Happy Holidays! Sorry I've been so bad at updating this. A few big things have transpired since I last wrote. Shortly after Halloween, Rob found out that he was layed off from work. Which meant we were jobless. It was a really stressful time for us. But Heavenly Father helped us make it through, and December 1st we both started jobs. Rob is working a seasonal job as package/mail sorter at the MSP airport with the post office, and I am working as a contractor for Target Headquarters in their Marketing Dept. Grammy is taking care of Ryan for us, which has been a huge blessing. We're VERY grateful for her and our jobs. We're looking forward to this opportunity to get our debts paid off and be more financially secure.

Thanksgiving was fun for us, we had the opportunity to go to Utah and spend the holiday with Rob's family. His brother Royce wanted the family to be together so he was generous enough to pay for us to come out there. Rob's father has been having some major health issues, so it was a wonderful blessing to be together. It was quite the event, with all of Rob's siblings (9 in all), all the grandkids (24 in all), and spouses and Rob's parents together. I believe all but 3 of the grandkids are under the age of 10, so it was pure chaos most of the time, but still fun.


Below are a few pictures showing off how cute Ryan is getting and other exciting events...

This is a picture of the snowstorm Minnesota just experienced. Due to snow plows, the snow drifts and mounds were above my head. We received nearly 2 feet of snow in a matter of 24 hours. It was incredible.

Ryan just getting better and better at sitting up. Today he sat up all on his own without any support for nearly a minute. He loves sampling whatever we're willing to feed him. His favorite "real food" is mashed pototoes. Don't tell his pediatrician I feed it to him. He's sucking on a cracker in this picture.

I recently turned 25 (nov. 3rd)! Still so young...

This is Ryan in his church clothes. He's not to happy at this moment. I sure love him!

We hope your holiday preparations go well and you all have time to remember the joy and true meaning of this season. I have been reflecting lately about how Mary must have felt when she was told she would be the mother of the Savior of the world. And then the moment when she first held Him in her arms. It was an overwhelming experience for me when I first held Ryan, and I can only imagine what she went through. I am so grateful that I have been given a child of our Father in Heaven to raise, and that He had entrusted such a sweet, wonderful boy to me. We are all His children, and He loves us dearly. As parents, He entrusts us with His children and relies upon us to raise them up unto Him. What a responsibility. Yet such great joy comes from doing this. I am truly grateful for my little family.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great halloween this year! It was fun to dress Ryan up and attend our ward party. He is an adorable little guy. Grandma Green sent Ryan a superman costume, so Rob and I decided to dress up as superbaby's mom and dad... Lois Lane and Clark Kent. My costume was pretty lame, but Rob's helped tip people off.



At one point I was asked if I was a librarian. Not so much. Thanks though, cuz I've worn that outfit to work before. At the end of the night Rob lost the shirt and tie and just had the superman shirt on and perched the glasses on top of his head. Ryan was off with his Grammy. We then were asked if we were the nerdy couple or something. Guess it's time to update our wardrobes.

Ryan is getting so big, he's just adorable. Grandpa taught him how to do raspberries, which is his favorite thing to do when we're feeding him. Yes, we've added rice cereal to his diet, which is definitely a treat to feed him. (Not so much, over half of it ends up all over your hands and all over him). The other day I tried out some baby food on him (carrots!) and he just loved it, he wanted more and more. Here is a picture of the delightful mess he made:

He certainly makes us laugh! Tomorrow he'll be four months old, which is crazy. He likes to do these stomach crunches, where when he's laying down he'll completely lift his head and legs up and sit in that position forever, longer than I can do it. Rob figured out a little trick, he'll hold the pacifier just inches away from Ryan's mouth when he's laying on the floor, and Ryan will do a tummy crunch to reach up to the pacifier and get it in his mouth. It's hilarious. Grammy and I joke that he's trying to get a six pack of abs before he starts nursery so he can impress all the girls. He really is a flirt, at church or in any public setting, if he's in a good mood, he want to look around and give everyone adorable little smiles and get them to coo all over him. Kind of a distraction in relief society! We sure love him!

