Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

When I was quite young

and quite small for my size,

I met an old man in the Desert of Drize.

And he sang me a song I will never forget.

At least, well, I haven't forgotten it yet.

He sat in a terribly prickly place.

But he sang with a sunny sweet smile on his face:

When you think things are bad,

when you feel sour and blue,

when you start to get mad...

you should do what I do!

Just tell yourself, Duckie, 

you're really quite lucky!

Some people are much more...

Oh, ever so much more...

Oh, muchly much-much more

Unlucky than you!

About a week ago I woke up and saw a few red dots on Eli's face but didn't think too much of it.  I figured it was probably baby acne or that maybe he had scratched himself during the night.  By the next day the dots had spread to his neck and were starting to show up on his little body so I called and spoke to the triage nurse at our pediatrician's office.  I explained to her what was going on and she said it sounded like he was just getting baby acne and that he should be just fine.  About 2 days later the rash hadn't gotten any better and was spreading and Logan happened to have the day off so we decided to take him to the doctor just to make sure everything was okay.  Long story short...Eli was admitted to Primary Children's Hospital a few hours later because they weren't sure what was causing his rash and when they did some blood work they discovered he had very low white blood cells.  We've spent the past several days at the hospital as the doctors ran tests to determine which virus might be causing the rash and the low white blood count.  We were hopeful that even if they couldn't figure out what virus he had, it would at least run its course and we would be discharged within a few days or maybe a week.  You can imagine our shock, then, when the doctors came in our room on Sunday morning and told us that Eli has SCID.

Severe Combined Immune Deficiency or SCID is a rare genetic disorder in which affected children have no resistance to disease.  Basically Eli was born with a very poor immune system which means he doesn't have the ability to fight off any kind of bug.  The only way to cure SCID is for our tiny little guy to have chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.  I've had quite a tough time wrapping my mind around the thought that our perfect little baby will have to go through something so difficult.  As expected, Logan has been an absolute rock and brings strength to our little family only a daddy can bring.  I know we will make it through this because we have him at the head of our family.

Long and Short-Term Outlook:

Because we just barely received this diagnosis we are still gathering and trying to understand the enormous amount of information there is for us to know.  However, we have a pretty good idea of what our basic timeline is.  Eli's blood was just sent to a special lab out of state that will determine his bone marrow typing and tell us what kind of match we are looking for.  It will take about 2-3 weeks for us to receive the results of this test.  Once we receive his typing, it will take roughly another 2-3 weeks for them to find the best match possible.  The best matches are typically found in siblings but because Eli is our first baby they will look elsewhere.  Once a donor is found, he will undergo a form of chemotherapy to wipe out the little immune system he has.  This is necessary so his current (although weak) immune system won't attack the new one he will be receiving.  We're not exactly sure how long this will take but I assume a few weeks as well. The next step will be the actual bone marrow transplant.  The transplant will take a few hours and then the recovery will begin.  The estimated recovery after the transplant is about 2-3 months.  Overall, the doctors have told us that our stay here in the hospital will be roughly 4-6 months.  Hearing this news was definitely tough for me at first because it means an entirely new lifestyle for a while.  Some people have asked why we can't go home until his transplant and the answer is because Eli basically has no immune system so it is way too dangerous for him to be outside of the hospital.  He is currently on a unit that is very clean because it is made up only of kids with health issues like Eli's or cancer and things that they can't spread to one another.  Eli is also in isolation so we aren't able to have any visitors for fear he might catch something before his transplant and not be able to fight it.  I will basically live here at the hospital and try to make Eli's life as normal as possible over the next 6 months and every moment Logan isn't at work he will be here with us in our new little home.  Despite being away from our regular home, as long as we have each other I know we will be perfectly happy together.

Long-term, Eli's prognosis is very good.  The success rate of his bone marrow transplant is very high (about 90%) and the doctors expect him to make a complete and full recovery.  Although it will take some time, once the recovery process is complete Eli should be completely cured and be able to live a normal lifestyle.

