20 hours & 20 inches

Tomorrow, my baby will be a month old! I can't believe he is here, let alone a month old. Ill be honest, getting him here was a little more traumatic than I anticipated. You hear all these horror stories about labor and delivery being the hardest thing you'll ever do... But then you see all these moms walking around with their newborns and you see the billions of people in the world and you think, "Someone had to birth all of these people! It can't be THAT bad."
Well... Suffice it to say that I was NOT one of those moms walking around with her newborn! Walking wasn't even an option and I couldn't imagine how I would ever walk again...seriously! I went into the hospital a bit over-confident, but 12 hours of contractions before an epidural, 3 hours of pushing, forceps, a lot of scissor-use, 20 hours (total), and some screaming later; I saw my baby boy for the first time... And it was exquisite. Labor lived up to its (bad) reputation, but so did the immediate, unconditional, and larger-than-life LOVE for my angel baby that everyone told me would come. Holding Dax for the first time was by far the best pain medication they gave me. Myke was the ultimate hand-holder, pep-talker, push-counter, tear-wiper, and scream-listener any girl could ask for.
I'm the luckiest wife and mom.
Welcome to the world Daxson Michael Laws! I'll do 20 hours for your 20 inches any day!

Try Pregnancy

I really wanted to go into labor last night. The OB stripped my membranes yesterday and I had such confidence that it would induce me and I would be pushing out the little Asian wonder right about now...but I'm actually sitting at home, blogging, which is not half as exciting as birthing a child! Pregnancy teaches patience though, as well as many other things of value, and although I am more than ready for this 9 month crusade to be over; I cherish the fact that I have been able to go through it. What a miracle. If you ever need to be reminded of who you are, why you are here, or what you are supposed to be doing...try pregnancy.


I have never felt closer to heaven than when I pray for the little angel inside of me and struggle to comprehend the inconceivable LOVE that God has for my baby boy. It is an almost out-of-body experience to try and take-in that much love...because He has a much greater capacity for love than I do. I can't contain it when He tries to show me.

You think you love your spouse, and then you find out you're expecting and all of the sudden, you love them more! You're going to be parents together. You're going to do something really hard, but really rewarding...and you love each other for being willing to do that as a team. It is entirely amazing to realize that this is why we you're married in the first place. This is why you fell in love. This is why you work hard. This is why you study hard. This is what makes it worth it. This is what we are all born to do.

Flutters and bubbles turn into kicks and punches and the reality of pregnancy and becoming parents is still hard to understand. I STILL can't picture a little miniature person coming out of me and he will be here any day! He has been my personal buddy for 9 months; within me, touching me, kicking me, relying on me, and I still feel like he is so far away sometimes because I can't SEE him. But I can feel him and I have fallen in love with him. My mind used to be constantly ridden with thoughts about my beloved Michael...and now it's just as full with Michael thoughts, but simultaneously brimming over with baby thoughts. Nothing gets replaced, just expanded. (My belly included).

New life makes everyone happily curious. Everyone wants to touch my belly and it's funny to see how it doesn't bother me because it doesn't feel like MY stomach anymore; it's my BABY. I guess that is pregnancy's way of teaching you how to sacrifice yourself for your little ones. You literally become unattached from your own body. You stop caring about what it looks like or how it feels and you become solely focused on making sure that your body is what your baby needs it to be. I love watching people's faces glow when they feel my little guy push against their hand, on my belly. It's just human-nature to feel happy about that. It makes everybody smile :).

No one is ever "ready" for parenthood. I hope this little dude can forgive us for all the mistakes we are about to make. But if pregnancy has taught me anything; it is that there is always a plan. Our father in heaven knows us and he has given us everything that we need to be successful and he never asks anything of us that we can't do. To see your body naturally grow and change and provide exactly what you and your baby need from week to week for 40 weeks is an in-you-face testimony of the divinity of humanity and the power of heaven. I'm sure it will be the same after he is born and I get to watch him grow and learn and realize how amazing he will be.

I just can't wait to be a real mom. I think it will be the happiest time of my life :).

PinHead Problem

I just have to take a quick break (working from home on Thursdays is my FAVORITE) and blog about a little problem I just noticed.

To begin, we must go to the beginning.

My mother always tells me that mine was her most enjoyable birth experience because I was small. Small head, small shoulders, 18 inches long, 7 pounds and some ounces, easy delivery, quick recovery...I was little, but I was healthy (her chubbiest) and it was just the "greatest."

Well, I stayed small. I remember making the discovery when I was about 9 years old, that if I multiplied my grade level by ten, I would get my weight! 4th grade, 40 pounds, 5th grade, 50 pounds, 6th grade, 60 pounds... until I leveled off my sophomore year and never made it very far into the triple digits.

So, I have never weighed much, not for lack of trying...I just can't gain a pound, whether I need it or not! Kids teased me in Jr high school when I had mono, telling me I looked like a skeleton. Well, thanks a lot ya mean-heads! I can't even stay awake long enough to eat, and even if I could, it wouldn't matter, cause I can't gain weight! (If thoughts could kill, they would have been dead...or seriously injured.)

If you ever were lucky enough to meet my Grandma Worton, you would understand why I always stayed so little. I remember thinking she was the COOLEST ever when she water skiied (in a bikini) at Lake Powell with all of her posterity watching. She looked pretty rockin'. The only thing that ever held any substance on that woman (or this woman) was her little booty and hips. I remember the day my older brother tried to console a pubescent Aubree by telling me that boys like extra junk in the trunk! No part of me had ever grown at a noticeable rate before and my backside was seriously expanding into full-blown woman shape! Nothing else on me did that...it was pretty traumatic.

