Baby Shower - OC Edition

Well I have crossed the threshold into crazy nesting mother mode... And a baby shower has only enhanced that insanity.

I had a beautfiul baby shower in Orange County this past weekend. And it was glorious.

We left Provo about noon on Thursday and headed down to the warm depths of SoCal.

And by the way, I am so proud of Tucker and myself for being able to make it to the designated stopping points for restroom breaks. We partied the way down with Magnus (the hound that belongs to a brother in law) and it was a nice trip to just sit and spend a lot of one on one time with Ryan before he leaves for Egypt.

California did not disappoint. It was 85 degrees and sunny and just perfect. Friday we woke up and had a lovely breakfast, Ryan and his mom went to go get some tables for the shower and I took one of the pups for a nice long walk around the neighborhood for  my exercise. And then we lolled around the rest of the day in the backyard by the pool soaking up some much needed sun for our pasty white skin. Of course though, thanks to pregnancy, my skin decided that no matter how much sunscreen I was going to wear, I would still burn. No matter, it was not too bad and I would rather be a little pink than white. Plus, my bathing suit was super cute and comfortable and there wasn't a stitch of ugly maternity pattern in it at all. Definitely a bonus.

Well then it was time for the family to eat some dinner so we decided to all go to a delicious southern bbq joint called Lucille's nearby. Now granted I still prefer to make my own ribs and jambalaya and such at home but what can you do... Well I definitely looked like the fat kid at the table when I ordered a full rack of ribs but let me just say that I only did that because Ryan said he wanted some ribs but also his tri-tip that he ordered so in the end, I may have only had 4 ribs in total once he and David got done eating away. But honestly that's fine. I should have just ordered the corn and watermelon that I got as sides since that's all I wanted anyway when it came down to it.

Then it was off to the house to finish getting everything ready for the shower the next day. We made really cute dipped rice krispie treats and cupcakes. There were also delicious cake pops and sugar cookies from a lady in the ward who makes the best ones. And finished up some decorations.

Then it was time for bed and we woke up early the next morning to do the finishing touches. As you can see in the pictures below, it was an adorable blue theme with cute elephants and monkeys. We had delicious pasta salad, fruit galore (my favorite), blue punch with duckies, and lots of little goodies that were all delicious. We had some lunch once the ladies began to arrive and then we opened all the amazing presents! I feel so blessed and grateful. We got so many of our big presents and it was awesome to be able to relax as I opened each gift and realized I didn't need to stress about that anymore. I know I am weird but I am a freak planner so it's just how it is... I will post more pictures of everything once I get it all in order this week at our house.

We had a blast spending time with family and friends and it was so fun to just enjoy the afternoon with them.

Well sadly the trip had to end at some point and Sunday morning we woke up, packed everything in the car until it was bursting at the seams and headed back to Utah. With only a day and a half until Ryan leaves for the Middle East, there was plenty to do! I will post more on the baby's room and everything in the next little bit. I just need to get adjusted to being a lone woman again.

But until then, thanks to everyone who made the shower so fun and beautiful! It was perfect :)

I adore this man

The boys had a contest to see who could finish a bottle of chocolate milk.

Cute little puppies :)

The Final Countdown

Well it's official, there is a baby in me and he is going to be here in 90 days. 

Unbelievable.

He is so energetic and fun to play with and he isn't even born yet. Ryan and I just have a blast every night poking my tummy and feeling him kick and move. We cannot wait. I also cannot wait for my joints to start realizing their full potential to work again. Apparently even my shoulders need to fall apart for my baby to be born. Because that is where I need the flexibility most. Thanks anatomy.

I know Ryan is even more excited for the toddler stage but I am just as excited about the squishy and soft newborn stage. Ugh those little feet are just going to be the cutest things ever. And his little face! Sorry, I started down the path of cuteness that could be a long train ride for you all.

