to throw up. I was having a lot of surges, but I was fine. I guess my body just reacts that way. Then I changed into a gown and we went to our room. As we were walking in one nurse asked Bodie if the jacuzzi was gonna be used, I opened my eyes and said yes! I was so excited. I had planned to use it. So I just got right it and the nurses left us alone for a long time. Bodie got my relaxing music going, dimmed the lights, and also got my lavender/lemongrass aroma therapy going. Aaaaahh...relaxation baby! I ordered him to go sleep while I soaked. At this point he had worked like 20hrs straight with no sleep. One nurse came in and checked on me and asked about my hypnobirthing. She was surprised when I told her I hadn't taken any classes. Side note: cool thing about sacred heart, 2 weeks before they had called me and asked me about my entire birth plan. They stuck right to it. I didn't have to tell them one thing. They never asked me about my pain scale, or offered me medication. Score! So the nurse told me to continue relaxing as long as I wanted. I guess I was in there about 1hr 15min. Then decided to get out. I went to the bathroom, and had to throw up again. Dumb. Bodie came in and assisted me in that. I hopped back in the tub and just held the shower head on my abdomen and back, felt amazing. Then the nurses came in and I got into bed. It was about 6:30am. At 7am Liz, my midwife came in. It was cool. She, and the nurses, were so quiet...and they were commenting on how wonderful it smelled and the good relaxing music. When they asked me anything they whispered and kept the mood going. Exactly the environment I had hoped for. So Liz told me that everyone told her how well I was doing with my hypnobirthing. She asked my if my water had broke, I told her I didn't know, I was in the tub the whole time till now. She told me she wanted to check me and asked if I was only a 5 1/2 would I want her to break my water because it would really speed up the process. I told her I didn't know...so she said she would check me to see where I was at and then I could decide. So she checked me and said, " Katie you are complete. You are a 10 and completely effaced. Great job. The hardest part is over. Now all that's left is to push the baby out!" I couldn't believe it. I had heard horror stories in the past about "transition" and wow was that so great and easy! I remained calm and relaxed...kept my eyes closed and stayed in my zone. She asked me if I wanted her to break my water. I shook my head yes. As she told the nurse to grab the tool to break it, it broke on its own. Yes! Its on! In my mind I was like SWEET done deal baby! 10 check, 100% check, water broke check, I'm gonna have this baby in no time! Hypnobirthing had worked exactly as planned. Then my midwife told me that it could take 2 hrs to push the baby out......Um...what? Why? I really wish she wouldn't have told me that. Because I think it took me away from my zone a little..just a little though. Every so often I would peek at the clock...and I just kept checking to see how close we were to 2 hrs, Dumb. So the entire time up until this point and until the end I kept my eyes closed. Bodie stood by my side and just held my hand. With every surge I breathed deep and made sure that I didn't tense up. Relax...I kept telling myself "Calm, peace, relax" over and over. Every time a nurse came in or Liz came in to check me they were so quiet and respectful of our experience. If I was in the middle of a surge they would wait until it was over to ask me a question. I remember hearing them say that they would rather stay in my room that go in other peoples rooms. Liz did tell me to just continue relaxing and when I felt the urge to push then go ahead. Well I never had that urge. I laid in bed for I think another 2 hours. But it seemed like 30 minutes. I don't know. It just didn't seem that long. So then the nurse came over and asked what I would like to do. I just mumbled, "get the baby out". I was just ready to go. I knew I couldn't just keep laying there. Hypnobirthing teaches you to "breath" the baby down, not push. If you want to know why, then the next time you need to use the bathroom, try visualizing and breathing "it" down, instead of pushing, and you'll see what happens. Smooth sailing...no pushing needed ;) So anyway, when I mumbled that to her she said, "ok then lets work toward that...on your next contractions try pushing". I should have breathed...not pushed, but I pushed and then kept pushing. I pushed for 1 1/2 hrs. A few times babies heart rate didn't recover very well so they would have me wait to push. That was hard. Once you start pushing