Counting Our Blessings:

Although we now find ourselves in less than ideal circumstances, Logan and I can't help but be incredibly grateful for the blessings and tender mercies that have lead us to where we are now.  The majority of children with SCID don't catch the disease until much later than we have because it typically takes a while for the child to start getting sick and not get better until their parents realize something is wrong.  Eli has seemed perfectly healthy to me and Logan so had it not been for the rash he developed that prompted us to take him in, we may not have found this until much later when he was much more sick.  The doctors hear at PCMC have told us that this is the earliest they have ever treated a baby with SCID.  One of the great advantages of catching it now is the fact that Eli will go into his treatment healthy (assuming he doesn't catch anything in the next couple months) rather than very sick like many children.  They are confident that his good health will be a great benefit during his recovery.

As news has started to spread about Eli's condition, Logan and I have been completely humbled by the amount of love and support we have received from our family, friends and ward family.  The prayers and well wishes that have been sent our way have been a greater help than you can imagine.  It brings great comfort knowing we have so many people keeping us in their thoughts and cheering our little Eli on so thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

While we wish our sweet boy didn't have to go through this trial so early in life, we also know that things could be much worse.  We feel very blessed that the chances of a complete recovery are so high and that he is being taken care of at the best hospital he could possibly be at.  Although there will be days that are tougher than others, we will continue to be eternally grateful that we were blessed with this amazing spirit in our lives.

That's why I say, "Duckie!
Don't grumble!  Don't stew!
Some critters are much-much, 
oh, ever so much-much, 
so muchly much-much more unlucky than you!"

~Backtracking 3.5 Weeks~

My most recent post was about Eli turning one month old but I have to back track a few weeks in order to show off his adorable newborn self.  My wonderful friend Kortney took Eli's newborn pictures for us and they turned out perfect!!  She did an amazing job, my friends, so let me know if you need a fantastic photographer.  Here are some of my favorites:

I have had so much fun looking at all of these pictures but can't believe how much our little guy has changed in the short time since these were taken!  I'm so happy we were able to capture Eli in his tiny preemie days and can't wait to continue watching him grow! Thanks again, Kort!

~One Month~

One thing you constantly hear people say about life with a baby is how fast time goes and how much they wish it would slow down just a bit.  I always believed them but never knew it could be so true!  It really is hard for me to believe we've already had 1 incredible month with our sweet little Eli.  One month of pregnancy felt like 7 years so it's amazing how fast the past month has gone!  Logan and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful first month of parenthood and have had so much fun getting to know our little guy.  Eli is developing the cutest personality and is constantly making us laugh and wonder how we got so lucky to be his parents.  Happy 1 Month Birthday, baby boy!!

It took our little guy about 3 weeks to get back to his birth weight and he has since passed that and is on the fast track to becoming a chunk :) (We hope!) Many people keep telling me not to wish away how tiny he is because it will be gone so fast and I know they're right but I have to admit I'll be a little less stressed when he's not quite so fragile.  If I can help it I would love to not have another baby in the middle of the winter.  This flu season/inversion/freezing weather makes me a nervous wreck!  I can't wait until it's warm enough for us to go outside and take a walk.  Until then we'll continue to stay cooped up in our little home :).

It took a little bit of time but Eli is now a nursing champ!  There were moments I was worried we wouldn't get the hang of it but fortunately he did and that has definitely made for a happy mommy and baby!  Now that he's not quite as tiny he's also getting on a pretty good night schedule.  The past little while he's only woken up 2 times during the night and goes to sleep right after so I'm lovin that for sure.  We originally planned to have him sleep in a bassinet in our room for a while but the first night home from the hospital he did not do very well at all so we moved him out of our room and into his crib and it worked like magic!  At first I thought I would have a hard time not having him right by me but it has actually been really nice because we can't hear every little noise he makes but I  wake up as soon as he let's me know it's time to eat and down the road we won't have to make the transition to a crib so that will be nice.  I think Logan also gets a little bit better sleep with him out of our room so that makes me happy too.  We are quickly learning what this little guy likes and dislikes and one thing he has made us aware of is he will not tolerate being swaddled unless I leave his arms out.  He gets furious if I wrap his arms up and won't stop crying until I take them out.  If I manage to swaddle his arms because he's sleeping then by the time we go get him when he wakes up he's somehow managed to get them out anyway so I gave up and just make sure he has on long sleeves and a hat so he doesn't get too cold.  I'm anxious to find out what else he's going to demand out of us! ;)