Also, I need to let everyone know once again how grateful I am for my husband. He has been so amazing throughout this pregnancy. Whether it was my food hating stage or my constant fidgeting because no matter how I sit some part of me goes numb now stage, he has been such a solid trooper and I wouldn't trade him in for a new model any day. I hear people all around me (especially at work) complain about kids or marriage or pregnancy and other family related issues and I just have to stay out of those conversations because when it comes down to it, I am the happiest I have ever been and even though life throws curve balls and it can be a royal pain sometimes, I love every minute of it. And I am grateful to have a husband who equally appreciates family and kids and is a hard worker. I never have to complain about my husband because there is nothing to complain about when it comes down to it. And I don't think I could ask for anything more. 

Well onto other issues, you all remember that time that I said that we would all be in Italy this summer? Falsehood. Apparently Utah County needs two weeks to process a birth certificate so that I can get a copy to file for a passport for Tucker.... Sadly Italy is only 5 and a half weeks after he is born. So that means, no Italy trip for Tucker. I am heartbroken. So it will just be Ryan going now to Italy. I feel awful about that since he is going there to present a paper and that is such a huge honor! But sadly, the timing is just a few weeks off and it just won't work out. But hopefully Ryan's dad can go over with him. That would definitely make me feel better about it all. I want someone to see how amazing my husband is while he is there. But the nice part of the trip is still that I will just go down and hang out at Ryan's parents house for that week while he is gone since he is flying out of LAX and have some time to relax and hang out with Tucker's grandma :)

But it will all work out though since we might be heading back to Jordan this September for another conference. And that IS in the right time frame for us to get baby boy a passport! So fingers crossed that Jordan comes together! Because I want to travel sooooo bad! And I want to show all my friends in Jordan my baby! It will be like a post birth baby shower over there I am sure. If you couldn't tell, I am super excited about taking Tucker to my favorite places and showing him off to our friends. And thankfully I married a man who is just as fond of travelling and living in different countries as I am. So Tucker and our other children are definitely in for a wild ride. 

Ryan leaves a week from today. Not excited about that. At all. But it's for the good of the world that he goes so I guess it will just have to do. But if anyone in the area feels the desire to come visit me and rescue me from my loneliness, I will gladly bake you cookies or a casserole or something to pass the time. I may also need rescuing from my crafting efforts as we all know that that is anything but my forte and I am going to attempt at some crafts for Tucker's room while Ryan is gone. I may just end up being burned by hot glue and giving up after 10 minutes. I will also probably cry myself to sleep after watching Iron Man 3 without Ryan since he is my Tony Stark and those movies just remind me of our marriage... But enough complaining. It will hopefully go by quickly and we can be reunited and party our last two months before Tucker comes along.

Well here you go too I guess. It is a lovely self portrait taken in my office bathroom mirror. See the resplendent wall colors and breaker box behind me. I feel it accentuates my curves for sure. Either way, I am ashamed of the fact that I did that but I knew that if I put off taking a picture until I got home and Ryan could take it, it would never happen and I have received enough threats from those who want more bump pictures. But yes, ignore me and the surroundings and just focus on that all important baby bump :)

6 months! 

Best Parents Already

So, not to brag, but I think Ryan and I are going to be pretty cool parents. Last week we got to go see Bon Jovi in SLC. It was AWESOME!! And Tucker had a blast I am sure. Nevermind the fact that I had beer spilled all over me even before the concert started by two drunk girls behind me. Nevermind the fact they didn't even apologize or offer to get me some napkins. No sir, they were the rudest and most useless people I have encountered in a long time. But besides that and the monster contractions I had in the middle of the concert, it was a fabulous night that no amount of beer or Braxton Hicks could ruin. 

Well Bon Jovi was so excellent. He is so worth going to see in concert. He is an excellent entertainer. 

I apologize for the terrible iPhone picture. But that's what you are going to get. And Blogger won't let me upload my sweet video of Livin on a Prayer. So sadly you don't get to experience that joy. But just know in your heart that it was epic. 

Overall, it was an awesome night and I am soooo happy we got to go together and enjoy the strange looks that people gave me when they noticed I am prego and at a classic rock concert :)

Thank you Ryan for getting me the best V-Day and Anniversary present yet! 

Recently in the Coles Household

Well I can say that the past couple of days have been emotional and have made me think about life and family and the world.