you cant stop. At least I couldn't. But it did feel good to push against the contractions. Also I remember hearing them say "she is having a lot of contractions..." they came very quick, like every 30-45 seconds. I told Bodie after that I thought I pushed like 35 times, he said, "yeah try like 135 times!" haha..anyway, they had me use the bar, and also change positions a few times to help babies heart rate. When I would push Liz would say Great job Katie! You really moved the baby down that time. After hearing her say that a bunch of times I kinda quit believing her. I just thought, "yeah right, you are just saying that to motivate me". But then Bodie started to say it. And he was getting pretty excited. I knew he was seeing something and I knew I could believe him so I was getting excited. Toward the end Liz called another doctor to come over, and they were talking about getting the vacuum because we needed to get the baby out. Its funny because as I am typing this it sounds to me like it kinda crazy in the room...babies heart rate, changing positions, vacuum...but the room seriously was still so quiet. I wasn't vocal AT ALL. In fact they would ask me things and I heard them but I wouldn't even respond haha...I just was so in my zone...and yet I heard everything. I was just so to myself, but very aware. Then Liz said, "Look Katie, I am getting my stuff on, your baby is getting so close!" And for the first time in a long time I opened my eyes and there were like 3 more nurses setting stuff up, and her and the other doctor. And she had her gloves and stuff on. I was so surprised! And then I asked her to make sure Bodie announced the gender. She asked him if he wanted to help deliver the baby and cut the cord, he said he just wanted to cut the cord. She then told me that she would need to give me an episiotomy. I told her that was fine. So I pushed another time, and as I pushed she cut me and out came the baby! And let me tell you what. INSTANT RELIEF. Any pressure or pain I felt was 100% gone in a flash. I felt SO good. The baby was on my belly for a second, facing down and im waiting...waiting...like 10 seconds go by and I'm like BODIE! What is it?? And Liz said, "Oh here!" and she turned the baby over and Bodie looks for a second, and says, WAY surprised, "Its a girl!" I just held her and LOVED her so so much. I was just in complete heaven. Physically, emotionally, mentally...amazing. Bodie went over when they weighed her, and they delivered the placenta and started to sew me up. I was in the best mood. Even after pushing for 1 1/2 hrs I felt great! I asked them how many stitches, they said, " Oh...a few.." haha! And I also asked to see the placenta which was pretty awesome. We waited there for like an hour and I just held her and basked in the glory. I thanked Liz and everyone so much for their help. I told them how happy I was to have had a natural birth like I wanted. Then we headed to the recovery room down the hall, and on the way Bodie got to ring the bell :) Once in the recovery room Bodie helped bath her, and we just relaxed with our sweet girl and Bodie's mom. I made some calls to my Mom and Dad and sisters. We left the next morning. So she was born on the 13th at 10:41am weighing 8lbs 2oz, 22". So healthy and well. The entire experience from my first contraction to birth was 8hrs 41 minutes. Not bad for a first labor and delivery! After talking about about everything over the next few days Bodie couldn't believe I heard and remembered things. He kept saying," You heard that? Wow, I didn't think you heard anything. I just thought you were out." Nope, I heard it all, but I guess I appeared very calm and relaxed the whole time. Not one single time did an epidural enter my thoughts. 2 weeks later when I saw Liz for my checkup I walked in and she said, "There's the champion", I laughed. She told me that her and the doctor and nurses were so impressed with how I did. She asked me a lot about hypnobirthing and agreed that the mind is a very powerful thing. It felt great to get those compliments. I don't tell this story to make anyone feel bad for not going natural, or to put myself up on a pedestal, but because I feel VERY accomplished. This is something that I am very very proud of. And lets face it, to prove all those people wrong feels GREAT! I will use hypnobirthing for all my births and I would recommend it to ANYONE. Even if you want to have an epidural, the hypnobirthing techniques will help you up until that point. Its amazing. The only thing I would do different is to try breathing the baby down, versus pushing. And maybe had I taken the classes it would have helped.

