Spencer Update

Hi Everyone!
Well, I did not go to the doctor Monday as scheduled. The plane crash that killed 10 from Cedar City last Friday has effected us all down here. I rescheduled my appointment so that my doctor, Dr. Sanders, could go and support his collegues families at a memorial service Monday. I would like to take a moment to express our love and support to the families of those who have lost someone in this tragedy. We are deeply saddened by this event and know Heavenly Father is taking care of those He has taken from us.

So, I went in to the doctor Wednesday. Everything looked pretty good (except my stretchmarks which are still growing). His heartbeat was good, my blood pressure was good but I was measuring just a little small. Dr. Sanders asked me to come in Friday morning for an ultrasound just to check my fluids and make sure everything is still okay. We went in this morning and everything does look good. He is still just as cute as can be. Spencer is not going to be a huge baby. He is about 6 pounds right now. Because he is a little smaller, Dr. Sanders did a baby distress test.

Basically they hook me up to a monitor to hear his heartbeat. They look for a base heart rate (Spencer's is right around 150, very healthy) and then they look for three excels (times that his heart rate goes up for about 10 seconds then returns to normal). Spencer was asleep the first 20 minutes but then he woke up and started having good excels. The doctor was pleased and decided that if Spencer has not come by Wednesday on his own he would like to induce me Wednesday morning. That means I get two labor days next week (and you all thought you were lucky to get one day off)!

We are glad that we finally know when the end is coming. We are thankful to Dr. Sanders and all he has done for us. Also, a big thanks to Mama Miller for watching the store for us this morning. We don't know what we would do without family who is so willing to help us. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. We are excited to have some of Mark's family come into town (Tom, Melissa and Logan and Rob, Nikkie and Kanton) as well as my family (Mom, Dad, Stephie?!). We probably will not get another post up until after Spencer comes so please keep us in your prayers!

We Have a Backyard!

Well, in my last post I said we'll see how putting in a backyard goes before winter. Little did I know that I would have one already. Mark decided that he wanted to get the yard in before Spencer gets here so we (mostly he) decided to get it done as fast as possible.


Last weekend Mark and I worked very hard getting the ground level and tilled. During the week we were busy trenching, putting in the sprinkler system and getting recruits to come help lay sod on Saturday. We also put in a little paver walkway to access the side yard.


On Saturday everything went smoothly. The sod arrived at 9 am. The guy who brought the sod left us 16 pallets of grass all over the yard. I can't imagine if we would have had to carry the sod from one end to the other. We got all 8,000 square feet laid in just over three hours.


It was amazing how fast laying it down went. The boys would work on getting the final leving done and carrying the sod to us girls. We would unroll it, make sure the seams were close together and the rows were straight as possible. The end result is amazing!


We would like to thank everyone who came over to help: Ben, Toni, Mom (watching Mason was the biggest help of all), Dani, Sevi, Maddi, Nate, and Alean. Without their help we would still have sod to lay. This picture is after all our work we had a pizza lunch (very yummy).

Other news, our garden is about to the end of it's rope. We have still been picking quite a bit off of the plants, but they are starting to dwindle. Here is a picture of one night's picking of green beans. We have enjoyed our little garden and can hardly wait for next spring to have a bigger one. We really want to get a strawberry and raspberry patch going.

We still haven't had our little Spencer bless us with his presence quite yet. I am going in to the doctor today for another check up so I will let y'all know how that goes. I will say Spencer is still moving a lot and hasn't really dropped down any more, nor have I had any contractions recently. Mark and I are thinking he is going to be stubborn and take his sweet time. But, we know he is worth the wait.

Quick Update

Hi Everyone!
Sorry it has been so long. We have been staying busy trying to not think about our little one's arrival. Mark and I have been sprucing up the house a little bit before the little one gets here. We finally stained our front door and exterior posts, put the last trim piece on the fireplace and put some rock landscaping in the front. It looks way better, but we still have a lot of landscaping to do. Mark wants to put in the backyard before winter hits but we will see how that goes. Our garden is doing super! We literally have green beans coming out of our ears. I go out every other night and pick over 100 beans that are about 4 inches long or longer. Our peas are doing good as well. Mark has been a real trooper in helping out with housework that is getting to hard for me. I must say he is excellent at mopping floors. I really appreciate all he does for me! I love you Mark!
The best news ever is that we have sold our little old house! We signed it over this past Monday. The buyers are actually one of my friends from the dance department here at SUU and her husband and 16 month old boy. They are super nice and I know they will take care of the house that we put so much work into. Other than that, not much has changed. I went to the doctor on Monday for a checkup and everything looks great! I am almost 2 centimeters dialated and 40% effaced. I have been having a contraction here and there but nothing consistent. My doctor is going to be out of town the second half of next week so we hope Spencer comes before or after that. Mark has started playing in a slow pitch softball league. They play once a week and had their first game Tuesday. They put in a good fight ending the game at 7 to 12. Mark played center field and caught a few hits. It was fun to go watch him play.
Well, that is our quick update. Hopefully the next one will be all about Spencer! Until then :)