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. :)