Thoughts on Conference

I thoroughly enjoyed General Conference last weekend, it was so wonderful to be uplifted and strengthened by our General Authorities. I know that President Packer's talk was met with some resistence by several individuals. Our church has definitely received a lot of criticism due to our stance on homosexuality. I can definitely understand why our beliefs are met with such anger and resentment. However, I wanted to say that we have never preached hatred against the GLBT population. On the contrary, we've been told to treat them with love and respect and as sons and daughters of God. Anyone who treats these individuals contrary to that is wrong. I have the utmost respect and compassion for homosexuals. I will honestly say that I'm grateful that isn't my lot in life.

On the otherhand, I am grateful for church leaders that are willing to take a stand and aren't afraid to teach hard doctrine. I have no doubt Elder Packer knew the reprocussions of making such statements, but I fully sustain him as a prophet, seer, and revelator, and I know that the doctrine of marriage and family as taught by our church is the word of God and all that is said in the Proclamation to the World is true doctrine. I'm grateful to know that the leaders I look to for guidance will not be swayed by the views and current issues in the world, but that they will speak according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. They are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and neither am I.

Family Pictures

We took family pictures last week, it was so much fun! Abby Van Stone, a friend from high school, took them for us. She is way talented. Here are some favorites (they all were amazing!)

He is an adorable little boy, we love him so much. We're so happy to have him in our lives. At two months old he is more than a mother could ask... sleeps through the night, cooes, takes a bottle, and loves his mommy and daddy. It is wonderful being parents, I thank my Heavenly Father for him and my dear husband every day!

8 weeks young

It's true, Ryan is 8 weeks old! He is growing like crazy, and we grow to love him more and more each day. He has started smiling, which just melts anyone's heart that is lucky enough coerse a smile out of him. We haven't caught on camera yet, but Grammy is working hard on it.

A few weeks ago he was blessed, below are pictures from that special day.

I feel so blessed to be his mommy. He just melts my heart. Being a mother is definitely stressful and tries your patience, especially in the wee hours of the morning, or late hours of the afternoon after a sleep deprived evening. However, I am so glad Ryan is in our lives.

Thursday I had my gall bladder removed, which wasn't the most pleasurable experience I've ever had. It's a pretty non evasive surgery, but still required four incisions in my stomach. I'm on percocet, way powerful drug. Every four hours I take that, and in between doses I'm taking four IB profen. It's making the pain tolerable, and now I'm more sore than anything. I've missed giving cuddles to my little boy, but it's hard when he wiggles so much. I'll be as good as new before we know it I'm sure. My parents have been helping out a lot as I've been recovering and Rob has been working.

Here is some exciting news: I have two job interviews next week! One is with an ad agency, and the other is with a firm that creates loyalty campaigns for retail clients. Hopefully a job comes through soon for us.

As far as updates about other members of my family:

My sister Danielle is getting married on October 16th in Mesa, AZ. I'm hoping to make it to the wedding (hence the hope for a job).

My brother Mitch was just married at the end of June, and within a matter of weeks he'll be leaving for Iraq. His wife Aly will be coming to live out here in Minnesota. When my parents recently parted with them before Mitch reported for training duty, my dad gave him a blessing and promised that he would return to his family and he has more to do in this life. That was such a comfort to us all.

Life is crazy and wonderful!

Ryan William Garside

Our little boy arrived! Ryan William was born on Friday, July 2nd at 5:57 pm, weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. He is absolutely wonderful!

Both Rob and I were overcome with a deep love for him. Its an incredible feeling and experience. We're so grateful for the trust Heavenly Father has placed in us to raise this sweet little boy.