I'm pretty sure my favorite thing ever is watching Logan play with Eli when he gets home from school or work.  It's easy to see how much fun he has when Logan plays with him.  Eli's eyes get huge and he watches his daddy wherever he goes.  He's definitely a daddy's boy in every way!  Eli looks just like Logan and I wouldn't want it any other way :) We sure are loving life and can't wait to see what month 2 brings!

Ps...Unfortunately these poop explosions all over the couch have happened more than once!

Thank goodness for the awesome upholstery cleaner we  discovered!

~A Family of Three~

Life sure can change on a dime!  We were clearly planning on welcoming a new member to our family in the near future but definitely weren't expecting it to happen when it did. For those of you who don't know, when I went to my regular appointment at 35 weeks (and 3 days) they discovered that I was showing signs of toxemia.  I had retained a ton of water (and thus gained a lot of weight) in two weeks and my blood pressure was quite high at 140/90.  My doctor put me on bed rest and said that he wanted me to come back in and see him in a couple days and that we would just keep a close eye on everything.  I stayed down for the weekend and went back a couple days later and we found that my blood pressure was nowhere near normal but it was slightly lower than my previous appointment so that was definitely encouraging.  I had to stay on bed rest but I didn't need to go see my doctor until the end of the week and he also mentioned he didn't see a problem with me going to my shower that was scheduled for Saturday as long as I stayed down throughout the week.  Over the next 4 days I stayed in bed which has to be one of the most awful things ever when you actually feel quite normal and yourself.  I had a digital blood pressure cuff that I kept nearby so I could check my blood pressure once or twice a day and things were going very smoothly.  My blood pressure was dropping a little bit and I was feeling great!  Friday came and I got up to get ready to leave for my appointment but checked my blood pressure first.  It had jumped a little bit from where it had been throughout the week and was a bit high for having just woken up but I tried not to think too much of it.  I told Logan what it was and he played it off pretty well but I know deep down he was a little worried.  We got to my appointment and they took my blood pressure right away and as soon as I saw the nurse's face I knew it wasn't good news.  They checked it a number of times (different nurses with different cuffs) and said that my blood pressure was way too high and that we just needed to wait a second until my doctor came in.  We were told that my blood pressure wasn't at a safe number anymore so they were going to send us down to labor and delivery so I could be monitored for a bit before they decided whether or not to keep me but I could tell from everyone's reaction that I was most likely not going home.  After being monitored for a fairly short time, my nurse came in and said that she was going to get the Pitocin going aka we were having this baby!  They got me all hooked up and the Pitocin started by 11:30am at which point we were really playing the waiting game.  My doctor came in and told us that because I was only dilated to a 1 and about 80% effaced it would probably be a long labor and to plan on anywhere from 12-16 hours.  Let the long wait begin...

At 1:00pm my doctor came in and broke my water (at this point I was probably only a 2) hoping it would speed up the labor a bit.  Even though I had only had a few minor contractions, I asked him how long I needed to wait until I got my epidural and he said I could have it whenever I wanted.  I thought about waiting a bit but then thought: "What the heck, let's just do it right now."  About 5 minutes later the anesthesiologist was in the room and a few minutes after that she was done and I was feeling fantastic!  (*Side Note* I had heard so many horrible horror stories about the epidural so I was quite nervous but mine was a breeze!  Thank goodness!) As soon as the epidural kicked in, the remainder of my labor couldn't have gone smoother.  As soon as I hit a 4 I moved super fast and was complete by 7:00pm.  It sounds like a long time, but it had only been 7.5 hours since they got me going and about half the amount of time my doctor thought it would be.  I was lovin life!  They called the nurses in to prepare everything for the delivery and then someone came over the intercom and called an "emergency code red" and all the nurses and my doctor had to run out right away.  It turns out there was an emergency c-section that needed to be taken care of so I ended up having to wait for them to finish with that for about 45 minutes.  At this point I was definitely ready to get this baby out!  My nurse came in first and had me push for a few minutes but then grabbed my doctor pretty quick because he was coming fast.  About 20 minutes after I started pushing, our sweet Eli was born at 8:09pm.  In total, my labor was about 8.5 hours, virtually pain free and couldn't have gone any smoother!

