Neal & Michelle Bastian

Newest Addition! Wilson Kade

2011-09-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Wilson joined us August 4th, and arrived at a whopping 9.6 lbs. Labor was easy, I pushed for about 8 minutes and boom--big baby came out! We have loved every minute with him! He is now 7 weeks old and 14 lbs. 24 inches long. He coo's and smiles, and just melts our hearts.

This blog is long overdue... I should be banned from blogging since I neglect mine. But I figure adding a million pictures will redeem me. Maddie is so grown up now, she has hair, she says, "Oh no! Get that!" "What's this?" "No, that" "Hi Dan" "Hi Syd" (her best friend is Sydney Grandma and Grandpa Bastian's dog...) "Hi Wi-sin" That is supposed to mean "Wilson."

I am an official diaper changer, baby feeder, toddler chaser... infant protector... I retired from a "real" job in a corporate setting to baby land. Working at a desk is WAY EASIER!!!

Without further Adieu, here are the million pictures--No one really wants to know what I have to say! Enjoy! And I am too tired to actually put any order or captions on the photos... so some are in order, some are not! Use your imagination. ;)

Maddie!!

2011-03-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

I have a few little Maddie stories that I think you would all enjoy--I think they are great stories that truly capture her personality. This girl has some serious personality!!

DETERMINATION
1) When we decided to "sleep train" this was Madison's response:
She CRIED for an hour--at about an hour she had finally fallen asleep SITTING UP!!! She was so determined not to sleep that she fought and fought. It was so hard for us to let her cry, but I cannot tell you how happy I am that we did! She now sleeps like a champ, and doesn't give us a hard time. I still can't believe she fell asleep sitting up.

GENIUS
2)She started walking everywhere a few days ago--and she outsmarted dad! Which is hard to do, he is VERY smart. He had given her some Junior Mints and she LOVED them, she loved them so much she devised a plan. When dad was watching TV Maddie found a box and started to push it around in the room--dad had his eyes on her but she totally faked him out! He thought she was just playing with the box--NOPE! She waited until he stopped paying attention to her, pushed her box up to the bookcase and climbed up to reach her Junior Mints!!! Neal finally realized what she was doing when he heard a "crash" and our pictures came tumbling off the shelf...

TASTE
3) She knows what tastes good! Auntie Sue had two scoops of ice cream, one vanilla one chocolate. She gave Maddie a taste of vanilla--no response--she gave her a taste of chocolate--YUMMMM--then Sue gave her another taste of vanilla and she CLOSED HER LIPS!! It was hilarious! Every time Sue took a bite of chocolate Maddie would open her mouth thinking it was for her--to her surprise Sue would eat it and Maddie would -scream. Didn't Sue know the chocolate was Maddie's? Silly SUE.

THINKER
4) The Sock--This is cute, Neal has the video on his phone as proof of this event. She took her sock off, then decided she wanted it back on. She used her thumbs to open the sock, then tried to put her little foot back into her SOCK! Who thinks of these things when they are 10 months!!! Then we started realizing when she has her clothes in her hands she is trying to put them ON! Today she tried so hard to get a onezie over her head. I am not exaggerating. I think babies know a lot more than we think they do!

MISCHEVIOUS
5) I just looked over and she pulled Neal's jeans off our chair, she is now standing on them with one leg up the chair trying to pull herself up to get her new ladybug book!

I am confident that she will have us on our toes for a very long time!

To blog or Not to Blog....

2011-01-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

Is it even worth it? I am SO far behind! I don't even know where to start! First of all Neal was accepted to the University of Washington School of Dentistry--WAHOO!!! He received acceptances from his top schools, and were able to choose where we wanted to go. Although we knew we wanted to move back to Washington, and as soon as Neal knew he was accepted he booked a moving a truck and we were off!

Good bye Utah, we loved you! It was so fun being in such a small town, at such an incredible university. I miss our cute apartment, grocery store across the street, mall up the road, school 3 minutes away--it was fun and we loved every second! We really miss our good friends, and I am so BUMMED I didn't take any pictures with our friends. You would think I would remember!