Everyone has been asking how the delivery went, so here is a run down on the day. It all started at 8 am on Friday when I first started noticing signs of contractions and cramping. Rob was already at work, but was only working a half day so he would be home withing a few hours. I called my mom and she came and got me so I wouldn't be alone in case it turned into full labor. By 11 am Rob was home and the contractions were coming steadily, between 6 and 10 minutes apart. They really hurt! :) Here is a picture of us relaxing and timing out the contractions:

By 2 pm, they were coming strong and steady on average of five minutes apart, some even closer. We went to the hospital (Rob may have sped a little out of excitement and concern for his life as I was grabbing his hand pretty hard during the drive.) They got us checked and settled, and found I was already dialated to a six! I immediately asked for an epidural, which came just in time.

Before I knew it, I was dialated all the way, and the pain was returning, letting me know it was time to push. After about 20 minutes or so of pushing, Ryan arrived at 5:57 pm. It was all so fast, I couldn't believe it. Its hard to put an experience like that into words. So much pain and exertion, and then suddenly its gone and this precious little child is in your arms, directly from our Father in Heaven. Both Rob and I were overcome with this deep love for him. The rest of our lives will never be the same.

Sunday we were released from the hospital, but before we left we took the chance to read from the Book of Mormon for a few minutes. We read in 3 Nephi where Christ was about to leave the Nephites. The chapter is filled with evidence of the love both our Savior and our Father in Heaven have for us. I love the part when He gathers the children around him and blesses them, and then Angels come down and administer to the children. Rob and I both felt the Spirit very strongly, and gained a stronger sense of the responsibility we've been given and the trust Heavenly Father has placed in us.

I have no doubt Angels are administering to my little boy. There is nothing quite like holding a newborn baby, so precious and innocent. We truly were placed on this earth for a reason.

We love our little boy! Despite the sleepless nights, the crying and constant feeding, I couldn't be happier and more grateful.

One Year Down, Eternity to Go

We're doing well settling into life here in Minnesota. Our house is pretty much all put together, except for the fact that Ryan's room is a disaster right now. I'm somewhat at a loss as to how to organize all his stuff. Luckily mom has offered her help, so Friday morning we'll be tackling that. Just so everyone knows, I have the greatest mom in the world.

After spending so much time with her over the past few weeks, I'm truly starting to understand what it really means to give of yourself completely to your spouse and your family. She is constantly serving her husband, her children, and in her calling. She's set such a good example for me, and as I have followed that example more closely it has helped our Rob and I's marriage grow stronger even more.

Speaking of Rob and I, this Saturday (June 26th) we celebrate our 1 year anniversary! Crazy that time has passed that quickly. I am such a lucky lady to have him as my eternal companion. Here is a video that was shot just shortly after the happiest moment of my life:

Thank you honey for truly showing me what love is, and for being there for me through so much over this past year. I love you for ever and ever.

A couple thoughts...

We have five weeks to go until this baby is born. Hallelujiah. Pregnancy is not fun. But I'm grateful for the blessing to carry this child.

Tuesday we move into our place. Very excited to get settled and be on our feet again. It's been great staying with my parents, they've been wonderful, but I'm definitely ready.

Oh and one more thought. I'm so happy to be here. Life is wonderful.

Getting Settled

Well we've both made it to Minnesota and it's so clear to us that this really is what Heavenly Father wanted us to do, as everything seems to just be falling into place for us. It's been wonderful. Since we've arrived, we've found a job for Rob that will give him the pay and hours he needs to support us over the summer. We've also found a place to rent that is absolutely wonderful and meets our needs. It is this little three bedroom house on a farmhouse property, we're renting it from the sweetest lady in the world. See the picture!!:

We're so excited. The garage is about as big as the house!

Two cars can fit in the garage door opening, and then tons more space right there through the door. Rob really likes that! :) It's in my parent's ward, which Rob was nervous about at first, but has become ok with it. It's a big ward, lots of younger families and couples that we've started making friends with.