1. The Boston Marathon

      Words can't really describe the sadness that comes with a tragedy like this. Horrifically confusing and its terrible to see such wanton destruction. There is great sadness that can be found here. However, there is also  light that can and should be found in these times as well. Namely, the miracle of those who are so willing and quick to help those in need. There are always amazing stories from the victims and the rescue workers of little miracles of love and life saving.

        It is interesting to see also that yesterday was also a terrible day in Iraq. There were 20 bombings throughout the country there and 30-40 deaths. It is a nightmare to think about living in conditions like that. But there are people who do. And we need to be reticent of the fact that with Christlike love, we can make things right and change the world.

2. Um have I mentioned that my brilliant husband is going to be presenting his first paper this summer at an international conference??? Yes, that's right. He is going to be presenting his paper, The Doctrine of Sunnah and the Spirit of Capitalism: An alternative model to Weber's theory on the origins of modern capitalism, at the ESA Conference in Turin, Italy this August! We are so insanely excited and I couldn't be more proud of my husband. He works so hard and it is paying off! Cannot wait to be there with him and our baby boy! 

3.  We are officially under 100 days until Baby Tucker arrives! This is the last week of my second trimester and I am so excited I could explode. And that's not just from Tucker being 15 inches long and 2 whole pounds :) There is nothing I love more than cuddling up next to Ryan and watching a superhero cartoon and having Tucker kick and move during the show. He is definitely his father's son and that is the best thing I could have ever asked for. I have never felt more stretched before in my life! I feel so full of baby right now that the thought of him gaining 5 more pounds and growing 8 more inches just is insane. But my goodness, I will never feel full after Thanksgiving dinner again. 

4. I am officially quite anemic. But thankfully I don't have gestational diabetes. I just get to overdose on iron for a while. But I am hopefully going to get that taken care of and under control before my next appointment. 

5. I just have to say again I am dying for July to be here. I am loving my baby boy so much. I just cannot wait to hold him and love on him. I get so weepy and stupid when I think of it. It's slightly pathetic. But oh well. 

So yes, life is just dandy for us. Ryan leaves in a couple weeks for the Middle East. He is insanely busy with school and finishing up classes and finals. But he is definitely up to the task. I am going to miss him like CRAZY while he is gone. But I am coming up with plans to keep myself busy while he is gone. I have baby showers every Saturday, crafts to do for Tucker's room and lots of temple work to complete! So hopefully with all that and some baby shopping interspersed throughout those few weeks, it will go by quickly and I will be able to get a lot done so that when Ryan gets back we can just party and have fun for the last couple months before we are official parents! 

We are off to our Bon Jovi concert tonight in Salt Lake City. So I will definitely post some pictures and videos from this awesome concert! Cannot wait! :)

Easter Weekend and Conference!

First of all, I love this spring weather. Its mid 60's and sunny and glorious.

We have been busy getting everything done before Ryan's family came into town. But sadly, Ryan got a sore throat and cold on Tuesday so he had to be resting a lot. Poor guy. He can sure sleep when he is sick. Unless he is waking up and sneezing and/or having to blow his nose...

Well it was quite the Easter weekend. We had Ryan's ENTIRE family come into town. They got in on Thursday and proceeded to fill our days with fun and excitement. 

Friday was a great day in every way. It was Friday and I only had to work a half day. The weather was AMAZING! And we got to head up to Salt Lake and go around City Creek and eat at our favorite Peruvian restaurant with everyone. It was so fun. Then it was off to the cabin in Sundance to relax and hang out. It was so fun.

Saturday was when everyone went to the slopes in Park City. Ryan's sister and I went to do a little shopping around town and came back to make dinner for everyone when they got back.

Easter Sunday was another lovely day. We woke up and made a big breakfast and got ready for church. 

We had a great sacrament meeting and we took some cute family pictures afterwards. Which I do not have so you just have to imagine those... Until someone texts me those pictures but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. 

But then it was time for Easter Dinner! I had meant to make the pies the night before but I forgot when we started watching Les Mis and so I had to scramble and get those done... They should have settled longer but its okay, we were just starving anyway. But we had delicious ham, potatoes, green beans, salad, fruit and rolls. It was so fun to have everyone together and to eat far too much food. 

