Luke's Birthday

Luke celebrated his 26th Birthday yesterday! I had his presents wrapped and in the living room when he got home from work on Wednesday. SO yesterday he sat straight up in bed at 630(am!) and said "It's my birthday, let's open presents!" That's my boy! ha ha... I did really well this year-- I love finding deals on Ebay and this year was no different. I found a Guitar Hero World Tour game listed as brand new for about half price of what it is in stores. I have had it hiding at Melissa's house for about a month so he wouldn't find it. When he opened it and tore into the box, we found that the kick pedal for the drums was broken, they were obviously used, and the guitar had stickers on it and included dead batteries. I was upset since it was listed as new so I contacted our seller (whom I had already left positive feedback for!) and told him all the problems with the game. He wrote back and told us that he had bought it from someone else who told him it was new, and that he himself had never opened it. He told us that he doesn't do business like that and to please keep the game and that he would refund our money as well! I was so excited--that means we scored it for free! Even if it is broken we can now use the money to replace the broken items and clean up the rest! I also bought him the Beatles Rock Band game which we had a lot of fun rocking out to!

After opening gifts we got to go see our baby and find out that everything is fine with him and that he is growing well. We also had to laugh as we woke up to snow on the ground--Luke swears that has never happened on his birthday before-- but we should have known--it snows every time we go to the baby doctor!

Luke had to work (which he was less than excited about), but I got to go have lunch with him and surprise him with cupcakes to share with his fellow security guards. After work he met all of his family and part of mine at The Mayan for dinner. We love this restaurant! It is a fun atmosphere with the divers, and has yummy food! The waiters sang to him, and about five other people that were also celebrating birthdays there. After dinner we came home to have cake. I thought he might just want dessert at the restaurant, but he told me he wanted cake or it would be his first birthday ever without a birthday cake! Since that put the pressure on, I found a cheesecake sampler (which is his favorite!) and put candles on that as his birthday cake. And of course, then we rocked out al night to the Beatles! All in all it was a great day for him even if he feels old!

Blowing out candles

The Birthday Cheesecake

The group at The Mayan

Happy Birthday Honey!

Logan's Newest Pictures

We had our follow up ultrasound yesterday! I am now 6 months along and Logan is growing as he should--he is even a few days ahead of growth schedule! The heart and kidneys looked great this time, and our little man is estimated to be about 1.6 lbs right now. At one point he actually looked like he was waving at us! I told Luke it was baby's way of wishing daddy a happy birthday!

And, my dad still refuses to believe we are having a boy (I am still a Freitag! Boys are new to us!) so we ask every time we get to see the little guy for a clear picture of his "Manhood." Here are our newest pictures.

Hand to face

Face profile

Confirming he is a BOY

We can hardly wait for little Logan to arrive!

Spring has FINALLY Sprung

Today was actually a nice day outside--every time I think it is "officially" Spring mother nature plays a dirty trick on me and sends us another storm. But-today was actually a nice day so we decided to go out and enjoy it--cause we don't know how long it will last! Luke and I took the top off his car, went and had a picnic in the park and enjoyed taking some pictures as well.

WANTED: A New Home for Trans Am

WANTED: A new home for our 2001 Pontiac Trans Am WS6. (Translation: I finally convinced Luke it is not practical for a baby!) The car is a 6-speed manual, WS6 performance package, has 103K miles, and has had regular maintenance performed. Could be a great gift for an upcoming graduate, Father's Day, Birthday, Anniversary, American Muscle fans, or just the everyday driver... Please leave a note if you know of someone who would like to be the new loving owner of this car.

Baby Furniture

We have really been lucky when it comes to preparing baby's room. Luke's aunt happened to have a crib that she wanted to get rid of so instead of selling it--she gave it to us! I got Luke to help me rearrange our bedroom and put it together about a week ago. That was an adventure--we had no instructions so we kinda made them up as we went along, but luckily he is very handy and got it all taken care of.