Rob has been getting a bit of cabin fever as he's been waiting for his job to start, so we took an outing to visit Red Wing, the town that I grew up in. It was fun to spend the day together and for him to see where I grew up. Here is a picture of us at Memorial Park with a beautiful view of the city:

And here is another of just me and the baby bump:

I'm 33 weeks along, only 7 more to go (hopefully). He's getting to be quite the kicker, pretty painful at times. And I get up to use the bathroom on average of 3 times a night. It gets old, but I'm just getting used to having disrupted sleep. We're so excited to have little Ryan come, he will be such a blessing to us.

We're so grateful that everything is working out so smoothly and that we're being so blessed. It's also been so wonderful to be around my family, I have missed them so much.

Back to the homeland

I'm in Minnesota... Rob is in Utah. We're apart for three weeks. I miss him. Only 10 more days and we'll be together again.

I'm spending a week and a half watching four kids from a family in my parent's ward. Their parents are on a vacation in Paris (so jealous...!) Hadlee is 4 (and a half, she'll insist), Sophie is 6, Noah is 11, and McKinley is 13. Been interesting... in three days I've dealt with wetting pants, refusing to eat anything but go gurt, being late for curfew, getting a balloon from the grocery store caught in the ceiling fan, homework, spelling tests, lacrosse practice and game, fights over who gets to get the mail, and many other fun times. It has been fun, the kids are great. I am VERY tired. Definitely will appreciate having my husband around when we have kids that age.

I'm really glad to be back in Minnesota. I've missed it. And my family. There is nothing quite like it.

Moving to MN!

It's official, we're leaving the west and headed to Minnesota. A few reasons have led us to this decision, and we're confident we're doing the best thing for our family. I'm really looking forward to being closer to my family while going through the experience of having our first child.

The main reason is that with Rob still in school, it presents the need for me to continue working. He still has the nursing program to go through, followed by his masters which will be very time consuming. I know that there are several options here for child care, and Rob's family has all offered to help, but I just feel the most comfortable with my mom helping us take care of him. She's offered, and is delighted with the opportunity to have her grandson nearby. I have the best mom in the whole world. I know I'm lucky to have such an understanding, respectful, loving mother.

The other reason, is Rob's schooling. There is a nursing program in Minnesota that he has a good chance of getting into, compared to the high competition here in Utah. He's currently on the waiting list and it looks like he will be able to start the program in January. If we had stayed here, he would have had to wait another whole year to get in, and even then it would be highly competitive for him. The school is very respectable and feeds into other great bachelor's programs.

I'm really ready to move. I've loved the opportunities we've had here, the people we know and all of Rob's family has been so wonderful. But it's time. Our apartment isn't home. I struggle with the culture here, and miss the green hills and lakes and rivers you see on the other side of the mountains. I'm sure once the dead of winter rolls around I'll have moments where I'll be wondering what we were thinking to move back to the tundra of Minnesota, but all in all it's the right place for us to be right now.

Less than two weeks I'll be back to MN. Rob will come shortly there after, and when he joins me I'll be able to finally say (and mean it!) that I'm HOME!

Road Trip!

So we've been having troubles (AGAIN!) recently with Rob's car, and it needs fixed. We don't want to pay a mechanic to do it, too expensive, so we're waiting for Rob's brother Royce to come back from a job assignment in three weeks and he'll fix the car. But, until then, we can't drive it. So last night Rob and I took a little road trip up to Logan to pick up an extra car Royce has hanging around so Rob can get around to school and work over the next few weeks.

A storm was coming through Utah, so I left work about an hour early so we could get on the road before it hit too hard. We managed to stay ahead of the storm on the way up and had a lot of fun spending time together. My favorite part of the trip:

About 5:30 I was really hungry, so we stopped at Sonic to grab some dinner through their drive through window. Rob ordered a double cheeseburger. There was this big picture of it with 2 patties, 2 slices of cheese on each patty, and all the fixings. They asked him what sauces he'd like on it, and after he told them, he was like, does it come with cheese? The guy was like, uh, yeah, it comes with it... Of course, considering it is a cheeseburger! I about busted a gut. Way too funny.

