Giggles and Grins

Sometimes the smile is the only thing that makes it all worthwhile!

To swing or not to swing???

So, as most of you know, Lincoln does not sleep well on his own. He almost always wakes up about 45min into his naps, screaming, and since his doctor insisted that we get him to sleep as long as possible I have been holding him while he sleeps (yes- I know I am creating bad habits but what can I do?) So I discovered yesterday that I can put Lincoln in his swing while still awake and not only will it put him to sleep, if he wakes up in it he is happy to just lay there staring. This means that I have a good 1-2 hours to shower, clean, do laundry, and cook dinner. So here is my dilema... I can't help but feel like a neglectful parent when I put him in the swing and leave him. In fact, I have been known to get upset with Nathan for putting Lincoln in the swing, telling him that he is using it as a "substitute parent". So I am asking for everyone's opinion on the swing issue... am I a neglectful parent or just a resourceful one?

Precious Moments

Nothing too exciting to report but Lincoln did sleep for a whopping SIX HOURS last night (I thought had died and gone to heaven). I took these pictures in the last few days and wanted to share them with our friends and family.


I was blowdrying my hair and put Lincoln in his chair (which he hates). In a desperate attempt to stop the crying I handed him this stuffed bunny which seemed to work pretty well. I went back to blowdrying and when I turned back around he had wrapped his little arm around the bunny and was cuddling it! Too cute for words!


This picture is for Aunt Marcia who bought this adorable bear suit for Lincoln. He wasn't so sure about the hood (he hates anything on his head) but he sure did look cute.


A picture for my friend Deb Buchweitz who gave us this Cubs mobile with the advice to put it on his changing table to distract him, possibly the best advice I have received yet. Lincoln absolutely adores his "Cubbys" and always smiles when we put him on his changing table.

So that's it for us here, I'll try to post after Thanksgiving to let you all know how our delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Baker's Square is...

Why did I bother to read the books??

Ok, so no pictures this time, this is my own personal rant about my life right now. Now, don't get me wrong- I love our son, he is a beautiful and precious gift and we are so lucky that he is here and healthy. My problem is with the many, many books that I read about raising our child during my pregnancy. While reading these books I often pictured my angel baby gently falling asleep in his crib while Nathan and I stared at his beautiful happy face. I imagined that I would know exactly what to do in every situation that arose because I had not only read the books- oh no, I had read them, memorized them, and then annotated them (I was suddenly back in high school english class with my highlighter and post-it notes). So when my child arrived I felt like I was fully prepared to be the world's best mom. The first weeks, as my child slept 90% of the time and awoke only to eat, I felt like I was doing great- my books had served me well. And then Lincoln turned three weeks old and my books suddenly turned against me. I tried for several weeks to stick with what my beloved books were saying (after all, they had never failed me before). It took two weeks, several nights of screaming (Lincoln, not me), and many tearful meltdowns (Me, not Lincoln) before I had a sudden epiphany- OUR CHILD DOES NOT FOLLOW THE BOOK!! Now this has been a very hard lesson for me to learn but Nathan has been very kind to gently remind me that Lincoln is not a textbook baby. This is the first time that my beloved books have ever failed me, it was disappointing to say the least but I am slowly learning to be a go with the flow mom (although Nathan will tell you that I am not great at it- yet!) So, stayed tuned for my many attempts at being a more laid back mom- we'll see if Lincoln and I will survive each other!

SUCCESS!!

yes, that is my son sleeping in his crib!! Lincoln decided that in honor of his 6 week birthday he would take all his naps in his crib- yea! Truth be told, he will only sleep in there for about an hour but we are taking baby steps... More good news- Lincoln is sleeping between 5-6 hours at night, a welcome relief for his tired mother. So everything is improving here and BYU plays TCU tonight- go Cougars!
P.S- Upon closer examination of this picture I feel the need to explain that I am not trying to endanger our child's life by putting pillows and blankets in his crib (our childcare class teacher would be VERY upset)- we think that Lincoln didn't like his crib at first because it was too big so we followed our friend's advice and placed rolled up blankets on either side of him (one was in the wash- hence the Bobby pillow). So thanks go out to Laura (aka Mrs. Dub) for her fabulous parenting tips.

