Yesterday was my 22nd birthday. I don't know why but going from 21 to 22 seems so much older. I am getting up there! haha.

On Tuesday, a few friends and I had lunch at Ruby's to celebrate. I don't think I have eaten at Ruby's more in my life than in the past few weeks. I don't know why. I guess you can never go wrong with a good burger! We had a great time! Thanks girls.

Yesterday, I woke up and Cason made me waffles.

Opened a few presents...I got some great things!

Perfume, skirts, skinnys, workout stuff, and a darling shirt.

Then I headed to work.

I came home to a package on my doorstep from my parents. I was excited!

The cute wrapping.

They gave me some darling stuff...

exactly what I wanted and needed actually.

Yes, I know I probably shouldn't have posted this picture, but I wanted them to see how excited I was when I opened the shoes.

My sister Sarah gave me some darling headwraps from Ruby Love Fashions. I love them!

Cason got home from work and we headed to Cheesecake Factory.

We go every year for my birthday. (See last year here.)

It was yummy!

(Next time you go you need to get the corn tamale cakes.

We get them every time and LOVE them!)

This is the only picture we got of us this year...but at least we got one!

Thank you thank you thank you for the texts, messages, calls and gifts!!

Thank you everyone for the nice comments!

They made Cason and me 20x more excited for baby.

Lots of you asked me how I've been feelling...

I can't complain! I know some girls who get so sick...like hospital sick...which I haven't been.

I have felt nauseous almost everyday at some point during the day and I've only thrown up once.

At first I had to eat about every 2 hours, or else I would get sick, but now it's every 3-4 hours.

Lately though, I have been getting sick at night, right around 10 pm and I feel sick until the morning.

Nothing helps....

Food sounds disgusting to me, and it's hard for me to make dinner. But once it's made or there is food in front of me I love it and can eat it!

About a week ago smells started bugging me and make me sick.

But other than all the normal pregnancy symptoms I have been feeling great!

I am loving Taco Bell right now!

Their soft taco, bean and cheese burrito or nachos.

Pretty much anything with melted cheese!

I also love cold things...cereal, ice cream, fruit, popsicles, etc.

Hot stuff...not as much.

And what I mostly crave is a side salad with ranch dressing! YUM!

What did/ do you crave?

(sorry no pictures. AGAIN)

Baby #1

Ever since I can remember I have loved little babies. My four sisters, our neighbor (who was like a sister) and I would play “house” all day everyday. In the summer we would each have our babies and pick our houses throughout the yard. Whether it was on the front porch, on the playground or just a spot on the grass. We drove our bikes around, stopped at pretend stoplights, and made u-turns just like we were really driving. We would run errands with my parent’s expired credit cards, go through the drive-thru bank to get fake money, and pick up our mail in our mailboxes made out of tennis shoe boxes. We wrote checks out to each other when one would babysit for the other, and we would even do little play dates with all the moms and kids. The husbands were at work, and we would stay home and play mom. It was just like the real thing. Our babies would cry, we’d feed them, change their diapers and put them down for naps. It was a girls dream come true!

When I was little at all the family gatherings, my sisters and I would take turns with the newest baby. Sometimes we’d fight if the sister was holding the baby for too long and was hogging the poor child. But eventually we all got our turn. We all loved little babies. When it was my turn, I would prop them on my hip and walk around holding them with one hand thinking I was the best little holder out there. I loved it! It never got old.Even to this day it still doesn’t get old. My sisters and sister in laws have had babies and I have loved and still love each one of them. I still love to see them, hold them, play with them, cuddle them and kiss their little cheeks.

Ever since I have been married I have dreamt of having my own babies. I thought I would wait at least two years just to have my own time with Cason and then consider having babies. But when you get married it all changes. Once I was married and knew that I could actually have babies, I wanted one and longed for one even more. How could I wait two years?? That was far too long. Time flew and now being married almost two years this coming May, we decided we couldn’t wait much longer. My dream of becoming a mother will come true in August. I can’t even believe it!

All that practice growing up will hopefully pay off and I will get to do all those things again but with a real baby this time. I know that it will be a lot of work, but I can not wait to hold this little child and love him/her as much as those babies I once fought over.

With all the emotions that come along with pregnancy and the reality that we really are going to be parents, we are more than excited for this new little addition to come into our family. I’ll admit I am nervous, scared, and humbled by it all. But I am so excited to be a mom and cannot wait to hold my baby, cuddle him/her and kiss those little cheeks.

Christmas came and flew this year.

But it was a good year spent with family.

On Christmas Eve we all got together and ate delicious beef brisket,

listened to a great message about Christ from Dave and watched a little video clip about the Savior and the Atonement.

The kids sang Christmas songs and put on a little performance for us.

Then we opened our Christmas jammies.

It was so fun to watch the kids get excited for Santa!

Christmas day we woke up, opened presents and ate delicious homemade cinnamon rolls. (sorry no pictures)

It was a great Christmas and we are so glad we were able to spend it with family!

A few days after Christmas, my mom, Julianne, Jeremiah and Josh all came to visit. We missed my dad, but he had to stay back because of work. We all squished in our little one bedroom apartment, but it was nice and cozy and there was just enough space.

We went shopping, enjoyed Sprinkles cupcakes and loved hanging out.

We went down to Balboa and rode the ferry and rented bikes which was the highlight of the trip! We love to do this when family comes in town. It makes for some great laughs and ride along the beach!

Then we went to Newport Coast and went on a little hike. It was great to enjoy the warm weather and sunshine.

We really enjoyed our Christmas break with no work, family, play and delicious food!