Loving Lucas

Loving Lucas is the easiest thing in the entire world, so easy that I almost take for granted that he will be there to bring joy to my life everyday.

We rejoice in his every new accomplishment, laugh at the way he sleeps, "Come what may and love it" when he does a blowout in his car seat. His smile melts my heart and his snuggly hugs make my day. My sweet boy is my world and I am so grateful to have him in my life.

I feel honored that I was entrusted by the Lord to raise this precious boy throughout this life and to know that we will be a forever family.

Everyday is about loving Lucas and I will never let a day go by where I don't tell him I love him.

How blessed I am to have such a wonderful loving husband and an adorable little boy.

On A Sugar High, On A Love High

A couple of weeks ago I went for the routine 1 hour glucose test to test for gestational diabetes. To our surprise my results came back elevated by 20 points
(we think it may have been due to the poptart I stupidly ate before hand, even though the Dr. said that shouldn't have mattered).

This of course worried us so we scheduled my 3 hour glucose test for the next morning in hopes that my blood sugar levels would come back normal. They do this test at the hospital and only at 7:15am. Unfortunately I have been sick for most of my pregnancy and an empty stomach tends to make my nausea worse, but you have to fast for 10-12 hours before taking the test. Additionally I have always been onc of those people that feels nauseous when extremely tired. Now 18 months ago arising at 6:30am was normal and my body was fine with it, but now I am pregnant and barely sleep, 6:30am is so so early for me. This combination of things, plus a 10oz drink of syrupy sugar left my body very unhappy and 1 hour into it all I threw it all up and the test became void. This was extremely distressing as the thought of doing it all over again just seemed unbearable.

At our regular 2 week appointment on Friday my Dr. told me I could try again or just be treated as though I had gestational diabetes. I decided I would try one more time. So this morning I made my way to the hospital in the dark and started the torturous 3 hours over again. The nurse Tena was so so nice to me, (she was the same nurse as the first attempt), she let me sit in a dark room with a reclining chair,a blanket and got me a big cup of ice water. With her kind gestures and a lot of will power I managed to keep the drink down and this time passed with flying colors. I am so glad we don't have to deal with Gestational Diabetes for the last 7 weeks of the pregnancy and that we don't have to worry about our little guy being big or having high blood sugar when he comes.

So I have been on a sugar high 3 times to find the results of my blood sugar, but in the process I have found a lasting love high.

The thought of something being wrong that could hurt our little baby was so scary. I became more aware of his movements and cherished them more and more even though they have become more uncomfortable. I started to talk to him more, and play with him when he kept sticking his bum out on my right side. His little personality is growing and I just fell more in love with him through this journey. I knew even if I did have gestational diabetes that it could be treated and with effort on my part there was no need to think there would be any problems, but I just couldn't bare the though of our little boy having to suffer from day one in this world.

It has made me think about the journey he will take through life, I don't want him to ever hurt, but I know that he will, I know that he has to, to learn and to grow he must face adversity. In spite of that knowledge I just want to protect him and love him with everything I have. He won't be little for long so I want to make sure I cherish the little time I have before he becomes independent and had to start facing things alone.

I'm on a love high. I am so in love with our little Munchkin that words cannot even begin to explain, and he isn't even here yet. I can't imagine loving him more, but I know in 7 short weeks I will!

I am so blessed, I have the most incredible husband who never fails to make my day, he is so kind and giving and his love for our little boy gives me butterflies.

As much as the 3 sugar highs were no fun, I am grateful that it led me loving my little boy so much more.

The Importance of Snugglies!

Cuddle time for Brett and I is called Snugglies. When we were dating we started a little tradition of snugglies before we had to part for the night. It became part of our routine and I even remember one night where something happened and we didn't get snugglies, it made me so upset. It was my favorite part of each day!

Our little tradition has carried on since we have been married and as simple as it is I have realized how important it is to our relationship. The past couple of weeks have been super busy and with my increasing inability to sleep and be comfortable snugglies has kind of been put on the back burner.

The past couple of weeks have seemed so stressful and it wasn't until yesterday when we took the time for snugglies that I realized the effect it has on our relationship when we don't have it. Snugglies isn't just about cuddling, it's a time for us to talk, whether it be about serious things or silly things. It is a time for us to really just focus on each other and catch up. Snugglies helps us communicate better and make sure we take a little time each day just to just be together.

I know life gets busy and for us it is about to get even busier when the baby comes, but my advice to everyone is to make time for snugglies! It makes such a difference!

1 year, Eternity To Go :)

I can hardly believe that today is our 1st wedding anniversary! It just seems like yesterday that we were sealed for Time and All Eternity in the Oakland California Temple!

It has been a wonderful year full of learning, happiness and of course trials. Here is an overview of our first year as Mr & Mrs Steenblik :)

Family

• We got married December 29th 2009 in the Oakland California Temple
• We welcomed 1 nephews and 2 nieces into the world
• July 18th 2010 we found out we were pregnant!
• November 9th 2010 we found out that our little baby is a boy!
• We got to have both of our Daddy's come and stay
• We got to see Julie and Josie for the day
• We have spent lots of time with Lula including her staying with us overnight
• We have had dinners and afternoons with Grandma and Grandpa Steenblik
• Spent a fun evening with Grams and Papa
  
• We spent Christmas with Kathy, Randy, Tiff, Rob and the kids! We had a lot of fun!
  