Since Dollie's birth things are so well. It was a pretty rough and painful recovery for a solid 2 weeks due to the tearing AND cutting. I guess there are 4 category's of severity and I was a 3. But all is well now. I feel great and I am looking forward to this Thurs for my 6 week check up, and getting to WORK OUT! Breastfeeding is awesome. She eats like a champ. Took a lot of patience the first few days and then was great! No sores/cracking/pain! I have been unbelievably blessed throughout this whole experience. Having had no sickness during pregnancy, and a great labor & delivery, and smooth breastfeeding...God is certainly looking out for me. He knows me well. Bodie said maybe he's blessing me because I have to put up with Bodie haha. Maybe! Bodie is a great dad. He did AMAZING at the hospital. He coached me so well and was so motivating to me. I had 9 days to recover before the Ironman. Bodie did AMAZING! He finished in 13:30. He was just a little sore the next day, and then he was golfing and working like a champ! June was so NUTS! We had our anniversary, Dollie's birth, fathers day, Bodies birthday, and Ironman. It was a big month for us. And with my natural delivery, and Bodie completing his Ironman we both feel very accomplished. Those were 2 VERY big life goals of ours.

If you are still reading this then hopefully you enjoyed it! Glad I finally made the time to write!

Updates for Family and Friends

Does pregnancy really fly by this quickly? I can't believe how fast this is going.

I am thoroughly enjoying being pregnant. I guess I am one of the lucky one's who haven't been sick. Luckily not only have I not been sick at all, but I also have had great energy, no weird cravings (or old favorites that now taste bad), haven't smelled things differently, etc.. Basically I have felt completely normal, like my same self, with the exception of the weight gain. It certainly is different carrying weight that I am so not use to. Its kind of hard, and I know I have a ways to go. I can't complain though, I hear that sickness during pregnancy is the absolute worst.

As most of you probably already know, Bodie and I have chosen to wait to find the gender until delivery. It has been so much fun not knowing. It's so exciting! I always get told that I am crazy and both wives and husbands can't believe we are waiting. We decided early on that we would love to be surprised so it really has been fine. I will admit it was a little tough during the ultrasound to close our eyes and say "No" to finding out the gender. But once we got past that it's been a breeze! We had our names picked out like 1-2 years ago, so that's been really simple too. We have easily agreed on alot, which has been great! I think just being married nearly 6 years we just know each other really well, and are on the same page alot of the time, that has been a huge blessing!

Today I am 24 weeks. When I reached 20.5 weeks I felt the baby move. I was on the phone with Bodie (He is in San Diego) and it was really exciting. It hasn't stopped since. In fact there has been massively more movement. I have been able to look down and watch my belly move when the baby kicks. Bodie came home this past weekend for a couple days and while we were in church we watched the baby kick my belly like 5 times. Me, Bodie and my friend Brene'e just stared and I just laughed because of their reactions. They were both so priceless! Some women have told me that they didnt like the movement at first and it kind of made them sick. I love it and I cant get enough.

I was due on May 31st, but that got moved back to June 11th. Needless to say June is going to be crazy busy. The 8th is our anniversary, due the 11th, Bodie's bday is the 18th, and his Ironman race in Coeur D'Alene is the 23rd. Wow. So exciting and so much happening. I asked Bodie if he thought doing an Ironman or giving birth is harder. He said, "Probably giving birth because your body shifts and all that crazy stuff." I just laughed.

For those of you who dont know the Ironman race it's this: You swim 2.4 miles, immediatly following a 112 mile bike, immediately followed by a marathon run-26.2 miles. It is a VERY taxing experience. I cant wait. Bodie is training really hard right now and I know he will be ready to dominate when the time comes. He will also be going to St George UT in May to do his first 1//2 Ironman race in preparation for the full. He hired a coach that has been doing work on him. His coach is awesome. Why did we pick him? Because in 2011 he broke the world record for the most 1/2 ironman races in 1 yr. Then in 2012 he broke the world record (which was 20) for the most FULL distance Ironmans in 1 yr. Most people dream of completing 1 in their lifetime. He did 30. In 12 months. So we were pretty confident that he could teach Bodie a thing or two about becoming an "Ironman".