All in all, Easter was lovely. It was sad to see everyone leave again but we will be down to California at the end of the month for a baby shower that my mother-in-law is throwing me! :)
We then had to say a sad goodbye to a great Elder and friend from our area. Elder Garza got transferred to the far reaches of Spanish Fork.... So we had him over with his companion the night before he left and had a wonderful time laughing and crying. We miss him a lot but we know he is doing an amazing job and that he will be blessing the lives of many in Spanish Fork and we love him :) We have gotten another awesome Elder though. Elder Poulson is just wonderful as well so we are excited to get to know him too. But here is a picture of the four of us. From left to right it is: Me (aka bloated sappy prego woman that you shouldn't judge because I feel awkward taking pics with Elders), Elder Johnson (teddy bear of a Texan), Elder Garza (also Texan and so adorable) and then my studly husband.



This picture above is of the family that the Elders have been working with a lot. They have had two baptisms from the kids pictured here and all of them have grown to love the church and are just waiting to be baptized/ :) Lorena (girl on left in glasses) has actually decided to serve a mission as well after her year of membership has passed! We are so blessed to serve in this calling. We love love love it!

Then it was time for Conference weekend! April is seriously going by too quickly. Before I know it, Ryan will be jetting off the Middle East again and I will be haunting all the animal adoption places trying to get snuggle time with something warm and fuzzy. I have already warned Ryan that I might adopt a cat for every week that he is gone... But that is quickly morphing into I will probably begin adopting an animal 3-4 times a week. He will come home to a veritable zoo. But I don't think he expects anything less of me :)
ANYWAY. Back to Conference. Have I mentioned how much I love Conference weekend?? I am so glad it comes twice a year. So this past weekend was that glorious time in April where we are descend upon Salt Lake to be uplifted and edified by our beloved church leaders. It was fabulous as usual. I really enjoyed it.
It was a very busy weekend though as we took a few people up with us on Saturday to have them see conference for the first time (they were new converts to our ward). We also met up with some of Ryan's RM's that he taught in the MTC. They are seriously so cute. I just love them. So here are some actual pictures you can enjoy.

Ryan and his missionaries. So adorable. I seriously just loved these girls when I met them years ago while Ryan was teaching them. And Elder Wixom (now called Jake) is the biggest sweetheart. So glad we got to see them!


Windswept picture. Ignore the flattened hair. But I just think Ryan is so dang cute in this picture :)
I do have to say as well how amazing Saturday was for little miracles that came while in Salt Lake.
1. Ryan got to meet and talk to Clayton Christensen! He ran into him on the street and got to talk to him about phd programs! Now for those of you that don't know, Clayton is a Mormon business professor at Harvard and was voted the most influential businessmen in the world last year. So he is kind of Ryan's idol :) Anyway, Ryan got to ask him about his opinion on programs and he was just ecstatic. So that was awesome.
2. Then when Ryan was in priesthood session, I was in H&M and I found the best swimsuit ever that I will buy for my little Tucker when we go to Hawaii for Christmas.

Yes that is a baby speedo. I LOVE IT. That one was for a 1 year old though so I didn't get that one. I am going to see if I can find it in a smaller size though. It must be done.
And 3. We had parked in City Creek parking all day so we knew it would be like $20 when we were leaving after like 9 hours of parking there all day. So when we were leaving the parking garage, I decided not to look at the signs designating what kind of financial transaction each line would be taking and I pulled into the cash only lane. Of course. I never carry cash. So I tried to merge into another lane but no one could let me in because it was jam packed and the parking attendant just called me forward anyway. I apologized and asked if he could take a card. He instead took my parking ticket, asked me if I went to Conference, I said yes and he said to just enjoy the rest of my night! Awesome! Didn't have to pay for parking! :)

 Well then again on Sunday we had a TON of people over for the sessions. I made waffles that were so tasty and we had a blast with friends, investigators, and the missionaries. Our small living room was packed to capacity but that is the joy of conference :)
There are most things that were amazing and awesome about the weekend but those are for another post sometime.
All in all, I hope you have all had a lovely beginning to springtime with Easter and conference. Until next time, try not to snicker at the pictures of me too much.