Baby Belly (posted by Todd)

Well, we don't have the internet anymore. It just wasn't worth the $55 a month when I can use it at the school for free. Updates will be few and far between. Many have asked for some pictures of Susie's baby belly. Here are 4, a couple while making breakfast, and a couple on a walk on the trails around our house.

For you Natalie

You said you wanted a picture and of course I have one... Haha. One of the first things I did when we started unpacking the baby shower stuff from the weekend was stick the blanket on my carseat. I know I'm a dork, but it really is so cute! I couldn't wait!

Pretty awesome

So I'm going to do a quick recap of the past 2 weeks, as it seems that's about how often I manage to get a new post up here... 2 weekends ago Todd and I got to go up to Salt Lake for a little break. We went to a comedian that we both love and spend some much needed time with family. I've been super homesick, so it was nice to go up. We started looking at houses and different areas we might want to live in. It all seems super weird right now, but hopefully we'll find a place to call our own eventually. My nephew Brandon came back down to Cedar with us and stayed for the week. Todd's update talks about what we did, but it was fun to have him around. It was different not living in a trailer this time... haha. I drove him back up on Friday and got to spend the weekend with my family again and I got to catch up with my friends. I had 2 showers on Saturday, One that my friends had for me and one from my mom and family. They were both so much fun! Thanks to everybody that came and played games and ate yummy food with me. I didn't take a ton of pictures, but I do have a few of the weekend.
This is from the shower my friends threw for me... They thought it would be funny to see who could guess closest to the actual size of my stomach by measuring a piece of string. I was the only one who cut my piece of string too small. Wishful thinking?
This is the new pack and play bassinet I got from my Mom. She spoils me so much. I didn't even know she was considering getting it, and then she surprised me with it. I was so excited! I think it is my favorite thing we have gotten for the baby so far. I set it up as soon as I got it.
This is another reason my mom is awesome... I was complaining about not being able to comfortably reach my toes anymore, so she gave me a pedicure! The picture is blurry because she didn't want me to take one so she started to move, but oh well, I thought it was super sweet so I put up a picture.
And one more reason my mom rocks. Check out this diaper cake. It looks professional! She made it for the shower and it was so cute! Thanks Mom, for all of the work you put into making that day fun and for everything else you do for me and my family. I know I don't say it enough!

Tragic Happenings

This is Todd. A tragedy has struck my local little hometown of Cedar. There was a plane crash just outside of Moab Friday night that killed all 9 people on the plane. It was filled with Cedar City-ites that were in Southeastern Utah on a business trip. They were from a Cedar Dermatologists office. Dr. Ellsworth had a couple of kids around my age and my friends and I hung around with Marie, his daughter quite a bit so I got to know her whole family while I was in High School because they were gracious enough to let us hang out and be rowdy until midnight or so. Obviously contact with them has been non-existent since then but this whole thing has taken me by surprise. Marie's dad (Dr. Ellsworth) and her little brother, Dallin (24, newly married with a baby due in one month) both died in the accident.

It has kind of shocked the city, because everybody had ties to somebody that was involved. The most amazing thing to me is my friend Marie. She wrote a post on her blogspot today that was very moving. She has a great attitude towards it with the gospel as her inspiration. She is keeping an eternal perspective through this whole ordeal and just asks for everyone to keep her family and the families of those involved in our prayers.

It has made me think a little bit about how lucky I am. I can't imagine how Dallin's wife must feel, who just lost her husband and father of their future child. Or the entire family who lost a husband, father, and a successful doctor who has done nothing but give back to the community through extreme donations of time and money. It would be so hard to lose something so cherished. I can't even begin to imagine. The amazing attitude that Marie and her family have are so inspiring to me.

Depressing, I know, but times like these are good for me to stop and think about what is really important to me. My amazing wife, my October baby girl, my awesome family(including Susie's side too of course!). I'm very happy and blessed to be where I am in life right now. Families truly are forever and I am so glad that is the case. It's just the truth.

while i'm on here...

I just wanted to get this out, because it is blowing my mind in a major way. I've been slowly coming to the realization the past week or so (thanks in part to my neighbors having their baby) that my belly is a baby. I mean logically I know this. She moves and kicks me pretty much all day and I have baby clothes and a crib and a car seat, but I just don't think I really get it yet. Will it ever catch up to me or will I spend her whole life a step behind? I've been weirded out by this concept of her being a baby and it's made me think alot about who she'll be. I have yet to spend much time thinking about her in any context other than my stomach, but the past few days I've begun to really see her as a person and I am excited/nervous/anxious/scared all at the same time. I hear it's normal to be a little antsy, so I think I'm alright, but wow. I'm just really starting to understand a small bit what we're actually doing. haha.

slacking...again.

Ok, so I'm officially a terrible blogger. I've been meaning to update this thing for over 2 weeks, but I always seem to be too busy and when I do have free time I generally fill it with naps. So here's a rundown. The big Cowan Family Campout was the last week in July. There's a post about it because Todd felt bad that I never put updates on here and wrote one up really quickly. Anyways, we LOVED it! It was so nice for me to spend time with my family. We did have Todd's dad's boat that ran for us and my oldest brother Brian and family brought down a windsurfer and a sailboat. Both of which were awesome considering the windstorms that struck between 9am and dinner every day we were there. It was weird not to really be able to participate in the boating fun because of the whole pregnancy thing, but I love just being around the family and relaxing! Anyways, since then, I applied for a job working for the state at the Division of Services for People with Disabilities and have yet to hear back on that one. We'll see if it works out or not, the benefits would be a sweet bonus, but I'm not sure how eager people are to hire a girl with a big pregnant belly. haha. What else? I got a raise at the job that I'm currently at, so even if I don't get the new job, I'll still be making better money. We went to the doctor on Monday and I'm measuring just right on my tummy size and everything else looks great, which was so relieving. I've been hearing and seeing nothing but trauma with the pregnant girls I've known the past two weeks or so and it made me super paranoid, so it was great to hear that everything was on track. Other than that, life is pretty much normal. Just working like crazy, as usual, and doing our best to save up for the down payment on this little bundle of joy we're working towards!

YUBA LAKE

Well, we took our camera but of course, did NOT take any pictures. Anyways, the Cowan family (Susie's side of the family) went to Yuba Lake for the 24th of July. Yuba is in between Scipio and Nephi in central UT just off of I-15. We stayed Weds 23rd thru Sat 26th. We had an AMAZING time. Pretty much everybody was able to make it, and it was some pretty good bonding time. Todd's Dad let us take the Bulloch boat and it ran marvelously, for the most part, which was lucky because Susie's dad's boat didn't get much water time due to engine problems. I think everybody got a shot at skiing that wanted to. The campground was very nice and within walking distance of the beach. The place makes for a really great getaway (when the wind isn't blowing). Flushing toilets and showers were also a plus. Thanks everyone for coming!