Bodie amazes me. His work ethic and mental toughness are unparalleled. But hey, I am gonna give birth, and plan to do so naturally, so maybe we'll be even. ;)

Work is going really well for both of us. Bodie has been in San Diego so far this 2013 year, and will be there until April. He is working so hard, and fitting in as much training as his body will physically allow him to. He comes home about every 5-ish weeks, but just for a weekend. I cant wait for him to be home for good. What I really cant wait for is when I get my RVP promotion and can be an official broker and open another office so that Bodie can be home and never have to leave again. Its hard work but definitely something that will pay off for the long run. I can't imagine working seperatly for 40 years of our lives only to have not alot to show for it. Primerica gives us a chance to provide for our family in a way that I really dont see any other company offering. I recently passed a big test to do investments for all my clients retirement/savings needs, and just need to knock out a couple more exams to be official. I am learning so much about the financial services industry and what is right vs wrong. I love educating and helping familes get back on track financially.

Other than that we are just so excited for 2013 and what is to come. I feel so blessed to have the love and support from our family, friends, business partners, coaches, etc...that we do. I feel super blessed to have Bodie as my husband and provider. He is so amazing. I cant wait to see what our future holds and to experience so many of our goals being reached. Although we face challenges like everyone else we dont dwell on them, but see beyond them and keep focused on what is most important!

We hope that you are all happy and healthy, and enjoying life!

BABY TIME

 

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!

and we are so excited.

 

I am 12 weeks along and officially in the 2nd trimester. I am due May 31st. I have felt super great, and have been blessed to have zero sickness! Things are going great. I do have a slight baby bump but not enough to really tell that I am pregnant so I am looking forward to that! I had an ultrasound at 8 weeks and saw our sweet babe (in the pic below) and then at 10 weeks Bodie and I heard the heart beat! It was super neat. Bodie said it sounded really fast, and the lady said people say really fast heart beats are said to be girls, so Bodie said, "Oh yeah I guess that actually sounded kinda slow..." haha, he wants a boy SO bad! He said he is 98% sure it's a boy. As of right now we have decided to wait to find out the gender. We want to be surprised! I think it will be way fun. I guess we could change our minds, but that's what we want right now. I am getting my birth plan together, which I know probably sounds crazy to some of you mothers because lets face it, most women's birth plans don't work out. Still, there are a few things that are really important to me.

 

Most people don't know, but Bodie and I have actually been trying to have a baby for about 2 years now. We were on birth control for  3 1/2 years, then tried for about 2. After 12 months of trying I starting seeing a doctor to see if there were any problems. We didn't feel like telling people because we felt like it was something between us. Plus Bodie was really good about being positive and not even talking about negatives between us or to anyone else.  Long story short, for the last 10 months I had 8 different tests/exams, Bodie had a couple, and after every single one the results were "normal". It was obvious that our Heavenly Father had us waiting for a reason. Our next step was to get on Clomid. Well, we never got that far! It happened when it was suppose to, all natural. Super great! What a blessing! We learned some patience. And honestly, I truly believe part of it had to do with our thinking. It seemed really easy at times to think negatively, and feel bad, and compare with others, and worry about the "what if", but I just decided, with the help of Bodie of course, that I didn't have the time or energy to think like that. I just knew that we were gonna have our own baby. That's what I thought about, and what I talked about. Bodie was the best partner and even if I started talking in that direction he would stop me. Anyway, after the last 2 years, what a great suprise! We can't wait!