Only those that have experienced having a baby can truly understand the special moment it really is.  Having our little guy put on my chest right after he came out and feeling the overwhelming joy I felt combined with the look of joy on Logan's face was by far the best moment of my life.  Because I was only 36.5 weeks when I delivered, they had a few doctors from the NICU on hand in case Eli needed any help breathing at the beginning.  Fortunately his lungs sounded great and he was breathing on his own like a champ from the get-go.  5 pounds 11 ounces and 18 inches later our bundle of joy instantly became the highlight of our lives!

Elijah Logan

Daddy and his mini-me
This is one of my absolute favorite pictures!

Our first family photo
Please, oh please just don't even look at me.  I can't believe I'm even posting this picture but I  had to put at least one of all of us up.

Chillin' after his first bath!

Love my baby angel!

As of today our little Eli is officially 1 week old and we couldn't be loving him any more!  It has been such a joy to have him home with us.  Logan was able to take a week off to stay home with us which was wonderful so we could have that time together as a little family.  Being a mom is greater than I could have imagined and I can't wait to see what the future brings!

************************************************************************************************************

Sunday the 6th, our second day in the hospital, seemed to be a normal day.  We were looking forward to going home and getting all settled.  We were going through our normal morning routine as we prepared to get discharged when Logan said he had gotten a text from a friend that wanted to come visit us that evening to see Eli and to say happy birthday to Logan...wait, what?!  I had totally forgotten it was my husband's birthday!  I was absolutely mortified/heart broken/furious with myself.  Of course Logan just laughed as I kept apologizing over and over again and could have cared less but I couldn't believe I had forgotten it!  I love birthdays so much and had plans to make it such a fun and special day for Logan and not only did none of that happen but I didn't even remember to wish him a happy birthday that morning!  So, here is my birthday shout out to the greatest husband and daddy in the world!!  Eli and I are so blessed to have you in our lives and hope you know how much we love you!!  (Eli told me :)) I promise next year we will celebrate twice as much to make up for the lack of festivities this year.  I hope your 24th year is an amazing one!!

~A Very Merry Christmas~

It's hard to believe Christmas has already come and gone when it felt like I was counting down to it forever!  I love the holidays every year but I was especially excited for Christmas this year because I knew I had to get past it in order to get this little guy out of me!  Well, now it has come and gone and it still feels like I have about 5 more years of pregnancy, not 5 weeks.  Before I get ahead of myself, let me recap our fantastic Christmas celebrations!

Logan and I both had to work on Christmas Eve but only for half the day, thank goodness.  To say I was quite nervous when that snow storm hit would be an understatement due to the fact that Logan commutes from Park City.  The roads were okay, however, because he made it home in one piece!  We spent Christmas Eve with my family and had a great time enjoying our annual traditions with everybody.

Our Christmas Eve consists of dinner (which was wonderful), a few Christmas songs, the reading of the birth of Jesus from my grandpa, and the gift exchange between my siblings and a couple cousins.  We had a great night enjoying everybody's company and, as always, were very spoiled!

Logan and I didn't get to bed until pretty late Christmas Eve so we slept in on Christmas morning and then Logan jumped up and wrapped a few things before we started our own little Christmas together.  Our present to each other was the TV I mentioned back around Black Friday that we purchased and it has definitely been worth it!  

Even though we agreed not to buy each other gifts because the TV was plenty, naturally neither of us could hold back.  I thought it would be fun to put together a 12 Days of Christmas for Logan so I went for it and had a lot of fun! (Hopefully he enjoyed it too!)  Not wanting to go overboard on the money front, I tried to split it up and do a cheaper/cheesier gift every other day.  His favorite gift by far turned out to be this little LED Pen Light he'd been wanting for work.  Everyone at work uses them so I'm glad he could finally join the club!  I told him I thought it would be a good birthday present so he was definitely surprised and very excited when he opened it on "The Third Day of Christmas"! 