School, Work and Home

• We have lived in 3 apartments...blah!
• I have had jobs...again blah
• We have both tackled our hardest semesters yet
• We sold the Land Rover and got a Lancer
  
• I finished my last semester on campus - just a few online classes till I graduate!
• I completed an internship at New Haven Residential Treatment Center - hence the 3 jobs
• We furnished our apartment and became masters of assembling Ikea furniture, although I think the chair I put together wrong has never been fixed haha
• We have tackled new recipes and Brett has spent the year perfecting the roasted potato
  
• Brett has learned how to make our family recipe for gravy
• I have become domestic and learned how to make pies, fudge, toffee and banana bread from scratch
• We have had Oli stay overnight and Lula for a whole weekend :)
• I have spent the last 5ish months throwing up and peeing like no other
  
• We have realized Brett is not a good sleeping buddy -too much moving around, and snoring among other things
• I have taken up the craft of sewing, my current specialty is baby car seat covers!
  

Adventures

• I went to the BSB reunion tour with Alyce and Natalie :)
• We went to 2 SF Giants games and religiously watched them win the world series!
• We spent 6 hours straight in the Oakland Temple doing family names :)
  
• We took 2 trips to California, Rexburg and Northern Idaho (almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere Montana!)
• We have been to 3 weddings, it's fun to see mission companions, mission friends and freshman roommates all taking the plunge!
• We have been to mission reunions and firesides
• We have had awesome dinner parties/game nights/boating trips/hot tubbing adventures with Heather, Gavin and Jordan...many more of those to come!
• My mission friend Ashley got married and moved in right next to us so we have many dinner parties and movie nights with them!

And there is so much more we have done and experienced. Most importantly we have fallen more in love and look forward to the rest of forever together!

Will You Marry Me?

At the TCU game!

24th October 2009 was the day we got engaged!! It was quite an interesting day! We went to the BYU game against TCU and we wanted to get there early because we had front row seats, but it wasn't that simple. We walked from Brett's apartment all the way to the stadium and when we got there I couldn't find the tickets! Brett got mad at me and so I got mad at him and stayed mad at him for quite a few hours. We walked all the way back and printed our tickets again and finally made it to the game very late. TCU kicked our butts, but by the end of the game Brett and I were friends again. (Turns out the tickets were caught under my hoodie! haha)

After the game we went to dinner with our friends Garrett and Christy at the Spaghetti Factory. Afterward we went to Brett's apartment and cuddled till 12am when it was time for me to leave. I was super tired and wanted to go home and sleep. but Brett really wanted to go on a walk so we went to our place...The Bell Tower.

When we got there, there was a bunch of loud annoying freshman, so we read our scriptures snuggled under a blanket. When we were done Brett put something in my hand under the blanket. I had no idea what it was because he had told me he still didn't have the ring due to some issues at the jeweler. I pulled it out from under the blanket and it was a ring box. I opened it to find it empty...or so I thought. Hidden in the top was 77 tiny sticky notes. This was significant for multiple reasons, the Christmas I had on my mission Brett sent me a pad of sticky notes each one giving a reason he had thought about me that day, or one of our memories. Then when he went home from his mission there was 77 days till I got home so I sent him 77 note cards each one with a reason why I loved him on it. Then from the day we set our wedding date till the day we got married was 77 days...so on each little sticky note in the box was a reason he loved me.

We moved spots, to under a bridge at this point and read all the sticky notes together. Then he pulled out the ring, got on one knee and asked me to marry him!! It was so cute and super sentimental to our relationship! I loved it!!

Later Brett told me he had, had the ring with him all day and at points he had the ring in one hand in his hoodie pocket and my hand in the other...he had to keep switching pockets so I wouldn't see it or feel it!!

The 24th October 2009 was one of the best days ever!!! And on the 24th October 2010 I felt our baby move for the first time!!! I like the 24th October!!!

Beautiful Rose

Yesterday after work Brett gave me a beautiful pink rose! I love it and it made my day as I still have my cold! He is so thoughtful and sweet!! I love him!

Lots of Tissues

I had sore throat on thursday, but didn't think anything of it. I woke up Friday morning feeling like death...saturday was even worse and this morning was even worse than that.

Luckily I have a wonderful husband who has been there to help me along the way. He has...

• Text me and called me to check up on me whenever he could
• He has made me food
• Let me sleep in
• Brought me medicine
• Kept me warm
• Brought me lots of tissues
• Done goofy things to make me smile
• Let me watch CSI:Miami when that is the only thing I have enough energy for
• Cuddled with me
• And told me he loves me over and over

I love my husband for being so thoughtful and loving, he looks after me so well!

Our Younger Days

Look how cute we are! Our kids will be adorable!

Matching School Uniforms? :)

Baseball and Keyboard!

Boy Scout and Little Red Ridin' Hood!

As you can see, we were meant to be! (No I didn't make that rhyme on purpose! haha). Two little cuties growing up over 5,000 miles apart, now sealed for Eternity. What are the odds huh? The odds are great when God has a plan!!

Before We Were Engaged

3 weeks after I got home from my mission Brett and I had made the decision to get married...but there was a time where we were just dating. Here are some of those moments!

Fall 2006-Winter 2007 Brett and I spent countless hours roaming around and playing on campus. That was what we did best so we went straight back to it!

But of course we added in some baseball, watching baseball at UVU or on the TV. Baseball is a new and lasting addition to my world! I can't ever deny him baseball after telling him I hoped he didn't make the BYU team (to my defense I didn't know him then and he told me he couldn't be in my class if he made the team...good thing he didn't make it otherwise I wouldn't have my amazing best friend and husband!).