Friends in the Gospel

I had a GREAT conversation with a darling new friend today. And she asked me some questions that really struck a chord. I answered her the best I could and then after pondering the topic some more, I answered her again! I also felt inspired to use this as a place to testify of the things I know, and the things I am learning. I am trying to be a better missionary. I feel like I am the kind of person who loves to share. Mostly things like, cookies, jokes, SHOES!, clothes, and even my husband's toothbrush (gross! but true) So if I love to share the things I love, why would my knowledge of the gospel be any different? So I have been trying to be a good friend to those I come in contact with and share the gospel with them AS APPROPRIATE...I'm not trying to be awkward and creepy about it. But in turn, I have found it blessing my life immensely. I had a strange feeling a few weeks ago. I was sitting next to a girl who was investigating the church--since been baptized yeehaw!--and who has become a good friend of mine. And this was before I new her very well. We were just sitting there in Relief Society when I had this crazy, immense, overwhelming feeling of LOVE fill me. Well I couldn't very well do anything about it at the moment without freaking anyone out but I truly felt my heart swell with love for this Sister. It made me smile. And it testified to me that this was a good friendship to have.

So back to the conversation I had today with another new friend of mine. She asked me if  I thought she would go to hell for not going to church. At first I answered her mostly testifying of why I go to church and how it helps me personally, and how it helps us learn about Christ and the atonement. Then of course when I came home, Jaxon helped me realize the more helpful answers I should have given. Here is what I wrote her. And I wanted it to share with "all" of you.

I was thinking about our conversation earlier. And the reason I know it is right to go to church is because when Jesus was on the earth he established a church. It was CHRIST"S church, CHRIST'S gospel, and the purpose of church was to teach us how to follow CHRIST that we may live with him and our father in heaven again after this life on earth. You also mentioned you weren't sure where we go after our time here, and that is what we learn at church. We learn about our eternal lives. How we can return home to our father in heaven by following the teachings of Christ. so, your question "do we go to hell for not attending church?" I wouldn't go as far to say that we go to HELL but I do know that by going to church we learn what we must do to return to live with our heavenly father and be with our families and loved ones.

37 weeks...still counting!

36 weeks and counting!

So...these are the last pictures of Freddie-Belly I have been able to hunt down. This is 36 weeks and I remember thinking i could go into labor any day when I took these photos!

Sadly I can't say much different for these 36 week pictures...I still look like I could pop any day now! Good thing is that my weight gain is still 20 pounds under what it was with freddie! can't complain there! Doctor says my blood preassuer is 'perfect', I have no swelling, I measured 37 at 35 weeks which is right on (anything within 4 of the week you are {i.e. anything ranging from 31-39 if you are at week 35} is considered normal)

And doctor predicts a 7+ pound baby (Freddie was born at 39 weeks and he was 7.9 lbs)...head is down and in position but I only measured 1 centimeter and 40% effaced at 36 weeks. I hadn't been experiencing any contractions at that point so I'm not sure where I will be next week at my 38 week appointment because since Sunday I have been feeling a lot more action going on!

Week to week pictures at this point arent looking much different from picture to picture but what I am looking for is to see if I have dropped yet! Havent noticed it yet but here are weeks 35 and 36

35

35

36

I think the only things differentiating these pictures are my clothes and facial expression...

which, in the clothing area of my life, i am sad to say comfort and function outrule fashion these days :( totally against my beliefs but I am running out of options and shopping is pretty obsolete this late in the game!

WOAH, Nelly! or shall I say, Belly?!?!

35 weeks and counting! The clock's a tickin' and i am not sure if that's a relief or not! I can't believe I only have 4 1/2 weeks to go! assuming I go on time. these next few photos were both from the Fourth of July. We kicked off the holiday with the parade, then hit up some gelato action at Lola's for the last time before they shut down for good (sadness), then some bbq at uncle Lyle's, then off to the circus! After some r&r back at the ranch we headed back in for bowling, then pizza hut where we chowed down our deep dish under the stars watching fireworks from up on the hill! What a great Independence day! Freddie loved the parade (especially the candy throwers), thoroughly enjoyed the circus (elephants, and acrobats, bears, dogs, tigers and all!) and especially loved the fireworks! Good day all around! Glad to be an American!

I am still lacking photos from my 35 weeks with Freddie...but i have a 36 weeker i will share next week ;)

The difference 6 weeks can make!