A week before we moved Madison was crawling everywhere, sitting up, and learning new things everyday. A few days after she crawled she started to pull herself up on furniture, and attempt to stand! She is growing before our eyes!

It was so fun to MOVE home for Christmas! What a present! Again, I have no pictures, because I didn't remember to take any--honestly I think my brain is gone--I am having flashbacks of my pregnancy with Madison--No BRAINS.

Here are a few pictures, I will try and post more later. And I will try and blog more frequently...New Years resolution :)

The Plague

2010-11-04T19:35:00.001-07:00

It has hit our house... and we would like it to leave! Doesn't Neal look like a Vampire :) And yes, it does feel as bad as it looks YIKES!

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk--But have you ever spilt it like this?!?!

2010-10-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman,

I find that sometimes spilling milk can make you want to cry--and resent the old saying, "Don't cry over spilled milk." Now the economist in me thinks, well yes, it is a sunk cost, the milk was spilled-get over it!

Well, a few nights ago Neal left to visit the great state of Arizona for 2 dental school interviews, and for some reason Madison really wanted to teach me patience. She was up from 10pm - 5am crying, fussing, stirring, anything opposite of sleep.... Well after hours of exhaustion, Madison finally fell asleep. I decided I really needed to eat something since I missed dinner the night before. I started to make scrambled eggs, and I have no idea how this all happened but the eggs, the milk, the glass, my cute decorated tile--all ended up on the floor! I looked at it, thought about cleaning it up right away, and decided NOPE! I am going to bed! Oh wow. It was a sad scene.

Moral of the story, I really wanted to cry over spilled milk.

Another fun topic, Madison thinks she is a big girl, she gets very annoyed when I try to feed her a bottle--SHE wants to do it, all by herself. I have proof!

Who knows she may start trying to dress herself...

What a fine dresser she is :)

Madison has a new friend, Melinda, and they seem to really enjoy one another! Madison loves to talk, which is exactly what she is doing in this photo

Photos Photos Photos!

2010-10-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

Well, here you have it!! The amazing Madster! Madsidonia! Madigascar!

Neal and Maddie looking out the window at Jon & Meghan's home in Salt Lake City, I thought this was so cute!!

This Summer Uncle Jeffrey came to Utah--he was attending the BYU Cross Country Camp because he is a stud and can run like nobody's business! He was such an awesome helper with Madison. Here are some pictures of Neal and Jeffrey "introducing" Madison to to the little pond we like to visit. As you will see she LOVED it :)

Then we GRADUATED!!!

After graduation ceremonies at 8am we hoped in the car and drove 13 hours to Seattle Washington :) We love going home. While in Washington Neal purchased his first article of clothing for Madison--a Polo Ralph Lauren dress--He would!! I can't lie, its so cute!!

Then we went to Schmooze at UW, we dressed Maddie up in her UW outfit. Our goal was to take her in, have her flash her irresistible smile and make the admissions counselor melt... too bad no one was there :) BUMMER!

Then we came back to Utah, I started my job at NuSkin, Neal went back to class, and then we had visitors!! Natalie, Mike, Brayden, Caleb, Baby Devin, Michelle, Ivan, Dan, Phil, and Denae came to visit! We loved having them here and our house feels empty :( I wish I had more fun pictures!

Here is our little gangster. Paula sent Maddie this super cute cat beanie, and as if that was not cute enough with her bling bling earrings--we added Spencer's hat to the mix. Pretty much we think she is SO CUTE!!

Bastian Update

2010-10-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Hello! Long time no blog :) I know you all really only want pictures, and I will definitely be posting MANY pictures. Too bad Madison is 5 months old now, and I have only blogged twice with photos! I blame priorities. The blog has dropped to the end of my list of priorities-and that is fine with me!