The way back was a little scary as we were now driving into the storm, but we made it home safe and sound. My back was pretty sore from driving four hours straight, but I didn't say anything about it. However, Rob being the sweet, sensitive guy he is, knew that I would be in pain so he immediately went to the bathroom and started up the bath water and poured some bubbles in. I was like, who is that for? He responded saying for you of course, I'll bet your back is sore. I just fall in love with him over and over.

Ladies, sorry to disappoint you all, but I've got the best guy out there. Even if he does ask if his cheeseburger comes with cheese. :)

:(

I just wanna cry... bad day. I wish I could stop feeling so sick.

Red faced and pregnant

So there are a couple perks to being pregnant, the biggest one is that you pretty much always have a scapegoat and something to blame when you do anything out of ordinary or stupid. You take a second helping of food, no one thinks twice. Even helping your self to a second donut is encouraged. You fall asleep in a public setting, and you don't have to admit you were just bored, people just assume it's the regular pregnancy exhaustion. You forget someone's name or an important fact, you can pass it off saying, darn pregnancy, I forget the simplist things lately! Pass gas around anyone but your husband and it's laughed off when you say it was the baby, not you.

However, it doesn't always work. Such was the case today. I'm wearing my black floaty skirt, a skirt that you have to be careful with when you use the restroom and should always check that everything is tucked/untucked just right. I wasn't careful, and when I left the restroom I had no idea that the back of my skirt was nicely tucked into the back of my tights and giving the whole world a wonderful glimpse of my butt. I walked down the hallway to head back to my desk, and heard a pssst! Nicole! come from behind me. I turned around, and there was our office accountant with a big smirk on his face encouraging me to fix my skirt. AWKWARD! Red-faced, I thanked him and fixed the embarassing situation.

Don't worry, he's gay.

At least I thought it was nothing to worry about because of that fact, but I failed to remember that gay guys love to gossip as much as the rest of us. So not even five minutes later when I was over in one of the art directors cubicles explaining a project, I overheard him laughing in the cubicle next door about the experience to a fellow co worker. Oh so embarrassing.

One thing is for sure, it'll be a while before I wear this skirt again. In the meantime, thought I'd give the rest of you a chance to laugh at me along with the office gossipers.

I'm not crafty, but....

If any of you are looking for some great crafty ideas, visit my friends blog, she's pretty amazing. She also has links to a lot of other crafty businesses/talented people out there. The blog is dangginagives.blogspot.com. (http://www.dangginagives.blogspot.com/) Or you can click on the button on the right of my blog.

I wish I were as talented as her... :)

It's a boy!

We found out today that we're expecting a boy, and we are so excited. He was being pretty stubborn there for a bit and wouldn't let the tech get a good enough look, but finally after some prodding and poking he gave us a glimpse.

Rob was especially excited, he can't wait to have a little buddy to play with. We've decided to name him Ryan William Garside. Ryan is Rob's brother, and William is my grandfather's name. We feel like it flows quite nicely. :)

I'm becoming obsessed with Whinnie the Pooh decor, I've always wanted to decorate my baby's nursery in Pooh decorations.

We are so excited, and it is all the more real to us now that we can start calling him by his name, rather than referring to him as "the baby". Hope that July 5th comes soon!

I hate mornings...