These pictures are from my lovely sister Anneke's wedding in Mahattan! The wedding was April 28th which was about 6 weeks before they came to Montana for a reception here. These pictures where taken in central park.

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And THESE are from the reception in Montana last weekend...I will tell you right now...I could not breath my clothes were so tight! but I am glad I got use out of the outfit again even if it was about to bust at every seam!

YIKES! 

So that was the difference of 6 weeks...I have a little less than 7 weeks left til my due date

I am a little frightened to see what that is gonna look like!

Stay tuned to see for yourself but I am telling you...you have been warned!

30 weeks...and church!

I got new shoes (Michael Antonio for $25 on Zulily.com's Memorial Day blowout sale...booyah!) So of course they had to have their main debut! And they were very well accepted I might add! But more importantly I suppose...this is my 30 week physique! One little boy in primary said, "Woah! You are gonna have 2 babies?" yikes! but of course I smiled and told him I was pretty sure it was just one. He asked, "what are you gonna do when you have twins?" I told him he could have one since he seemed so imterested in 'them' he finished by saying he thought I should probably keep them both.

Last week my little sister's friend asked me when I was due and said, "You aren't due til August?! You look REALLY pregnant!" Why, thank you lovely skinny girl, I AM really pregnant! LOL It's always quite fun to hear everyone's opinions. I don't get offended like I did with Freddie's pregnancy cus I really was abnormally huge with him! I am just gonna rock this tummy like it's the new black! And I will do so wearing amazing shoes because they still fit unlike most items in my wardrobe ;)

delayed 28 week update

This first picture is 26 weeks with Freddie and its the last I have until 36 with him! This was taken at the theater when Kenzie and I went to see the midnight showing of Twilight...Kenz wore her team jacob shirt and we jimmied up a Team Renesmee shirt for me...giggle giggle!

And dont make fun of me...its one thing to have a self portrait of yourself with a cell phone in your hand but this is me trying to get a picture with the iPad...totally lame. I am fully aware. But...this is what I looked like at 28 weeks! Still feeling great! Doctor says my blood pressure and weight are looking, "great" (notice the quotes!) and baby's heartbeat was 132...a little lower than usual but she says thats totally normal now that space is getting tight. And I will tell you what...it is DEFINITELY gettin' tight! Along with all my clothes lol

Started getting pretty strong and unusually painful and uncomfortable Braxton Hicks Contractions during my jogs. Doc said thats probably a sign I should take it down a notch...and by a notch she meant not run at all :( So I have been walking but even then if my heartrate gets up too much the contractions hit and I can barely move. Been trying to watch what I eat and remain as active as I can! Still have a ways to go so now is not the time to let MYSELF go!

Adventures with cowboy Freddie

I should start off but letting you know that my position as ranch wife is still blooming. The wife portion I have down pretty good, but as far as ranching I have little to no factual knowledge when it comes to the world of agriculture. My experience is very much based on a trial and error...especially error...basis. That being said, it is no disclaimer, these stories are awesome and I have no shame to stop me from allowing you to laugh, quite boisterously, with me and at me if you feel so inclined. My first story includes our milk cow Brigitte, named after our good friend Bridger who was the first to make a successful batch of butter from her fresh milk. But sometimes I call her Gretchen and I can't exactly tell you why. It just comes and goes with whatever I feel that day. This particular day I was calling her Gretchen as my 20 month old son Freddie and I headed out to the barn to feed her a daily treat of grain. She gets spoiled because we love her sweet milk! Well she is pretty happy to see us every evening to get her scrumptious grain fix and comes prancing into the barn to practically eat it out of our hands. Well apparently another cow, nameless, thought she was welcome to our grain party. Excuse me saying so but she most definitely was not! So, while I can usually just pour the grain and let Brigitte-Gretchen at it...this particular evening I had to stay and chaperone so the party crasher didn't slip in and snatch up my carefully portioned morsel for the milk cow. With Freddie on my hip so he wouldn't take off into the big calving pasture or meander into the horse pen, I assumed an awkward position in attempts to close the sliding barn door behind our milk cow before the other shimmied her way in. Well, the combination of a 27 lb. child on my hip and a 6 month pregnant expanding orb of waistline, I seemed to have found it extremely complicated to shut the stiff and heavy old sliding barn door. After some pondering and foot tapping I plopped Freddie on the inside of the barn opposite the jug we were bringing Gretchen in for grain...kind of wedged him in between two metal gates to keep him contained. I coaxed both cows out of the barn then carefully tried to sort Gretchen back in without her grain stealing cohort. With some surprising success in that effort I felt like I was making good progress. Except Gretchen then decided not to go into the barn. I couldn't understand why she would come jaunting in without request merely upon the sound of the grain bucket swishing in my arm from a mile away but now that the goods were right in front of her she refused them! I just about had it. So I'm swinging my arms, whistling, hollering, kicking up a fit to get this dumb cow back in the barn and fighting off the other cow who has clearly seen an opportunity to get back in when I hear a soft sound from inside the barn. Oh, yes my toddler son whom I abandoned! I felt terrible for a moment that I had semi-forgotten about him until I realized what he was doing. The little stinker was on the other side of the barn entry herding the cow out of where I was trying to herd her in! This mama felt a twinge of quite the cocktail of emotions: frustration, pride and embarrassement. My 1 and 1/2 year old was proving a more successful cow herder than myself! And to top it all off, he utters a mumbled but recognizable "move 'em out" as his signature cattle call. The result of one too many afternoons of watching Rawhide with his dad, uncle and grandpa. Let's just say I am not embarrassed to share the story but I am glad no one was around to witness me making a fool out of myself. Well, no one but the cows. And since this story took so long to tell I will save the next herding with Freddie story for another time.