I graduated YEA!! And what a feat that was! I am so happy I was blessed to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While serving a mission I learned how to prioritize my time, schedule, and how to put my nose to the grinder and get to work. It was hard. I made sure to study hard any second I had, any spare time I spent with Neal and Madison. :)

My blog is SO OLD that I don't remember what I posted! Did I post about Neal? My husband is REMARKABLE. I love to tell people how amazing he is--I do it all the time because I think about it all the time--"How is Neal so smart?!?" My next question, "Is it contagious?" I wish!!

Why Neal is so awesome! Not only was he Mr. MOM (all day long) while I finished classes and he studied for the DAT full-time with a new baby. He would study with her on his lap, or have her sleeping next to time while he took practice text, after practice test... Then the big day came. Neal left to take the DAT early one Saturday morning--he left with a hope and a million prayers. Neal was able to score in the 95th percentile on the DAT overall, and he scored in the 98th percentile in the Perceptual Ability Test--Yes, he is amazing!!!

We have applied to numerous dental schools, and Neal has been blessed with many interviews. we are eager to hear where our little family will be moving, and fingers crossed we are hoping for UW!! Go DAWGS!!!That would be our ultimate dream come true! Although Ohio State is a close second! He has loved traveling around, visiting different universities, and learning about their programs. We are very excited to see where life takes us!

I am officially a working mom, I work full-time for NuSkin in Provo Utah. I love that it is 5 blocks away from my house, the work is FUN, we get a pay check :) I can keep up with Neal's many flight purchases (wow, those are expensive!!) life is good! We found a babysitter we LOVE, my job is alright, Neal is doing very well in class--we have no complaints!

Other than the fact that Neal is gone often for days at a time for interviews, I am loving life!! Good thing I have a cute baby to keep me company!! I know this blog is lacking in detail, but since I am so behind I figured I would give you all an overview and post a million pictures.

I love being a mom, I love my baby, I have the best husband in the world, our lives are so full of love and happiness. We are so happy to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which provides us with peace and joy. We are so fortunate to have the truthfulness of the gospel in our lives, it provides protection, safety, knowledge of a loving Savior, the ability to repent, and the goal of having an eternal family. I know no better way of showing my love for my family than living the best life I can--so that I can keep them forever. I feel so blessed.

I suppose you want this too....

2010-08-08T21:48:00.001-07:00

So I forgot the recipe for the Glaze... wow. I must be tired!!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Glaze

3 Squares of Baker’s Semi Sweet chocolate
3 Tbs Water
1 Tbs Butter
1 C Sifted Confectioners’ Sugar
Dash of Salt
½ tsp Vanilla

Place chocolate, water, and butter in sauce pan. Stir constantly over very low heat until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
Combine sugar and salt in a bowl. Gradually blend in chocolate mixture and vanilla. This will make about ¾ cup of glaze which is good for a 10” Bundt cake.

Neglected Blog :(

2010-08-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

My poor blog has been so neglected! I have so many things to post about, but so little time to do it! All I can say is 4 days to GRADUATION and no more classes with baby in tow! Not that I didn't enjoy taking her to class with me, I just don't think everyone else in class loved it as much as I did. So real quick I will post a few quick photos, and the long awaited RECIPE for my famous almond cake-YUM!!

Almond Cake
1 C Butter
2 ¼ C Flour
1 C Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs
½ tsp Salt
1 can Solo or 1 bar Almond Paste
¼ C Milk
*Chocolate Glaze recipe

Preheat oven to 350°, grease and flour 10” tube pan or Bundt pan, set aside.
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in Almond filling until well blended. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt until mixed. Add to almond mixture alternatively with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat until blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
Bake 50-55 minutes (use a toothpick to check doneness). Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, remove from pan and cool completely on rack. Smother with chocolate glaze.

Almond Cake--Yes I made this--and Yes it is GOOD

And one Maddie Picture... I will add more after I GRADUATE!!! :)

Super CUTE!!

2010-06-09T12:05:00.001-07:00

I don't have much time, I have a lot of homework, and various papers due, all before finals on Wednesday... But I had to post these pictures, they were too cute!!!