Lincoln's Blessing and Halloween

First, an apology to my aunts for not posting these pictures earlier. We have had an interesting few weeks, we found out Lincoln is lactose intolerant and also has acid reflux so we have been struggling through several days and nights of unconsolable crying. After a few days of medication I am happy to report that Lincoln is doing a lot better although we still have to visit the doctor to cure the painful gas pains that are causing him to wake up 40 minutes into every nap he takes but one problem at a time... We haven't even begun to address the fact that he still won't sleep in his crib. Why doesn't God give us babies at 6 months old? I think this is another one of those times in my life where God is trying to teach me to have patience (not one of my strong suits).
So we had most of Nathan's family here for Lincoln's blessing on October 28th. It was so fun to get our families together. We went to dinner at Portillo's on Friday night (a Bond family favorite) and then to Lou Malnotti's Pizza on Saturday. My mother, being the kind and wonderful person that she is, made an entire Thanksgiving meal on Sunday for both our families and some of our friends. I know she spent the entire night in the kitchen but the food was great and it was nice to have a Thanksgiving with all the people we can't spend the holiday with this year.

Us and the Grandparents

The Whole Family (ignore the weird face I am making!)

Lincoln with Mom and Dad- yes he is screaming his head off luckily he was quiet during his blessing

The family at the Jelly Belly factory in Wisconsin

Lincoln sleeping peacefully on Uncle Brian

Also, we owe a big THANKS to Nathan's parents for Lincoln's awesome swing. It is now the only thing (besides us) that he sleeps in.

Lincoln also had a very exciting First Halloween. Although he did not have a costume he did have a very cute Halloween outfit. Check it out...

He also got to go to Grandma Bond's school for the annual Halloween Parade. Grandma was a fifties girl...

That's all for now, I will try to find some time later to update everyone again.

Ode to our Two-Week Old

Our child has officially been in our lives for 16 days and for those of you who don't get to spend every waking moment with the cutest baby in the world I thought I would update you on Lincoln's life so far.

Lincoln...
...LOVES his hands. They have to be on or near his face at all times and his mom is dying for him to gain enough control over them to actually keep his thumb in his mouth. He yells at us every time we try to swaddle his hands in a blanket.

...does not like his crib, at least not yet, leaving his parents to wonder why they bought it in the first place

...is a pooping machine. In fact, we have yet to change a diaper that does not have poop in it


...becomes more of a red head everyday, I am convinced that this is payback for all the jokes we made about having a red headed baby during my pregnancy.

...is gaining weight like a champ. At his last weigh in he was 9lb 8oz.

...is the laziest eater ever, it sometimes takes 45 minutes to get 20 minutes of food in him, wonder where he gets his laid back attitude from?? (DAD)


...doesn't like to sleep, much to the chagrin of his mom and dad

...thinks his mom and dad are crazy, especially when they drag him to the pediatrician to be told that he is a very healthy baby, he just cries like a normal baby. And here we were thinking we got a baby that doesn't cry! Dad's response to Lincoln crying- "Wow, that's really loud!"

So our baby boy is doing well, he is healthy and (generally) happy. I'll post more pictures later.

The Stump is Gone!!

Ok, I can hear Lincoln fussing in the other room right now which means that naptime is rapidly coming to an end but I wanted to tell everyone that our child finally has a normal belly button! His black umbilical cord stump has been hanging on by a thread for several days now but last night (at 2am) I went to change his diaper and it was gone! And I mean really gone, we had to strip him down to find it. I think he was just waiting for his two week birthday to get rid of it. So that means that he also had his first REAL bath today and I think he actually liked it (well, at least he didn't scream). I wanted to take a bunch of pictures since his dad wasn't home for the big event but the minute I went to take the first picture our camera ran out of batteries so I will have to document the event tommorow and post pictures for you all later. Alright, well there goes my baby, duty calls!

More pictures of our little guy...

Ok, I realize that the one picture I posted was not as detailed as everyone wanted but I have been a little busy. So here are some more...

Yes, that scale says 8lbs 15.9oz (they called him at 9lbs even)

He was very alert at first, now all he wants to do is sleep

If anyone can tell us who he looks like we would love to know... so far we can't tell!

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures, we are slowly but surely adjusting to life with Lincoln. We aren't sleeping much at night but we take lots of naps during the day so we are surviving. Thanks for all your comments, it's great to know we have so many people who love our little boy already!

He's Here!!

Lincoln Richard Devlin
9lb. 22in.
9/27/07 5:13pm

We were very excited to welcome Lincoln into our family on Thursday evening. All are doing well and adjusting to a new and exciting life! More info to come...