My favorite gift I gave him came on the 12th Day and was the Willow Tree New Dad figurine.   



A few of the other small gifts included a McDonalds Arch Card, a pair of pretty cool Jazz socks, and a box of his favorite thing in the world: Fruit Snacks :) I loved watching him open a new little gift every day so hopefully he had fun playing along too!

As expected, Logan spoiled me on Christmas morning!  I felt awful when he had one present to open and I had like 10.  Every gift he gave me was so thoughtful and it was easy to see that he put a lot of effort into getting me things that I really needed and were super fun!  As many people know, I saved change for Logan while he was on his mission and when he got home we took it to the bank and had it counted.  It was super fun and I've wanted to do it again ever since and Logan got me the perfect thing to get going--a jar to hold the change that counts it as you fill it up.  I can't wait to start using it!  I also scored with some new headbands and makeup accessories among other things :) We also stuffed each other's stockings with yummy candy and fun little toys so that was good times for sure as well.  Thank you, Rico for making our second Christmas together so much fun!!

My family does a Christmas brunch every year so we headed over to my parents' around 1:00 for the traditional breakfast casseroles and other yummy breakfast foods.  After hanging out for a while and playing a few games with everyone we headed over to be with Logan's family and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening with them.  Logan's uncle made a fantastic dinner for everybody and Eli got an adorable little outfit from his Great-Aunt Sherrie!  We had a great time hanging out with Logan's family and I am so grateful for such fun in-laws that take such great care of us!  Between all of our families the three of us sure got spoiled and I couldn't be more grateful!  Thank you to everyone who made this year so fantastic!

I was 35 weeks exactly on Christmas Day

Typically I'm the type that likes to leave all of our Christmas up until sometime right around the New Year but as soon as Christmas was over this year I was ready for it to come down!  I'm sure it was mainly because Eli's "nursery" was home to our Christmas tree and other decorations and I'm definitely ready to get that all put together now!  I spent the day after Christmas getting all of the Christmas put away so now I can focus on putting together Eli's little space.  (Pictures to come as soon as it's finished but that won't be for a few weeks.)

As you can see on the right, I'm a few days over 35 weeks!  A couple months ago I would have given anything to be 35 weeks and now I just wish I could be 39 or something!  Haha.  It's pretty surreal to think that in just about a month (give or take a little bit) our family of two will be a family of three!  I still don't think I'll believe it's real until he's here but I don't think I could be more excited!  I've definitely been bitten by the swollen bug lately as nothing seems to fit on my hands, legs or feet!  My ring came off about a week ago which is a bummer but I knew one day it would be stuck for good if I didn't just keep it off and all of my shoes are SUPER tight.  Logan and I get quite a laugh out of my sausage feet so it's all fun and games.  I'm now down to weekly visits and should start getting checked at my next appointment so maybe we'll see a little bit of progress?!  It sure is fun to be so close!

~Festival of Trees~ (& 34 Weeks)

A couple weeks ago we made our second trip in as many years to the Festival of Trees and had a great time!  It doesn't happen often enough that we get to hang out with our high school friends but we always have a great time when we do get together.  We all met for dinner before heading over to the festival.  There were so many neat trees and I only got pictures of a few of them but I'm amazed every year at the work that is done on them.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the ginger bread houses because it was so crowded but there were some really fun ones!  There's no way we could leave without getting one of their classic scones either so you better believe we made time for that as well :).  We stopped by the little boutique to see what they had and the boys had fun trying on hats with Halli.

After checking everything out, we went back and played games and no doubt got a lot of laughs in.  We had a great time with everyone and hope we continue to make it an annual tradition!