This past weekend, Luke's cousin and some friends were having a yard sale and they had a changing table out. It is a little scratched, but pretty nice and we scored it for $4! I took it home and cleaned it up and it looks really nice!

Our sister-in-law Stacy had really hoped we would have a boy, so when we told her that we are she gave us all of her son's old clothes! We have 6 bags of baby clothes now as well. I also found a great deal on a baby dresser at Babies R Us, but we haven't gotten that put together yet.

Needless to say our room is starting to fill up fast, but hopefully we will be moved into the new apartment before our bundle of joy arrives.

Blessings in Disguise

I have been out of work for 8 weeks now, and it is amazing all the good that has come of it. I have missed working (and the income that comes from it), but I have managed to stay busier at home than when I was employed. I have been able to spend a little more time than usual with my nieces and nephews, my sister and my sister in law. We were able to get on Luke's insurance which pays way better than the plan we were on and will help with the baby expenses. But, it is amazing that we have also been able to save more money than ever in the last year that we have been married. We have also been able to pay off some more debt as well. Today we were able to pay off one more loan and be one step closer to being debt free--every little bit is exciting right now. Luke laughs at me sometimes because I keep a spreadsheet of our bills, and I get so excited to update it when we pay something off. It has truly been a blessing to be able to save, and pay off debt in a struggling economy and on only one income. We are also excited to have a second income again soon! And, we do have Luke's car up for sale, so anyone who wants a Trans Am or might know someone who wants a Trans Am--let us know!

Good News Day

Today has been a great day for good news! We started the morning off going to my 22-week check up with Dr. Later. Everything is still looking good-- baby's heart rate is normal, my blood pressure is normal, and weight gain is still on track. I had the chance to ask the doctor about the fluid on the kidneys we were told about at our ultrasound two weeks ago, and were told it is probably just because the bladder is not finished developing yet so the kidneys might not drain, and that at this point it is nothing to worry about. Good news tidbit #1.

After the appointment we drove around looking for new apartments. We have had a few incidents lately at ours and we are ready to move. We also want to get into a 2 bedroom so that we have more room when Logan arrives. We went to see three today and liked two of them. We are not looking to move until August when our lease is up here, but the good news is we found a place we love that is in a great neighborhood. Good news tidbit #2.

Later this afternoon I had a call simulation test with Discover for a position I had applied for. The test went well so they had me fill out more paperwork, and then meet with two more people before offering me the job!! I was there a long time for the test, interview, offer, and then drug test and fingerprinting, but I start May 3! Good news tidbit #3.

Luke has been talking about going to a school to be a mechanic. Today we found a few programs in the area that are specialized vocational training that we can probably afford. We still need to look into financial aide just for extra help, but he is excited about the opportunity. Good news tidbit #4.

I love good news days!

First Anniversary Part 2

We celebrated our first anniversary on Sunday! I can hardly believe how fast the year has gone and how much has happened in our first year together! We celebrated part on saturday as well. Luke had applied for a security position in Dugway-a base we thought was near Tooele. So we drove out to see what it was like and look at houses out there for fun. Tooele would be ok--we found a 4 bed, 3 bath house with a 2 car garage for $140K! Then we decided to see where Dugway is. We continued heading west...for 45 minutes! We drove through a long, windy, one lane mountain road (with a sign saying it doesn't get plowed in the winter) that literally dead ended into Dugway base. There was NOTHING out there--no houses, gas stations, grocery stores-- desert only. That made the decision for us-- we will NOT be moving to Dugway--or Tooele for that matter, but we had a fun little drive!