 

Over the past 3 years we have had ALOT of friends have lots of babes. Some pregnancies were alike, some were so different, all so interesting to me. I have had a really big interest in how deliveries work, all the nitty gritty details. Through all the different stories, and opinions, and advice, I have been able to form my own wishes and desires for my own delivery. I have known for a long time that I want to have a midwife instead of a doctor. Also, I would LOVE to have my babies at my own home in the future with a midwife, but for my first pregnancy, not knowing how my body will react or really what to expect, I am going to deliver at the hospital. I also decided long ago that I would have a natural pregnancy. Of course I am not naieve enough to think that anything can happen in delivery and I am not going to put myself in danger. These are just the goals I have and what I really want. What I am REALLY excited about is the method of birthing I am going to do. About 4 years ago I remember watching Jay Leno and Jessica Alba was being interviewed. She had just had her first child and talked about using the "Hypnobirthing" method. The way she explained it (No, your not hypnotized) and talked about it was so intriguing to me and it never has left my mind. I have always had it in the back of my mind, kind of tucked away. I have had a lot of friends practice the Bradley Method, which has seemed fine too. One of my really good friends had her first baby about a 15 months ago and it just so happens that she used Hypnobirthing too! She absolutly loved it. I asked her a bunch of questions about it recently and it just got me even more excited to start learning the program! I ordered the book and I am going to go to some classes. Based off what I have researched and heard it is everything I am looking for and wanting. It's all about the power of your mind. It's gonna be so great!

 

As far as work goes, it's great! The office I am running here is doing well and on track for really great things. We are going to have a new office opened by the first of the year. Bodie is currently in San Diego, and probably will be until Feb or March, with the exception of coming home once a month. It's definitely not something I prefer and I can't wait until he is home, but it's where we're at right now in life and we deal accordingly! We are looking around at homes, there are some killer deals here in Spokane. So we are saving like crazy and hoping to buy in the spring before baby comes. Bodie has started his Ironman training so he basically works, trains, eats, and sleeps. In 75-80 degree weather. Jealous. Life really is treating us well. We have hardships, frustrations, and challenges just like anyone else, but we choose to not share them, and we focus on the good in our life. Lets face it, we are healhy, happy, expecting a sweet child, working, have the most supportive and loving family and friends...so what's left to complain about? I hope everyone back home is doing well and knows how much we love and appreciate them. I feel like at age 25 and 28, after being married 5 1/2 years, Bodie and I are kinda starting to grow up a little, haha. It's so exciting! But let's face it, Bodie will never truly grow up. He will always be a kid. That's why I love him!

 



Recent News and Events!

We had a fantastic 5 year anniversary. We decided to spend the weekend in Seattle. After 3 years of living in Spokane we finally went! Its only about 4-5 hours away so its kinda surprising that we haven't ever gone up till this point but we have just been busy working! Anyway, it was a complete blast and I am just going to sum up what we did.

First off, Bodie's been working in Seattle for about a month now. (So glad he isnt back in LA!) So we stayed at the hotel his company pays for. Yay! Some of the fun things we did while I was there...

*Pikes Market (Famous in the movies) Watched the guys throw the fish, and got the most beautiful flowers!

* Mariners Professional Baseball Game- vs. the LA Dodgers. Way way fun!

* Alki Beach- rented roller blades and cruised the beach!

*Ate great food, did some shopping and simply enjoyed ourselves.

Oh! And how could I possibly forget. Bodie's bday is Monday the 18th, (#28!) and we got him a Triathlon Bike! He has been wanting one for SOOOOOO long! He is so so so excited which makes me even more excited! I really love getting him things. Next week we are registering him for the CDA, ID Ironman for next June! He has some triathlons he'll be doing this year to train, and I will be doing a few running events myself.

In other news, we recently were presented with a great opportunity! Since we moved here to Spokane we have been working to open our own brokerage firm within the company, and with some recent changes we are ready to do just that! Our great friends and the RVP's/brokers of the office here now have decided to expand further into AZ, and we will be taking over the office here! We are very excited for this new adventure, and are ready for the challenge and the greater responsibilities! It's what we have been working toward. We feel blessed that they feel confident with us taking over and trust that we will do a great job. We are excited for them to expand into a new area where more families can be helped! 