Madison 3 weeks...

Honestly, I think we lucked out with a super cute, easy baby!!

Playing Dress Up

2010-05-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

Little girls can be so cute!!!

Picture for UW dental school...

Madison and her first dress for church

Madison and her lght pink tutu

Madison in her hot pink tutu

Announcing: Madison Mae Bastian!!

2010-05-31T10:20:00.001-07:00

Madison Mae, born 5/15/10 at 12:50pm weighing in at 8 pounds 1 ounce, and 19 inches long!

Friday night (5/14) I prayed and prayed that Maddie would come that night, it was perfect--I would have exactly one week without tests, major projects, or papers. This would give me time to get used to my new baby. Around 11:20pm that night I was not giving up hope that she would come when I asked her to. I had completely cleaned my apartment, this entailed mopping every tile by hand, scrubbing the bathrooms, cleaning walls, the molding, the windows... you name it I cleaned it. (Wishful thinking to induce labor!)

At 2 am my water broke and we were so excited! This meant they had to keep us at the hospital and not send us home! It was pretty funny when we left for the hospital, Neal had me sit on a plastic bag as to not "wet his seat." It totally cracked me up.

After about 2 hours I hadn't dialated, they started up the Petosin and those contractions started kicking in pretty hard! Once actual labor kicked in, I was fully dialated in a little over 2 hours. I was excited to start pushing, and the nurse came in to tell me that the doctor had an emergency C-section and that I needed to wait. WAIT? What? So we waited, about 2 more hours... and waited... We started pushing and an hour later Madison Mae came out!

We think she is super cute, and we are having a lot of fun with her. I am doing well, it has been pretty hard with school, I tried to go to school 3 days after giving birth and I was pretty uncomfortable, to say the least. But after about 6 days I was ready to head to class and hit the books. I just finished two pretty awful tests, these are two of the hardest classes I have taken at BYU and I think this will be a good test to see what I am really made of!

well, without further adieu, here are a few pictures!

Maddie and Mom-check out her hair!

Maddie and Daddy

Maddie's first bath

Maddie Chillin in her crib

First Pedicure

Man Dad is Good!

Visits from Grammy

Visit from Aunt Michelle

I have a new obsession

2010-05-10T15:46:00.001-07:00

This post will be short and sweet... I am in LOVE with this blog! Natalie Yost my MTC companion shared this website with me, and I am obsessed! There are cute homemade binki clips, homemade bibs that are waterproof... so CUTE!! Anyways I had to SHARE, it is just too exciting, I just clicked on "Baby" and went to town. I am in love with this blog!

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2008/12/binky-clip.html Click here!

Spring Projects

2010-04-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

I love being able to do whatever I want! No tests to worry about, no homework, just long awaited relaxation. My spring classes begin in 3 days and I had a few things that I wanted to work on. I will show my recent projects and all their lovely glory. I am not a seamstress by any means, but I do enjoy trying new things.

First, many friends have had babies recently and I have not had time to make them their little gifts! So I completed mini diaper/wipes holders. I think they are convenient, and super cute!

Second, I purchased some cute pink burp cloths and I wanted to "spice" them up a bit. Denae was in town and recently made some super cute burp cloths for someone else and gave me some great ideas. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but Denae connected the creativity dots in my head, and I completed the burp cloths!

First, the mini diaper/wipes holder.... I had a few people in mind when I was shopping for these... many of you will see these in the mail :)

The BLUE

The GREEN

The GIRLY (these were the "experimental ones" so don't look closely!)

These were fun to work on... again I am not a seamstress but I just loved when someone made me one and I wanted to share!!

BURP CLOTHS

A closer look (but not too close! Remember I don't really know what I am doing!!!)

Spring Cleaning :)

2010-04-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

I love cleaning. It is exciting to me. It is one of those things in life where you can see an instant change. Cleaning is rewarding, and makes me very happy!!