Baby Shower

I posted these pictures yesterday but I just got the time to sit down and write about what they actually are. I was very lucky to have a beautiful baby shower thrown by my mother, my aunt Marcia, and David's girlfriend Kelly. The Carter family graciously let us use their backyard and we had a lovely garden party with 40 of our closest friends and family. I was delighted that Marcia and Grandma Waalkes could both fly out for the shower and to spend the weekend with mom and I. I forgot how much fun it is to sit around with our female relatives and a bowl of Peanut M&M's (that is, until Mom mixes them with the plain M&M's and Marcia refuses to eat them). We did miss Susan and her girls but we understood that watching BYU lose to UCLA was more important :) One of these days we are all going to get together for a weekend of doing nothing but eating and shopping- doesn't that sound delightful? Well, hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later...

This is David's cute girlfriend Kelly. She did all the baking for the shower, including...

... this adorable baby cake, it was the hit of the party! For those of you who don't know- LRD= Lincoln Richard Devlin

This picture doesn't really do it justice but the tables looked amazing thanks to my unbelievably creative Aunt! The centerpieces turned out great, I even got to keep one for Lincoln's bedroom. Thanks again to everyone and all their hard work, I had a great time and I finally feel like we are prepared for our new little boy!

I've Been Tagged!

Thanks to my cousin Melissa!

1. Where did I meet my husband?
In Provo, UT at the Hogi Yogi on University Ave.

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?
I don't really remember but probably something really cool like, "where do we keep the mayonnaise?"- he was training me for my new job as a sandwich maker!

3. Where was your first date?
It was a marathon date! He asked me to go to the BYU Blue and White basketball game and said it started at 5:30pm so he picked me up promptly at 5pm. Turns out, the game didn't start until 7pm so we sat in the empty Marriott Center watching warmups and talking. After that he took me for a very nice dinner at Fazoli's (sp?) and then we went back to my apartment and watched DVDs of Alias. I think in total the date was 8 hours long! I knew if we could enjoy each other's company for that long we had something special!

4. Where was your first kiss?
In the hallway outside my apartment after our 4th date. I thought he was going to kiss me earlier at his apartment but he didn't so I was a little bummed but then he walked me to the door and planted one on me!

5. Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?
We started dating in October and were engaged by December but weren't married until the following July (thanks to the three month internship that Nathan went on to the Phillipines right after he proposed)- we got married 9 months to the day of our first date.

6. Where did you get engaged?
At the Fresno Temple (isn't it funny that Lacey and I got engaged just a few miles away from each other).

7. Where did you get married?
In the temple in Chicago, IL

8. How did the reception go?
It was HUGE! We had 200 people for a sit down dinner at the Hilton Northbrook. I think Nathan's family was a little scared by how big and formal everything was but it was exactly how I dreamed it would be (sometimes it's nice being the only girl!) A week later we had an open house in Fresno that was beautiful and relaxing! Nate's mom and sisters did a great job!

9. How was the Honeymoon?
Great! We went to downtown Chicago and stayed in a hotel for three days. We ordered in pizza and lounged around all day long, it was so relaxing. Sometimes I wish we could go and do it all over again...

OK, I tag...
My cousin Chelsea and my mother

32 Week Baby Bump!

I apologize to everyone for my lack of blogging lately, the past month seems like it has just flown by! We got all moved into our new apartment. It took nearly five days to pack our stuff, paint the new place, move all our stuff into the new place, and then go back to the old place and prime over the walls we so carefully painted only a year ago. After it was all over Nathan and I looked at each other and decided we never want to move again. Too bad we are going to be doing this all over again next summer when Nate begins grad school. One day, when we have lived in the same town for 20 years, I am sure we will look back at this transient time and laugh. Well, as you can see from the picture I am officially getting HUGE! I'm actually 33 weeks along so the picture is a little outdated but I haven't grown that much in a week. We have made a lot of progress in getting ready for the baby to come. Our crib was delivered two weeks ago and it only took Nathan 3 days to get around to putting it together. I think he figured that the longer he stalled the longer he could put off Lincoln actually coming... no such luck! Our stroller also arrived (a big thank you to my aunts and grandma for that amazing gift!). This time Grandpa Bond was given the challenge of putting it together. He did a great job and debriefed Nathan and I on how to use it (you would not believe how many bells and whistles this thing has!) So I am waking up less frequently with panic attacks about the baby coming and not being prepared. Everyone keeps saying that first babies are always overdue but I have a weird feeling that this kid is going to make his grand entrance a little early. Maybe it is my type A personality but I want to have everything washed, built,and settled three weeks before this baby arrives. Considering my baby shower is scheduled 4 weeks before my due date and we don't want to buy anything else until after the shower, I'm not sure I'm going to make my own deadline. Everyone say a little prayer that Lincoln Richard will come on or after his due date, for the sanity of his mother! So I think that is all that has been happening in the Devlin household. As soon as we get the apartment completely finished I will post some pictures of the new place for everyone to see. Until then...