So that's basically where we are at right now. Life is changing and new opportunities are presenting themselves. We are really enjoying our life right now and hope that everyone back home, friends and family, are enjoying life as well! After all, we only live once right? So why not do great things and enjoy it all! 

Photos from our Seattle Trip...

Want to get to know my cute Bodie?

Since he is gone to LA (again) I started thinking about all the cute things I LOVE.about.BODIE

And how much I miss him. It’s funny how little things become huge
when your best friend is gone.

We’ve been married for almost 5 years. That is crazy to me. People always ask me why we haven’t had kids yet. My response is usually, “Because we are just having SO much fun getting to know each other.” That is no lie! I decided to reflect on the things I have learned about my sweet Bodie over the years. These are the things I love about him: (not in any specific order, and I really wanted to post this so that I won’t forget these things down the road;
plus maybe a little bit of bragging because I think my hubby is the cutest thing ever ;)

Lots of random of pics gathered through out the years!

When we go out to a nice dinner, I get dressed up, and he looks like he just got off the farm (even though he hasn’t) in cowboy boots and a tee shirt, kinda scruffy, and I let him know what he looks like, thinking he will change, he doesn’t. He likes it and prefers to stay that way.

When I am trying to tell him a secret, or mouth something to him quietly in a public setting, he usually can’t hear me or understand me, so he loudly says, “HUH?, WHAT DID YOU SAY?” As frustrating as it might be, I just have to laugh. So much for being discrete.

He is a morning person; very early morning. I am not. He knows just what to do to get me out of bed in the morning to go to thegym. Jumps on the bed, and then turns on my favorite songs, loud. It’s so cute, and even though in my mind I tell myself that I am NOT getting up, I usually
do, and thank him later.

He always sings; always. And it’s usually loud. And it’s usually his own made up song or rap. Also its usually the first thing out of his mouth in the morning.

When snowboarding season rolls around it doesn’t matter if he has been once, or 10 times already, the morning that he’s going the alarm clock goes off and he yells, “YESS!!! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!!!” He is so excited like a little kid.

He tries to grow out his facial hair, and he really gives it a good go, and it just doesn’t come in well. But he tries and I think it’s so cute. He isn’t a hairy guy (naturally) and I LOVE it. He shaves his face, arms, legs, everything (chest hair is no issue for this guy, thank goodness!) And he has for as long as I can remember. Thanks babe!

He twitches SO much in his sleep. We will lie down and no joke in 20 seconds I know he’s asleep because he is twitching. And sometimes I just lay there and imagine what he could possibly be dreaming about. Sometimes ill wake him to find out and it’s always the same, anything to do with chasing animals, or doing some extreme sport. It makes me laugh. His mind is crazy. I always ask him what he dreams about. It’s all some crazy extreme thing. Never boring.

His style: He is SO incredibly picky about what he wears. I don’t think you would know it just by looking at him, he is so casual, but I won’t buy him anything without him seeing it first. It’s funny because some of the things he wants I can’t believe, but then he makes it look good! He has THE craziest shoe fetish. (I blame his mother for this) It can be overwhelming sometimes because his taste is not cheap to say the least. He is my personal stylist and I have no problem getting his opinion on shoes, clothes, etc… over anyone else’s. I love that he always brings new ideas to me, things that maybe aren’t so common that he thinks would be cool. So I basically don’t buy myself anything without showing him first either haha.

(right after he bought these boots, he grabbed a bowl of cereal, and opened the box of boots so he could just look at them while he ate...so cute, he was so excited)

He takes the time to be interested in my interests. Back when I was doing hair more, he would read about or see cool new things in the hair industry and tell me about them. He still does it today but with a lot of different things.