For "Spring Cleaning" Neal and I decided last night at 11:55pm that we needed to re-arrange our bedroom for our new addition (Madison Mae) who we hope will be joining us soon! Well, I hope she joins us soon, I am ready to have my belly back!! :)

Here we are 35 weeks Prego

Here is our newly arranged bedroom--and for those of you wondering, "who helped Neal move everything?" It was me :)

(This is the Madison corner.. I noticed Neal's placement of the chair is in perfect sight of the TV in the front room...coincidence? I don't think so! Genius!)

A better view of the Maddie corner...

Our studying nook

And our bed, right by the window for the perfect Breeze!!

Now all we need is the baby!

Spring is Coming!!

2010-04-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know Neal--well--you know that he loves flowers, grass, trees and anything that grows! He decided that we need "new" plants for our little patio. I think he did a great job selecting plants with awesome color. I love how he cares for his plants. Here are a few photos of my husband's handy work!

Pruning--salvaging last year's greenery

This poor little lemon tree is on its last leg... we are still trying to salvage it... Poor little tree!!

The final products--Neal does have impeccable taste in plants!!

Happy Spring!!

Almond Cake with Chocolate Glaze

2010-04-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

All I can say is YUM!!

One of my favorite families in Vero Beach, Florida used to make this cake for dessert and I begged them for the recipe. It tastes super moist, and it is completely homemade! Neal and I wanted to eat it so badly, because it smelled so good--that we forgot to take the photo first! Hence, the half eaten cake :)
Southern women know how to cook!

Car Seat Tent Complete!

2010-04-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

I love these fabrics!!!

(Front View)

I am pretty impressed with myself! I didn't have a pattern, I did all the measuring, guessing, sewing, ironing, bow making, button attaching, Velcro fighting--all to make this cute little product! I think it turned out well!

The bows took me forever because I have NEVER made a bow in my life--first attempt! But I think they compliment the car seat tent quite well :)

Who knew I could do this!! Now I am eager to start more of my projects!

Tender Mercies

2010-03-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

I have been so blessed these last few weeks, and it is incredible how lucky I am. I have been having a super rough time with pain the past few weeks, and I find myself thinking, "seven more weeks... make it through finals, have a baby, then graduate..." Now mind you, those are HUGE but it must be done. My little blessings are as follows!

My cute MOM came to see me for lunch when she had a layover in SLC, and I really needed to see my mom! Sometimes I can be so needy. She came just in time!

Debbie Debbie bo-Bebbie...

Then to top it off, my sister SUE came to visit me, she was on a business trip in Canada, and decided to come see me on her way home! Yea!! We had a blast, we watched TV, relaxed, and went on a hunt for a cute stroller... To add icing on that cake, my nephew RYAN decided to visit from BYUI to BYU and we got to have him the whole afternoon and evening! (weird, my nephew is in college.. I am OLD!) It was awesome! What a weekend!

Skip to my Lou SUE!!

The hunt is complete! We have a stroller people!

My little Nephew, RYAN all grown up!

It gets better!! My friend CHARLI brought over a gift for Maddie, one that I have been daydreaming about for MONTHS!! No joke... I really really wanted Maddie's newborn photos in a hot pink tutu...

Behold! TuTuS!!!!

I literally CANNOT wait to see her in these!!! So so so cute!!!

Last but not least! A visit from my friend from home KARA came to stop by on her way to MOab! You would think I won the lottery!

KARA dropping in to say HELLO!!

These little things are helping me keep going--I am very excited for these last few weeks! They have delightful lately, and I feel very blessed!

Baby Updates...Let the count down begin!

2010-03-11T17:11:00.000-08:00

Madison Mae will be her name! Or Madison Michelle, sometimes I just can't decided. Yes I said "I" not "we" Neal doesn't particularly like either middle name options, but I figure after I go through the trauma of having a baby, he will let me name her whatever I want!! :) But we have jointly agreed that Madison will be her first name. I posted a few pictures so that you can see what Neal and I have been working on :)

Ha! That was funny! We worked on a baby, and now we are getting ready to have her come out and play! But not too soon, she needs to bake for another 6-9 weeks. (I am hoping she comes between my winter and spring term of school so that I can have 4 days of rest before school starts... but I am never actually that lucky :) but I can dream!