Simpson's Test

I saw this on Mandy's and thought it was cute- I don't really watch the show but Nathan loves it!

You Are Lisa Simpson

A total child prodigy and super genius, you have the mind for world domination. But you prefer world peace, Buddhism, and tofu dogs. You will be remembered for: all your academic accomplishments Your life philosophy: "I refuse to believe that everybody refuses to believe the truth"

The Simpsons Personality Test

Trip to Springfield (IL)

Since it has been at least a month since Nate and I packed up our bags and left town, we decided that we would use our wonderful Christmas present from Rick and Sandy and go to Springfield for the weekend. The Devlins had chosen a beautiful bed and breakfast for us (I was most excited about the robes for each of us) and for any of you who watch Gilmore Girls- I felt like I was staying at the Dragonfly Inn!! We were right in downtown Springfield, only a few blocks from the capitol and all the Lincoln historical monuments. I realize that only Nathan and I could enjoy spending the weekend in a little hick town in southern Illinois staring at Lincoln memorabilia but it was SO much fun!
A couple fun stories- on our second day in town we woke up early to go and get a tour of the Governor's mansion and as we were walking there we saw this random man running down the middle of the road, neither of us thought much of it, other than the fact that he ran strangely. Well, then as we were walking back from the tour we saw the same man running down the middle of the road (he actually almost ran us over). But this time we also noticed the guy with the earpiece following him on the bike and the three black SUV's following behind. It was the Governor of Illinois- Rod Blajovich!! We wanted to tell him that we had just been to his house but he seemed a little busy and his secret service seemed a little large (and I didn't really want to get yelled at again after I had just gotten in trouble at the governor's mansion for wandering into the Governor's backyard!) Also, for you church history people, we took the tour of the Lincoln-Herndon law offices and there was a courthouse set up on the second floor, right below the actual office. Well, it turns out that the most famous case to be tried in that courthouse was the trial of Joseph Smith when the Illinois courts were deciding whether to extradite him back to Missouri or not (they eventually found him not guilty and he got to stay in Illinois). But the cool part was that the judge who tried the case thought that there should be women in the courtroom so that no man would stand up and try to kill Joseph in the middle of the trial. So who did he invite to court? Mary Todd Lincoln. And since women rarely traveled alone, it seems only logical that Abraham Lincoln would have escorted her so we think that we stood in the room where Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Smith met for the first time! We thought that was pretty cool.
So we had a wonderful time seeing the land of Lincoln, Nate is already planning our next trip to South Bend/Kirtland/Palmyra/Niagra Falls/New York City for next summer- we'll see how much of that he wants to do with a nine month old in tow!
Nate outside the Lincoln-Herndon law offices with statues of the Lincoln family
Michele with the famous bust of Lincoln outside his tomb (we rubbed his nose for good luck)
Michele outside the bed and breakfast
Michele (and Lincoln) outside the new Capitol building

24 week baby bump...sort of

Ok, so we technically took this picture at 25 weeks because life got a little crazy and we totally forgot about taking the picture (aren't we great parents?) And since it has now taken me a week to post this picture on the blog, I am actually 26 weeks along but I don't think my size has changed all that much. Lincoln has started kicking like crazy! He is definately a night owl, we lay in bed before we go to sleep at night and watch him kick over and over! It is really fun now that Nate can feel him move, I think it makes him feel like there really is a baby in there. So, enjoy the picture...

Nate's Birthday!

We celebrated Nate's 26th birthday last Tuesday. He wanted to have a Transformers birthday party so after a wonderful dinner at Outback Steakhouse, we had cake and ice cream with my parents. I had spent the afternoon making Nate a cake that looked like Optimus Prime (the main guy from Transformers)- you'll have to let me know if I succeeded!


