Anniversary Getaway

Tyler and I have been married for five whole years. Pretty crazy! I just adore this man and feel so blessed that we have such a great relationship and are just happy as clams together.

We decided to head down south to celebrate our anniversary. We went a couple weeks after our anniversary because Tyler was on his general surgery rotation (Six weeks of 14 hour days and working weekends) and I was busy working overtime to save up money for when our baby comes. We were both definitely ready for a vacation. 

We stayed at this darling bed and breakfast in Orange, Virginia. It's an old mansion that was built in the 1830s that has been turned into an Inn. It was so charming! We just loved it.

We had an in-room couples massage that was just what the doctor ordered. It was so nice to get all relaxed and then just be able to stay in our room and lounge in our cozy robes.

 

The next morning our host cooked us an amazing breakfast. It's just one couple that owns and runs the inn and they were so nice and accommodating. I had e-mailed them to let them know I had Celiac and so they had gluten-free cookies in our room when we arrived and made a delicious gluten-free breakfast for us in the quaint dining room. Neither of us had ever stayed at a bed and breakfast before but we both absolutely loved it. Much more fun than a regular hotel.

We went for a little stroll down Main Street after breakfast. The whole place makes you feel like you're back in the 1800s. There's old churches and banks and this cute little train station. 

Next we headed further south to Charlottesville and Monticello. Normally by the end of March it's full blown spring and 70 degrees everyday, but this has been the endless winter. Unfortunately it was a pretty dreary day; foggy and rainy. At least it wasn't cold and snowy. It was still marvelous to see Thomas Jefferson's plantation and tour the house and the grounds.  

Finally we headed to Historic Downtown Charlottesville and drove through the UVA campus. The university was founded by Thomas Jefferson and this building, the Rotunda, was designed by him. The campus is just gorgeous.

One of my favorite things about living out here is the proximity to so many amazing cities and historic sites. We had such a lovely time in the Charlottesville area!

Baby Shower

I had the best baby shower a girl could ask for. My friends are so sweet and thoughtful. I am always so touched and inspired to be a better friend. Ali made delicious gluten-free poppy seed muffins and Marie made homemade granola with gluten-free oats for the yogurt parfaits and the quiche was crustless.  So thoughtful!

The absolute best part of the shower, hands down, was when Randi walked in and surprised me! I was seriously so shocked. Props to everyone who kept the secret. I had no idea she was coming out all the way from Sacramento. Best surprise ever. I definitely got teary-eyed when I saw her. She stayed with us over the weekend and we had so much fun! We miss the Spears terribly.

Ellen planned a fun game where she gathered everyone's baby pictures and we had to guess who was who. It was so funny to see everyone's baby pics.

There were also a bunch of bibs that the girls decorated. I thought this one was particularly clever.

It was a double shower for me and Savanna. She is four weeks ahead of me. It was great to have someone to share the shower with. The best part was we opened gifts at the same time so it took a lot of pressure off of my surprise/i-love-this-gift face. 

 Love you ladies! Thanks for a  fabulous day!

Utah Christmas

Living across the country makes Christmas more fun because we basically get a two week vacation of doing nothing but hang out with our wonderful families. The first thing we did when we got in was have a little gender reveal with my family, at about 1:00 am (thanks to delayed flights). We found out the gender a week before we went home and were so anxious to share the news!

We were pretty much horrible at taking pictures, as usual. We stayed with my parents for the first week. It's always great to just be around for the little things, like making breakfast, putting up Christmas decor, going out to dinner, etc. My parents redid their basement, which was a surprise to us. It looks fabulous and we had fun hanging out down there. The second week we stayed at the Kents and had a great time just relaxing with family.

I was super bummed that I couldn't go skiing, or sledding or to Airborne, but I guess it's better safe than sorry. I was able to go snowmobiling with the Kents, which was very fun. The conditions weren't good enough for the boys to go on a big ride so they brought us women and children along and we just played around in a meadow and did some sledding.

The best part was just being up in the gorgeous mountains and getting a little taste of this activity that my husband is so passionate about.

Sarah went through the temple for the first time while we were there. It's always such a special experience to be in the temple with so many loved ones. I'm grateful that I got to be a part of that.

We went to several family parties and were thrilled to be able to see and catch up with everyone.

We were super spoiled by our parents and our little one got spoiled as well. My girlfriends were nice enough to throw me a baby shower while we were there and our moms of course couldn't resist picking up a few things for her as well. We've started clearing out space to make room for baby and this has been dubbed our "baby shelf." So weird and so exciting!!!

My mom asked our cousin Kate to take some impromptu family photos while we were all together. They turned out great!

We are truly blessed to have so many great people in our lives and we always love going home to visit! 

Baby!!!

We're having a baby! Seriously, so crazy and so exciting. It's definitely sad to have to say goodbye to just Lauren/Tyler time, but I am so grateful the five years we've had just the two of us and all of the adventures we've gone on. And we couldn't be more excited to start this next chapter of our lives.

We had our first ultrasound at 8 weeks and were so excited/relieved to see that there was actually a baby in there and that it was growing in the right place. It definitely made things more real for us to see our little gummy bear and hear her heartbeat.

The second ultrasound at 12 weeks was so much fun because our fetus actually looks like a baby! Our little one was so active; bouncing around like crazy moving arms and legs and twitching and rolling. It was pretty crazy to see this little munchkin's acrobats and not be able to feel any of it.

The best part about 12 weeks is that's when I started feeling better. I am counting my blessings because my sickness wasn't too bad compared to some people. I felt pretty crappy for about 6 weeks. I would throw up every Monday night without fail. Weird right? Once a week and always on Monday night. Ever since I've been out of my first trimester I've felt wonderful and I am SO grateful for that.

20 week ultrasound was obviously the best because we found out our baby is a girl!!! I'm not going to lie, I was really hoping to have a girl so I was extra excited. Tyler has always said he didn't care which gender we have first, so he was very excited too. He also figured out the gender before the ultrasound tech said anything. We were mostly excited that she is developing properly and everything looks great.

Little feetsies.

Five month baby bump.

Six month baby bump.

For the most part I have really enjoyed being pregnant. It truly is a miracle. I love feeling her squirm around and kick and roll. We are so anxious to meet our little one!

Halloween

Amy and Ellen threw a fabulous Halloween party. The costumes were amazing, as you can see. Creative friends we have.

I think my favorite part of the night was playing Minute to Win It games.  They are always hysterical, especially ones everyone's competitive sides come out. 

Fall

Fall in the District, I can never get enough. 

Love the rainbow trees. The tops of the trees change colors before the bottom so there are always lovely multicolored trees. The ones on the streets of Georgetown are my favorite.

We went for a Sunday stroll at the old Oak Hill Cemetery.  So pretty and peaceful.

Harper's Ferry

Harper's Ferry is the perfect day trip. It's only about an hour or so away from DC and it is just beautiful. It's an old Civil War town that has been preserved. The scenery is gorgeous and the little town is so quaint.