Here you have it! The bump growth: I am making some serious progress!

27 weeks

30 weeks

An update on her new bed, we decided to go with a pack 'n play as we will be moving this coming December. This was the cutest we could find! Neal loves putting these together wink wink...

Neal hard at work...

The final product! It even has a little changing station attached, convenient!

Here is her closet space to hold all of her super cute clothes! I wish I could post all of her new little wardrobe now, girl clothes are SO CUTE!!! I will wait and have her model them for you--that would be best! But here is her little section of the closet thus far...

And of course I need a few projects to work on, so here are my latest adventures!

Here is a diaper bag I made last August (before we even knew we were pregnant!) with Neal's cousin Lila. I LOVE this bag and I am excited to put it to good use!

I saw these online and I HAD to try them! I am working on these, I will let you know how they turn out... I can hardly wait!

hook candy crochet patterns

And I am making a car tent like this one... except on the two handle grips I will have ribbon flowers with a little button. But you can imagine what it will look like when I am done :)

This pattern..

with this fabric and ribbon :)

We are very excited in preparation for Maddie Mae's arrival, and hopefully I can find time to do these projects and graduate in the meantime!

A Very Merry Un-Birthday!

2010-03-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

To me! This year I was able to celebrate my 6 1/2 birthday! Who knew such intelligence could come from a 6 year old. Its true. 6 years old = SMART. Neal was brilliant this year and surprised me by celebrating my "un-birthday" early and taking me to TCBY to get my beloved white chocolate mousse. I LOVE that stuff! Best gift ever! Not to mention the beautiful flowers that he specially selected for me :) I am one lucky girl, seriously! TCBY, roses, and Neal. That is the perfect present!

Beautiful!!

Delicious!

I also made my favorite homemade pizza thanks to Pam Prete and her AWESOME recipe she shared with me! Yes ladies and gentleman, I made this lovely creation... Smothered in cheese, pepperoni, and sausage. (I do believe I am a meat lover pizza kind of girl...greasy, fatty, yummy)I don't mess around with pizza!

Our good friends Maddie and Og (yes his name is Og) had us over for family home evening the week of my birthday and Maddie made me a homemade ice cream cake! It was so delicious. They also surprised me with gifts, which I was totally not expecting! It was a surprise indeed!

What a great birthday! I even did SUPER well on my midterms! And mind you, these are not "piddly" classes, these are the real deal, calculus and matrices algebra have been my friends this week :) I am still in shock how well I did. Happy un-birthday to me!!!

The "Slinky Cake"

2010-03-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I don't have any photos of this event... and oh I wish I had them! I still laugh about this and it happened a month ago. For some reason I always associate a "blog posting" with "I have to have a picture" but I suppose that I do not always have to have a picture. So I will get on with the story. :)

I decided to make a spice cake, I love to eat them. I also LOVE cream cheese frosting. These days my brain is a little off, and I accidentally doubled the amount of vanilla in the recipe, so naturally I doubled the entire recipe. (Yum Yum!) Needless to say, my cake finished baking, I let it cool, then I frosted that thing like nobody's business. It was very top heavy. (My mom would be so proud!)

My dear unassuming husband sees the top heavy cake, gets excited, cuts a slice, places it on his plate and then I hear, "OH NO!" it totally lobbed off the plate frosting side down onto the counter! So Neal scrapes it off the counter (ewww) and then notices that some icing was on the bottom of the plate from the cake's disastrous tumble, so Neal tries to LICK it... needless to say I hear "OH NO!" again, and the cake lands on the counter, same spot, same position... frosting side down! All I know is that my husband was COVERED in frosting, and his cake was a mess on the counter. I was laughing so hard I forgot to breathe!