The Transformers Cake


The Birthday table


Nate and his birthday cake

Father's Day

Nate celebrated his first Father's Day. His one request? A big cookie and a car vaccuum (I guess that's two requests). At church he recieved a decorated tie from the primary kids- I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was priceless! Here are some more pictures...


All of Nate's presents


Nate loved his vaccuum so much, he took a nap with it!

Trip to Chicago!

Our friends, the Pulsiphers, had tickets to see Wicked but ended up not being able to use them so they gave them to Nate and I... time for a trip downtown!! It was a beautiful day and we went to the show, them to Pizzeria Due, and then we walked around Millenium Park.


Outside the Theater


Lincoln's first trip to a REAL Chicago pizzeria...yummy!


Nate in front of the spitting fountain


Can you spot Nate and I in the bean??

IT'S A BOY!!

Well, Nate and I went to the doctor today and we found out... we are having a boy! Everyone thought we were having a girl so we were a little suprised when the doctor said we were having a boy but there it was on the screen. We are very excited, grandchild #10 for the Devlins and the first Devlin boy! Mom and Dad are both ecstatic, they will now have two grandsons, both born in October! I am posting one of the pictures they took for us, you can see his cute little nose and his big Bond family forehead! There were no problems at all so, for now, our baby boy is healthy and enjoying kicking his mom in the bladder constantly! Only 4 more months till little Lincoln Richard Devlin joins us!

Trip to Cali

Ok, last post for tonight. We just got back last night from a relaxing trip to Fresno to visit with Nathan's family. A big congratulations goes out to my sister-in-law, Brenna Stokes, who graduated from CSU- Fresno after 10 years and three kids. I am amazed at her determination and perserverence (I don't know if I could do what she did). It was great to see the niece and nephews, they have all gotten so big! It also happened to be Prom weekend for my sister-in-law Heather so we spent many hours making corsages and curling hair. She looked beautiful, as always! Nate and I had fun doing all the cool California stuff that he misses so much. We went to In and Out Burger and Nate took me to the ghetto to see his former junior college, Fresno City- it was a very interesting experience. Since we flew into LAX and drove up to Fresno (that's my husband- the penny pincher) we got to stop in Valencia on our last day and see my old childhood neighborhood. We saw the old house, the community pool where we all learned to swim, and our elementary school. It was weird to be back but also kind of cool to see our old stomping grounds. We got in last night around 1am and I had work this morning at 7am so I am exhausted but it was well worth the loss of sleep. I only get two days at home before Mom and I leave for Outdoor Ed so I may not post for a few more days but I promise to take incriminating pictures of mom camping and post them as soon as we get home! Much love to all... see you soon!

20 Week Belly Bump!

Ok, so I have officially reached the 20 week mark, which means we should be getting an ultrasound any day now (that is, if life can ever slow down enough for us to get to the doctor). Here is the 20 week belly picture, Nathan thinks I have popped out a lot but people still tell me I don't look pregnant so I don't know what I'm supposed to think! Anyway, here is the picture... Oh, by the way, now that you can actually see my belly in clothes I will not be subjecting any of you to naked belly pictures anymore (I know that will make my brothers happy)

Happy Mom's Day

Ok, I know I have not posted in almost a month and I feel REALLY bad about it but life has suddenly gotten very crazy!! So, I am trying to make up for it tonight by posting several posts about what we have been up to the last few weeks. First, and foremost, a very Happy (and Belated) Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there. I was very excited to celebrate my first Mother's Day this year and Nathan really made it special. He suprised me on Mother's Day morning with flowers, a GIANT chocolate bar, and the new Chris Daughtry CD that I have been coveting. I would just like to thank all the mothers that have taught me so much about what it means to be a mom. I am so lucky to have had so many outstanding examples of good mothers in my life, with the most important being my own mom. Mom- thanks for all you do, I know that no matter what happens in my life I can always turn to you for a shoulder to cry on or a good belly laugh. I can only hope that I can be half the mom that you are. Love you all!