That night we got all dressed up and went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I have always thought it was weird when people called it their "wedding anniversary," as that sounds redundant to me, but our waitress asked if we were celebrating an occasion and so I said "yes--it's our first anniversary!" and then she looked confused and asked if we lived together or if we were married. It was an odd question to us, but I guess it just proves to us that to the world marriage is a thing of the past! After dinner we were walking around the mall, and Luke actually found a belt buckle to replace the one he left in our hotel on our honeymoon last year. It only took a year, but we finally we able to replace it! We also went to see the movie "Dear John" that night which we really enjoyed--even if we were a little fancy for the dollar theater.

Sunday for the actual day we made ourselves a nice steak dinner and created our own candle light ambiance at home. It was a nice relaxing day, and so fun to be able to go through the highlights of our first year together. We were told we are no longer newlyweds--we are now oldly weds :)

Freedom Writers

Luke and I got this movie today on Netflix and spent some time watching it this morning. What a great movie! It portrays the lives of students living in California during all the riots in the 90's, and the one teacher that helped them see that they could change. It was a great reminder that one person or teacher can make a difference in others lives. If you have a chance to rent it, we recommend it!

Monday (E) Mail

Poor Leslie has been having a rough time on the mission so far--keep her in your prayers! Here is my most recent E-mail:

Hey! Wow those are a lot more clear! That's crazy how big he is! I can't believe it. How are you doing? How did you enjoy Conference? Wasn't it great?!! I loved it. I think Sunday morning session was my favorite, but they were all great! I thought of you a lot because they were all on families! And you just starting yours it was perfect timing! I forgot my notes of couse. But it was amazing! How was your Easter? What did you end up doing? I ended up being sick yesterday and then we had a tornato warning! So we spent all night in our hallway and then by the time it was time for bed we were able to go back in to our room to sleep! It's been a crazy week! My ankle is still in a lot of pain, I have a boot and am on crutches, probably for about a month. I was given Tylonal 3 for the pain by my foot doctor, and I ended up being allergic to it. Right as Zone Conference was ending, I started to lose color in my face so President handed me a bottle of water. That didn't help, my heart was ponding and my chest was closing off. We said the closing prayer and everone went out back in to the sacrament room and I went to the mothers lounge, shaking, still not being able to breathe, President gave me a blessing, carried me to the Andra's (a senior couple here, works in the office) car, and they took me to the hospital. I got put on a heart monitor, they gave me some more medicine and I calmed down and was able to breathe again. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, but it was definitely scarry. We don't know if the medicine was to strong for me or if I have a codine intollerance. So the hospital perscribed me with a different perscription for pain meds for my ankle, but President said it's still pretty strong and still has codine in it so he would advice not to fill it. So now I just get to suck it up and deal with the pain! So I haven't been able to go out much this week. President has me sitting in his office, studying and taking naps during the day. Then in the evening when we have appts Sister Wright and Sister Baker pick me up and I go out with them. Exciting week huh! It's been crazy! But I hope your week is going well. I hope you had a great Easter and was able to enjoy Conference! I know I did! Happy anniversary on Sunday! Any big plans for it? How was the Monster Truck show and Vegas? Who won? Well I hope your doing well! I love ya Kel!

20 week Ultrasound!!

April Fools Day is a crazy day to have an ultrasound, but ours was today! It was so fun to see little Logan. We got to see his face and he was sucking his thumb! The technician had a few concerns so we do get to see him again at the end of the month in a follow up scan. She noticed some fluid in his kidneys, which can be normal, but something they monitor closely. She also had a hard time finding a clear picture of the heart and lip--they want to make sure all four chambers of the heart are developed and clear and that the lip is not cleft. Logan is still kinda small, but in a few weeks she said we would be able to see better. It is fun that we saw him for the first time the day after my birthday, and our follow up scan is on Luke's birthday! We are excited to bring this little guy to our home and hope in a few weeks we will be able to see things clearly and know for sure that everything is ok.

Me at 20 weeks

Head shots--the bottom one is him sucking his thumb

This is the boy shot-- not too clear in this one, but you can kinda see the arrow pointing to his package... The clear white lines you see are his little hips bones and legs and the arrow is pointing between them :)