In other news...I am officially 34 weeks!  Sometimes 6 weeks seems like no time at all and other times it seems like an absolute eternity.  People often ask me if I'm ready but I don't know if it's possible to be completely ready for your first baby since it's such uncharted territory.  We're as excited as possible and in the next few weeks should have everything all ready to go before the real waiting game begins.  With each day that passes I feel like I'm getting bigger and bigger and sleep comes less and less at night but I would take this uncomfortable stage any day over the nausea so I'm really quite content right now.  The only real unfortunate thing is the fact that my doctor is going to be out of town from the time I'm 38 weeks to basically 41 :S.  He says he would love for me to deliver right before he leaves but I know the odds of me going into labor on my own with my first baby 2 weeks early are very low so I'm not counting on that at all and as much as I desperately want him to be there, I really don't like the idea of having to be pregnant an entire week extra but I know that's definitely possible so I'll just keep reminding myself that this little guy will come when he's supposed to and whether he's delivered by own doctor or another one I will be well taken care of.

 

Logan is loving his freedom from school but hasn't slowed down much as he's using all of his extra time to get in as many hours as possible at work.  I feel so blessed to have such a hard working husband!  It will be a major success if Eli gets his daddy's work ethic, that's for sure.  It's hard to believe that Christmas is only a week away but my shopping is basically done so I can't wait!  I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday!

~Thanksgiving Weekend~

One of my favorite weekends of the year just came to a close and it couldn't have been more fun!  Thanksgiving, Black Friday, my birthday and no work always make for a few fantastic days each year!  Add in a good friend's wedding, saying we had a fun-filled long weekend would definitely be an understatement.

At work we get our birthday off but because mine is over the Thanksgiving weekend every year I'm allowed to take the day before Thanksgiving off.  So, after only working Monday and Tuesday I was free for the rest of the week!  Logan had to work Wednesday so I spent the day helping my mom shop and prepare for Thanksgiving.  I love having that extra day off to enjoy the fun Thanksgiving vibe!

Thanksgiving morning we woke up and Logan ran to the store to grab a newspaper so he could look through all the Black Friday ads.  We're not typically huge shoppers but it's always fun to see what kind of deals are out there.

We relaxed for the morning by watching a couple movies before heading over to my parent's around one.  For the second year running I made these delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  If you'd like the yummy recipe let me know! 

We ate appetizers and hung out for a while before the big dinner at 3:00.  The food was amazing (thank you, mama!) and it's always a good time hanging out with the siblings and kiddos.  Unfortunately we weren't able to stick around for the annual Thanksgiving Bingo competition and the rest of the games but maybe next year!  

Around 4:30 we took off for Logan's family dinner and stuffed in as much food as our poor stomachs would allow.  It was great visiting his family and listening to all the Black Friday deals everyone was hoping to steal that night.  I had actually never been Black Friday shopping before and Logan hadn't been for quite awhile but with so many stores opening around 8:00 he talked me into stopping by Walmart to check out their DVDs.  We showed up around 8:10 and by that time all the movies were pretty picked over but we still got a few $5 Blu Rays so it was definitely worth the trip.  Since we were in Ft. Union we decided to run over to Target as well but the line to get into the store was an absolute joke.  About 30 min. after opening there was still a line of a couple hundred people waiting to get in so we gave up and went home.  We've been keeping an eye out for a good TV sale for quite a while and figured we'd have the best luck during the Black Friday sales.  We actually found a really good deal a few days before Thanksgiving and didn't want to camp out in any ridiculous lines for something that would only save us a little bit more money.  We upgraded quite a bit in size and quality and I know Logan is in heaven!  It's actually going to be our Christmas present to each other so I will save the pictures/details of the TV until after Christmas :).  

Logan had to work the day after Thanksgiving but it worked out okay because that's my day to set up Christmas.  Growing up I loved helping my mom set Christmas up the day after Thanksgiving so I love having our own little place to put together.  I woke up pretty early since my body is used to waking up for work still and took down our few fall decorations before getting all the Christmas things out.  I had so much fun pulling everything out again because I swear I had forgotten half the things I got last year!

I loved adding a third stocking to the ranks this year :) I know Eli still won't be here by Christmas but that doesn't mean I'm not going to stuff his stocking!  I can tell Logan thinks I'm nuts but that's okay. 