Then to be cocky, ;) I decide that I want a piece of cake. I gently cut a piece of cake, place it on my plate and AS I am holding it in the air to gloat about how "my cake didn't fall" it tumbles onto the stove top, and frosting oozes into the wire heating coils. Dang it.

The next day, I see Neal successfully eating the cake, and he says, "Wow, I love this slinky cake!" Now, this notorious cake has a name.

I am starting to look PREGNANT!!

2010-01-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

I actually want to look pregnant at some point! Its hilarious, last Sunday I announced that we found out we were having a girl, and the ladies at church gasped, turned around, and gasped again, one said, "You're pregnant?!?" Umm... last time I checked and I was super sick the answer was YES! We have had a rough start, but I think we are making progress!!! Here is a picture from week 17... don't worry it just looks like a fat patch on my belly :)

At week 18 I went home, I could still fit my jeans pre-wedding... and I didn't quite look pregnant yet...

At week 22 we have some Bump-age going on! I think I am past the "muffin top" stage, which an odd transition...

And I have to add at least one cute ultrasound picture... here is one with her two little feet together. I like this one the best as far as "cuteness factors" are concerned. And luckily she measured bigger than she was and they moved my due date up! Yea!!

I would just like to conclude and say that I LOVE my cute husband, and we are excited to meet our little GIRL in MAY!!

Christmas Projects

2010-01-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Project ONE: Wainscoting

The Bastian boys were hard at work! Neal and Marc were busy working to help their Dad with a project in the living and dining room... it looked AWESOME when they finished nailing up on the wall. I was very impressed with their handy skills!!

Project TWO

I had some "Mother Daughter Bonding" this Christmas as I learned how to make fancy pants pillow for my couch. This is the second time I have made these pillows... I really wanted to have the cording on the side of the pillows and thank heavens that my mom is a pro! I would have ROYALLY messed them up! I think she (and I) did a great job if I do say so myself! I was in charge of supervision and she was the sewing maniac.. although my contribution was sewing the seams closed by hand. I know, Poor Michelle! But don't they look so cute! I love them!

Project Three

My sister Paula (super creative) wanted to start a "family cookbook" and for Christmas I was going to send them my favorite recipes as a gift... Well I finally finished 60 recipe cards (10x6 Orchard Ladies) Jan 2nd... I was a little late but I feel that I accomplished a bear of a project! And they are cute I must say :)

This is the conclusion of one busy and fun Christmas!!

Yea! We have a baby on the way!!

2009-12-12T17:51:00.001-08:00

I will play catch-up for a moment for those of you interested in the past few months: Neal and I celebrated our first anniversary this month, last year on December 6th. Our wedding day was incredible! The weather was more than ideal for Seattle winters...in fact you would have thought it was autumn!

Here are a few fun pictures of our engagement, and wedding, Enjoy!

Honeymoon

We hopped on a plane to Mexico and spent a week in the warm weather--and we have decided to retire to Mexico when we get old. We flew home to find a few hearty inches of snow on the ground (warm, sunny honeymoon was over!) we arrived home around midnight in the freezing cold.

BYU

Then we moved to Utah to finish our degrees at Brigham Young University. We are loving school. Neal is currently preparing to apply to dental school this summer, and we couldn't be more excited to move! I will be graduating this August with a degree in Economics--who knew!? Economics? We are preparing for a very crazy next few months as we prepare to graduate, and have a baby!

Baby on the way!
(Don't worry, you cannot tell by this picture!)

BYU has mercy on their pregnant students...at least they have shown it thus far. I have really lucked out! I am 17 weeks today and you would never know it! It appears that I have a very shy baby in my tummy that does not want to be seen! Why is it that when women want to look pregnant they don't? And when they do not want to look pregnant they do? This has always puzzled me. Eventually I hope to start showing :) We find out January 4th what our baby will be... We do not have any inkling as to what this little thing is, but we are excited to play with a new baby in May!