Housesitting

Our Bishop and his wife had to go out of town for four days so who did they ask to stay with their 14 year old daughter? Nate and I!! They have a beautiful home and it has been really nice to not be in our cramped apartment for a few days. But now I have to make a public apology to my mother for the many nights I made her worry when I was not home. Holly (the bishop's daughter) had about seven friends over last night, which was fine- we ordered pizzas and the girls just sat around and talked (Nate was a little concerned with HOW MUCH talking was going on, I guess his five sisters didn't prepare him for the massive amounts of socializing that teenage girls do). Anyway, Nate and I went upstairs to watch some TV and at about 6:30pm Holly came up and said that she and the girls were "going for a walk". This seemed harmless since they live in a very safe neighborhood but when they had been gone for an hour I started to get a little worried. After an hour and a half I was almost paniking (which I tried to conceal from Nathan so he wouldn't think I was freaking out over nothing). I tried calling Holly's cell phone but she didn't answer- let me again apologize to Mom for all the times I did that- and it was getting dark. All I could think about was the seven sets of parents who would be calling us to find out where their daughters were and what was I going to tell them? Finally, they came home after 2 hours. I resisted the urge to run into the room and question them as to where they had been (Holly later told me they had stopped by a "friends" house which I'm sure means they set out in the first place to visit some boys). All in all, I've decided we are sending our children to boarding school when they become teenagers because that is the only way I'm going to avoid going completely gray with worry. Or maybe I will just send them to live with one of their wonderful Aunts or Uncles :) Now my only concern is what are we going to do tonight? Nate and I have to go out so Holly is home alone- I know we are going to come home to some massive party and boys all over the place! Tell me again why I wanted to do this whole mom thing??

Being a Mom

My wonderful sister-in-law Brenna sent me this and I thought I would share it with all of the mothers who have helped shape my own view of what it means to be a mom...

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family."
"We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?"
"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.
"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."
But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes.
I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.
I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moments hesitation.
I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline
to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.
I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.
However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that
eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself.
That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.
I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks.
I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.
I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving.
I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.
My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.

Baby Bump #2

Ok, so I'm starting to wonder if posting a picture of my naked belly every month is normal or creepy but here it is anyway... the 16 week baby bump. I am officially 4 months along and officially liking the second trimester WAY better than the first. I don't think I have gotten that much bigger but you can scroll down and judge for yourselves. The doctor's appointment went just fine, we were actually only in with the doctor for 5 minutes. She walked in, listened to the baby's heartbeat, asked if we had any questions, and left. I was a little disappointed because we had heard from a bunch of people that we could possible have an ultrasound at 16 weeks but the doctor informed us we would be having our one, and only, ultrasound at 20 weeks. This baby better darn well cooperate and show us if it is a boy or a girl because we only have one shot! And I need to start buying stuff :) Other than that I am feeling great, I'm not nearly as tired and all morning sickness and cravings have gone away, I am now able to eat whatever Nate eats. Well, I have to run off and do the errands I have been postponing all day long. By the way, it is a beautiful 75 degrees here today and the sun is shining, maybe we will stay in Illinois after all...

20 things I wish for our child...

So I was writing in my baby journal today (I got this journal to keep track of all the eventful things that happen in pregnancy) and I got to a part that asked what my hopes and dreams were for our new baby. I thought I would share with you all my top 20 wishes for our new baby and see if you guys had anything to add that I didn't think of. So here goes (by the way, we have no idea what we are having but I will refer to the baby as a she to make everything easier), I wish for my child...
1. To feel like she belongs.
2. To know that her entire family (both Devlins and Bonds) love her unconditionally.
3. To have life long friends. As I look back on life I often think how nice it would be to have a friend who shared the journey.
4. To know that her Heavenly Father loves her and that her elder brother Jesus Christ gave her the greatest gift ever given because he cares about her, personally.
5. To have a love of books. "My life has been lived among two different worlds, the real world and the fantasy world that I found in my books".
6. To learn to be a good mother, wife, and scholar. It truly is a unique talent to master all three (I certainly haven't).
7. To marry a righteous and loving person in the temple.
8. To have the self confidence to do whatever she puts her mind to.
9. To make the right decisions,not because she is afraid of the consequences, but because she understands the happiness that is found in being a virtuous person.
10. To have her father's metabolism, so she can eat whatever she wants and stay as skinny as he is!
11. To be a better person than her ancestors, each generation should improve upon the last one.
12. And, to look up to her ancestors, I want her to know how amazing the people were that came before her.
13. To know that being liked by the opposite sex is not the most important thing in the world, I don't think Ghandi had many girlfriends!
14. To remember that having good friends is more important than having a lot of friends. Popularity is a game we play where nobody is the winner.
15. To keep her eyes on the path ahead but to also stop and smell the roses from time to time.
16. To graduate from BYU just like her mom and dad.
17. To know that being a teenager stinks but it is something we all go through and most everybody makes it through to the other side without too many permanant scars.
18. To have a sibling that she can share secrets with (like my mom, marcia, and susan do). I never really got that and I think I am missing out on something.
19. To not hold grudges but to easily forgive others and hope that they will forgive her.
20. To live a life that makes her worthy of returning to live with her Heavenly Father again.
Sorry to get all dramatic and emotional on you guys, the boys will probably make fun of my crazy thoughts! I mostly wish that my child will learn from my mistakes and not have to got through any of her own! Hope you liked the list... maybe one day I will actually show it to our child! We have another doctor's appointment tommorow, I have no idea what they are going to do but maybe we will end up with some ultrasound pictures to post on the blog. Love and kisses to all, we think about you all constantly and miss you more!