I love our tree again this year just as much as I did last year!  You might recall me posting about our brand new tree last year that had a short in the top of the top section so the lights were out.  Well, I had every intention of taking the tree apart after Christmas last year and returning it since it came that way but of course I never got around to it.  You can bet I was completely amazed then when I plugged the lights in this year and they all came on!  I should have known it was too good to be true because a couple minutes later they went out again.  It's a bummer but oh well.  During the day it's hard to notice unless you point it out so I'm not too worried about it.

I added one new advent calendar and 3 Christmas plates (courtesy of my great mom) but other than that everything is the same and I'm super happy with it all.  I'm definitely in the Christmas mood now that I get to come home to a tree every day!  28 more days!

Saturday was just as fantastic as the previous two days as it was my birthday.  I'm not typically one that enjoys blogging about myself but everyone made it such a special day I would hate not to mention it.  Logan was able to get a rare Saturday off (the first one in several months) so that alone was the best present I could ask for!  My brother was in town from MN the weekend before my birthday so we actually celebrated with my family while he was here.  They spoiled me more than I deserve but I think my favorite gift was definitely the Justin Bieber poster from my brother! ;) I'm pretty sure I said this last year but I'm the picture taker of the family so when it's my birthday I don't usually have many pictures.  We are definitely lacking in the picture department from my family party.

Back to Saturday...we woke up and got ready for a close family friend's sealing we were invited to that afternoon.  It was the first sealing either of us had been to other than our own so I loved it!  It was so neat to hear much of what we heard in our sealing almost 17 months ago.  They were such a beautiful couple and I couldn't be happier for them!  Congrats, Mike and Lauren!

After the sealing we spent the afternoon shopping.  Logan was fantastic and wanted me to choose everywhere we went since it was my birthday.  Our first stop was one of my favorite places in existence--Barnes and Noble!  I began collecting Children's Books when I was getting my degree a few years ago and have been addicted ever since.  I added several new Christmas books to my collection and was in heaven :).

 
  

 After Barnes and Noble we ran to the mall and looked through several stores with a little bit of success as well!  Our last shopping stop was another one of my favorites--TJ Home Goods.  I could spend so much money in that place.  They don't have all of their Christmas things out yet so I didn't find much but still had a good time browsing for a bit.

By now we were both super hungry so we went to dinner at one of my all-time favorite restaurants--Texas Roadhouse!  I'm pretty sure there aren't better rolls in existence.  We were definitely enjoying ourselves!

 After dinner we ran over to Mike and Lauren's reception to congratulate the wonderful couple one more time.  I loved seeing how happy they both were and had a great time reminiscing with Logan about our wonderful wedding day.

We finished off the night by heading home and watching Snow White and the Huntsman.  It was the first time for both of us and we were pretty entertained.  (Minus the part where I had a dream that night that I had delivered Eli and lifted up his car seat cover thing when we got home from the hospital and he had turned into an old man!  If you've never seen this movie then that probably won't make any sense but let's just say I was quite freaked out and VERY relieved when I woke up!) Many thanks to my amazing husband for how wonderful he made the whole day!  He always makes me feel so special and couldn't have made the day any better or spoiled me more!  As always, my family spoiled me as well and I am so grateful for them and all they do for me!  I think the best thing about my birthday each year is the following 6 weeks when I get to remind Logan that he's younger than me and was also born in a completely different decade than me, the young 90s baby ;).

Now we're back to reality and pushing through the grind of work and school.  I know Logan can't wait to be done with school in 3 weeks and have a break from it all.  I am now 31 weeks and love that I'm down to the single digits as far as weeks go!  After my appointment this morning (which went wonderfully--no new news), I am now down to two week visits.  I'll go to the doctor at 33 and 35 weeks and then after that it will be every week!  Hopefully between the holidays and more frequent appointments the time will speed up these last couple months I have left.

This is by far my favorite time of year with all of the holidays and celebrations so I'm hoping it will all go by fast like it always does because I have a feeling this little guy will seem way more real on the other side of Christmas.  Until then we are loving life and all that's been going on!