My lovely morning routine:

7:00 am- Rob's alarm clock goes off. I groan, dreading the fact that the day is starting. I realize my stomach hurts.
7:15 am- My alarm clock goes off. I hit snooze. By now, Rob is out of the shower and in the kitchen getting me something to eat. Stomach still hurts.
7:20 am- Force myself to eat either cereal or toast. Force down whatever I can and roll out of bed.
7:45 am- Step out of the shower and make it to the toilet in time to lose my breakfast. Lovely. Stomach still hurts.
8:00 am- Dressed and trying to fix my hair and makeup.
8:25 am- Hair and makeup done... just in time for me to throw up again. My eyes water, causing my eye makeup to come off and streaks from the tears mess up my foundation. Very lovely. Baby is pushing on my bladder already, so as you can guess, heaving like that creates a need to change my clothes.
8:35 am- Try and figure out something else to eat for breakfast. Run out the door.
8:45 am- Arrive at work, already wishing the day was over.

Is it any wonder I hate mornings? Seriously, this has happened everyday for weeks. Grrr....

Blessings

Do you ever have days when you wonder what else could go wrong? Where complaining just comes all too easily, and you get into this slump of feeling sorry for yourself?

Well, I've been good at that lately. Between working full time, being pregnant (SO INCREDIBLY TIRED!), planning for our baby coming, and trying to be the wife that I want to be that cooks, cleans, balances the budget, and gives my husband all the attention and devotion he deserves, I run out of fuel. Life happens, you get sick, cars break down, parking tickets accidently don't get paid, unexpected expenses happen, dinner sometimes fails, and not always does your hubby get the big fat kiss he expects to get when you see him after a long day.

Marriage is wonderfully hard. I think right now I need to start over, erase all expectations and hopes I had when I was a nine year old little girl playing house. I need to reflect on what I have right now and realize how lucky I am, and take life one step at a time. Sometimes it's easy to think about what you think you should have, all while hundreds of blessings are right in front of you.

Right now, I have a wonderful husband that still loves me when I'm a bratty pregnant wife. Who lets me be emotionally exhausted and cry through my frustrations. A husband that will do anything for me, because he loves me and is so unselfish. I have a knowledge of the fullness of the gospel and a current temple recommend, which paves the way endless blessings and peace. I have a job that is a really good job, a job that I'm lucky to have, and that has given me confidence and skills that will help me throughout my whole life. I have wonderful parents, siblings, friends, and the support of a wonderful extended family. And, of course, we have a child on the way, that will bless our lives beyond measure.

I think one of the things I'm most grateful for is the fact that I'm not laying under a pile of concrete in Haiti, praying to be discovered, starving, dehydrated, injured, and wondering if my family is alive. Nor am I wandering the streets looking into the faces of the thousands of dead bodies hoping to recognize a loved one.

Count your blessings. It will do wonders for your attitude.

Big News...

So most of you have heard, but yes, we're expecting a baby! The little one is expected to arrive July 3rd... maybe he or she will have fireworks to welcome them into the world. :) We're definitely excited and I'm already eagar for the pregnancy to be over. Here's a little background on how it's gone so far.

Early October: Find out we're expecting. Hurray!

Late October: Start getting sick. A lot. Not fun, but I can handle it. Miss a day or two of work.

Most of November: In about a matter of two weeks, I lost 20 pounds. In and out of the hospital 3 times. Received an IV twice, once in the ER, once in the doctors office because the ER bill wasn't so fun to receive. Tried lots of different medications, none worked, ended up on a feeding tube. Threw that up. Special family fast and lots of prayers... got better within a day. Had a great week, went back to work.

Beginning of December: Got sick again. Missed another week of work, almost ended up on feeding tube again. Horrible week, lost the few pounds I'd gained back plus some, ward had a special fast for several individuals going through health problems. Got better. Back to work...

End of December: Went HOME for Christmas. I struggled here and there throughout the month, but stayed on top of it by taking medication consistently and being careful with what I ate and smelt (seriously). Christmas was wonderful, only sick here and there. I hit 13 weeks the Sunday after Christmas and I've been doing fairly well since then! I'm actually starting to get a little baby bump. :)

All in all, we're so excited and can't believe we'll be parents in about six months. Although the little tike is grounded for making mom so sick.... J/K... sort of.

We'll keep you updated on plans, gender, name, and all the other fun details.