Knock, knock...anyone home?

I have been reading a blog lately that has really given me a kick in the behind. Let me back up...the past few months I have stumbled across, on several occurrences, ads from our local newspaper about an opening for a full time staff writer. After discovering over the past year that my heart no longer lies in pursuing a teaching career I have been yearning to fulfill my degree in the avenue of creative writing, or journalism back where I started as a freshman at pacific university all those years ago! So everytime I see the advertised position at the news argus I just about melt like vanilla ice cream under hot fudge. I am practically out the door on the way to their office to assume the staff writing position and live my dream job! Then I look down to make sure I am wearing impressive shoes and can't see my feet...oh, yes. Thats right I am hard core pregnant. I ran into a gal at my sister in laws salon who I overheard talking about her advertising job at the news argus. Well of course I had to acknowledge my ease dropping and ask her about it. I basically gushed about how achingly I had been coveting the staff writing position but that due to being a stay at home mom and soon to be even more staying at homish, a fourty hour per week job wasn't exactly in the stars at the moment. I told her I hoped the position would remain available until I have finished raising my potential litter of children. She told me I should just talk to the news argus and ask about working from home! What a brilliant and obvious idea! Except I am totally chicken and I know I would have to be exquisite in order for that proposition to be appealing enough for the newspaper to consider! That and I would probably need to get Microsoft word on my laptop since we lost it when we wiped our computer clean. So...back to my opening statement, this blog that Jaxon actually discovered is by an adorable young country gal who documents her life and times on her family's ranch in Wyoming. If I am fantasizing about writing a weekly column about being a ranch wife, why on the lords wonderfully green and prosperous earth am I not doing that very thing? Thank you Double H Photography for hitting me across my dense but of course wonderfully adorned head of hair...and opening my mascara-glued-shut eyes to the very task at hand. Who would hire someone to write a weekly column from the luxury of their home if that said person wasn't writing every week like she ought to be! Now, y'all I am not making any promises. I am only acknowledging the true fact that I have a lot of work to do out here on the Allen ranch and I think I will start by submitting an article to the news argus ranch wife diaries column about feeding our milk cow Gretchen her grain.

24 weeks...WOAH! Is that 6 months already?

Here I was at 23 weeks with little freddie J:

This was 25 weeks (cant find one for 24 weeks so i figured we would shoot for the general era)


And here is me now 24 weeks with BABY NUMBER 2:

(yay for the end of the 3rd Tri! Although it does mean we are in for the final stretch which can mean some serious pregnancy happening!)
Had to show off a cute new outfit ;)

Been working out 5-6 days a week and eating a very healthy assortment of foods that includes TONS of fresh fruits and veggies, lots of high protein and very little but brain-boosting carbs.

I can't stress enough the difference I feel with this pregnancy. Yeah, every pregnancy if different but I don't doubt at all that the majority of my well being comes from eating right, sleeping right, and staying active. Yeah...I be up in the gym just workin' on my fitness and this belly is my witness!

No more corn dogs mixed with pregnancy! That was epic fail #1 with Freddie's Pregnancy!

Another outfit show off...not the most figure flattering but I LOVE the color and print on this dress and adore it paired with this strappy sandles!

See ya'll in a month!