His passion for health & fitness: Over the past few years he has really become more infatuated with health and working out. He is always reading articles or books about health and fitness and just learning about different foods and supplements and what they do to your body, as well as work outs. Why pay for a personal trainer when you’re basically married to one?

How cute is he?

A few xmas's ago, p90x

I love that he loves to read. Since we moved to Spokane 2 ½ years ago we haven’t had a TV. Let me tell you it’s been GREAT! Probably one of the smartest things we’ve done for many reasons. But one of the greatest reasons is it has caused Bodie to really enjoy reading! Before I think he’d
read maybe 2-3 books (I think) in his whole life and now he’s reading books constantly. He just read 3 books in 1 month about an Ultra Marathon man. He loves reading athletes biographies.

His hobbies: we don’t have kids yet, but he is my little kid! He keeps me so busy and going all the time. Some of his hobbies include: working out, running, races, biking, hunting/shooting, golfing, snowboarding, more running, following anything MMA, skateboarding, baseball, basketball, soccer, bmx, and the list goes on. One day he wants a new skateboard, the next day he wants a bmx bike, the next day he insists that he needs a new baseball mitt, then it’s some indoor soccer shoes, oh but wait! He really REALLY needs a new driver for his golf club set! Oh and also some new snowboarding gloves, along with new strings for his bow he’s gonna be shooting (that’s the most recent)

(wrestlin with the dogs)

He looks so young. People are always amazed at what Bodie’s age is. People at our office, or at church, or wherever are always amazed that he is almost 28, when they were sure he was 19. That’s mostly the age that he gets, 19. Quick story: just the other day we were at the dermatologist, Bodie sat down in a chair in the waiting room, I was handling some paperwork at the front desk. Then the lady asks me to sign for him “because he’s not quite 21
yet right?” After I just had told her his b-day 3 times. I had to laugh. I think it’s so funny!

He gets so excited to use his Sonicair toothbrush. Every morning and night, doesn’t get old.

(and its a good thing he does! So we can preserve his amazing smile :)

He is slowly but surely beginning to feel more comfortable with little babes. He is GREAT with toddlers, which I LOVE, but he’s warming up to the lil babes more now.

Even though we aren’t preggo, we always talk about names. He only talks about boy names. Because he’s sure we’re only having boys. And they are CRAZY weird names. He never agrees with me. It’s funny. I love it.

He is so dang mentally tough. He just makes his mind and his body do things that he wants them to do. This is something that I am trying to conquer. It comes natural to him.

Once he has his heart set on something, there is no stopping him. It is a matter of time before he gets exactly what he wants.

He is such a hard worker. If he is at the office sitting around without much to do, he will go outside and walk around the building. We know this guy who is a remodels homes and Bodie always begs him to let him come work for free. He says that he doesn’t believe him, but it’s true! He loves working! Thank goodness for a hubby who isn’t LAZY! I know too many of those.

(He would choose to do this daily if he could)

He keeps me focused on what is most important. It’s easy for me to get caught up on small little things that seem huge, and he keeps what really matters in perspective for me. I thank him so much for this.

He is a worthy priesthood holder, and he took me through the temple so that I could be sealed to him for time and all eternity. He is able to teach me things about the scriptures that I don’t know or understand.

He is gonna be such a great Dad. Sometimes I get jealous thinking of how much our kids will
want to hang out with Dad more because Mom isn’t any fun.

I love how much he loves me. I love how committed to me he is. I love that he challenges me to be my best, and that he makes me want to be so great for him. I hope that when we have kids they look just like him because I want more of him! I just can’t get enough! I have an addiction!

(New Years 2008)

(this last summer)

I guess some people might think these things are super weird, and maybe they would hate some
of them. But I have grown to just LOVE these funny things. I don’t know how I got so blessed to have such an incredible husband, but I am sure happy that he picked me!

(right after he proposed 5 years ago)

Now if only he would get his cute little behind home! He's only been gone one week, but withdrawals are kicking in.