I need Help!!

Ok, I am appealing to all my beautiful and experienced cousins, aunts, and sisters-in-law for some help. Evidently, that lovely pregnant "glow" that we get is caused by excess oil in your skin. Unfortunately, this excess oil has led to my skin breaking out like a 15 year old boy! I have no idea what to do! I wash my face constantly, I haven't worn makeup in weeks, and I don't use mosturizer anymore but still my face is covered in pimples. Does anyone know any good skin care products? I am desperate and willing to try anything! I would appreciate any advice you all could give. Thanks a ton...

WHAT?!?!

We woke up today to find four inches of snow on the ground! I had to take a picture just to make sure it was real and, of course, I wanted to share my pain with all of you... So here is the view outside our patio (do you all feel sufficiently bad for us now?)

Easter weekend was great. Mom made a killer dinner and I ate enough cheesy potatoes to fill up three pregnant women! We watched the movie Lamb of God with our Young Women and I was bawling by the end of it, nothing nearly creative as Aunt Susie's lessons but the spirit was there and I think a lot of our girls really needed it. I think I have forgotten how difficult it is to grow up in a place where nobody shares your beliefs. I admire my girls for staying strong and standing up for their values.
On a lighter note, I enjoyed reading all about everybody's easter celebrations, I can't wait to have kids so I can experience holidays with them. Nathan suprised me with an easter basket so now we have a TON of candy sitting in our apartment. It was really sweet of him to remember, considering I totally forgot!
A Happy Birthday shout out to Chelsea, I loved reading 100 things about Chelsea. I would just like to set the record straight and let everyone know that I was completely justified in calling the cops! My wonderful cousin chose to wake me and my roommates up at 4:00am by banging a broom on our window! We were scared to death, you should have seen us all huddled in the middle of the apartment calling 911. I don't think I talked to Chelsea for a week after that!
We are keeping Mandy in our prayers, I will send all my good thoughts to Kentucky. I can't imagine being so close to having a baby and just having to wait (I guess I will find out in 6 months!) Please keep us posted on any progress, we want to know when the newest member of the family joins the world!
One last thing, congrats to mom for losing another 3lbs this week. She is doing so well, I'm glad she has made the decision to be healthy. She is an inspiration to all!

We're Home!

So it has taken me five days to get these pictures from Florida on the blog but we came home and I was too relaxed to do much of anything. I am just now getting back into the swing of things. We had a wonderful time in Florida, I don't remember the last time I was that relaxed. Our experiences at the airport were kind of a nightmare (our flight in Chicago was delayed for 2 hours going to Florida and then we stood in line for 1 1/2 hours in Florida trying to come home!) But other than that the entire trip was great. We stayed at this beachfront hotel that had a pool right next to the beach so Nate could play in the ocean while I lounged by the pool (I was going nowhere near the many jellyfish on the beach). We hit up a few local restaurants and Nathan discovered that he LOVES Florida orange juice (I think he would move there just so he could have a glass everyday). We decided one night that we would go to see a movie, so which one did my husband choose? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! I love the five year old in him, it actually was pretty good. Our last night there we went to this great tex-mex restaurant, I don't think they had ever seen anyone so excited for chips and salsa (did I mention that this baby is part mexican?) After all was said and done it was just really nice to spend time with Nathan, kind of like the exotic honeymoon we never had. Also, I wanted to pass on this little tidbit. Since I actually had free time I got to read the first two books in the Great and Terrible series by Chris Stewart and they were wonderful. I gained this whole new perspective on our premortal existence and what we are here for. Thank you to my mother-in-law for recommending the series to me, if you get the chance to read it, I would. So now we are back and I have started counting down the days until school is over. Hopefully it will go by really quickly :)