Moving on though, since I'm totally over it now... You get the gist that I have always been small, its in my genes! But, the smallest thing on me is my HEAD! I literally have a pin-head. Not a joke, not rhetorical, my head is smaller than my 10 year old sister's head...and she is also a tiny person! It's been OK over the years because my mom always cut my hair into these cute bobs and fluffed them up really big, so I'm pretty sure my head looked about the same size as my peers when I was younger. PLUS, my body was small, so it wasn't THAT disproportionate. I really only notice it in those pictures where you put your face right next to someone else's face and snap a really close-up shot. Then, you look at it, and everyone realizes that our eyes line up, but my chin ends where their upper lip begins! And while their head is the size of a regular balloon, mine is the size of water balloon.

My Pinhead really hasn't been a problem other than those pesky pictures, until now! FYI, I'm pregnant, and my body is not as small as it used to be! I hadn't noticed the issue until today because I have my hair cut in one of those cute bobs, just like when I was little and the fluffiness has been masking it! I'm working at home today though, so I put the hair in a pony tail, caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and GOOD GRACIOUS! My little head looks like the stem sticking out of a pear! There is so much ME in the middle and so little of me on the top! I look like an absolute bafoon! I contemplated posting a picture, but, I just can't do it. My baby bump is barely sticking out, but it is majorly changing the disproportionate relationship between my head and body. 20 more weeks to go!?! This could get seriously ugly.

On a happier note, 5 days 'til the "gender" ultrasound!!!

Role Reversal: Myke's day as a House-Husband

So, yesterday, Myke had the day off. He goes to school at BYU AND he works at BYU, so, as it was a holiday yesterday, he didn't have work OR school! Our house was pretty much a disaster (well, a disaster to US, two extremely tidy and bleach-happy people), so Myke decided he would clean and do laundry and homework with his day off. (I know, all you wives are drooling!)

On the other hand, I HAD to work because my office pretty much only closes on Christmas day because we are a medical office and people still get sick on holidays...In fact, it seems like MORE people get sick on the holidays because it is their day off and they actually have time to go to the doctor and check out that strange growth on their pinky toe that has been bothering them for 15 years.

So, I headed off to work and Myke stayed home. When I got home around 7 last night, the house smelled delicious, even all the toilets had been scoured and scrubbed! Shelves were dusted, I could hear the washer AND dryer going. I could smell clean laundry as soon I pulled up in the driveway! Pillows and throw blankets were all in their right places. Hairspray residue had been scrubbed off the bathroom counter. Mirrors had been shined, floors had been washed, dishes had been done. My favorite candle was burning. It was simply beautiful! I put away my things and asked Myke how his day had been...

He told me that the sheets just won't dry! "I've dried them 3 times and they are still wet!" He went on to say, "We are almost out of detergent and fabric softener too, so we probably need to go get some soon, oh and the milk is almost gone." I also learned that my jewelry cleaner had been dumped on the bathroom rug, so that had to be washed too, and that he may have ruined one of my shirts because he wasn't sure if he was supposed to dry it.

None of these things were alarming to me, I was just chuckling in my mind as he continued to say, "Can you think of something to do tonight? I just don't want to think about it and I'm about to go crazy 'cause I have been stuck in this house all day. I'm totally up for anything, but I've just got to get out!"

*This is not actually a picture of Myke yesterday, but his face looked like this :). This is a pic I took the day Myke let me round-brush his hair.

I looked up show times for some movies and decided we should see a MAN movie 'cause Myke needed some excitement in his life. I told him that Mission Impossible starts in 10 minutes at the theater and to grab his coat.

I was still laughing as we walked out to the car and I said, "So...are you driving, or do you want me to drive you around?" This is kind of a big deal because I have some sort of complex about driving males around. I NEVER wanted to drive when I was dating Myke and I told him that he should always drive when we were married. It just feels backwards to me when I drive with him in the passenger seat! I have a serious issue with it! But, last night, I offered, and he happily accepted.

We got to the theater, I parked and paid for tickets, and we watched Mission Impossible together.

On our way out, Myke asked what we were going to do next!?! I told him I was freezing, so I would drive us home and make fancy hot chocolate drinks.

As we sat on the couch, sipping our cocoa, I told Myke about how funny I thought he was as a house-husband :). We laughed about our role reversal and I think Myke was EXTRA excited to go to school and work today! Poor little fella! Love you Mykey! Thanks for cleaning everything! *muah!

A year of Laws Lovin'

So, Myke and I have almost been married a full year! Unbelievable, right?!? We are headed to Park City this weekend for our FIRST ANNIVERSARY!

I am a complete freak and I tend to keep my planners...after they are all used up. I have this hope that one day I will make some sort of a record from them. I think that heaven secretly knows that will never happen, but until I let the dream die, I hold on to my old planners.

So today, with my old planner in hand, I make a blog-post record of the first year of this Laws family!


Here it goes!


November 20, 2010, Myke and I were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. We had a reception that evening and according to my planner I had a Chemistry Exam and Microbiology Exam the two days before my wedding. It was a busy time :)

After the reception it was off to the honeymoon! We had a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera and it was a blast! Though, I have to admit, we spent most of our time.... .... SLEEPING!  We were so exhausted from working and going to school and planning a wedding that our interior cabin was a heaven-sent. We never knew if it was day or night! Lot's of much needed zzzzzzzz's!

We got back from the honeymoon and started our new little life in our tiny 700 sq ft apartment. The pictures make it look nice...because it kind of was! AFTER 15 hours of DEEP (I mean really deep) cleaning (thank you family!). We headed right into finals and we were both glad to have survived that semester!

After Finals, we had Christmas and New Years  and a little time to get settled into our new married life!

After the holidays, it was back to school and work. We had our first Valentines day together...a black tie affair put on by Myke and his friend Doug...no idea why I didn't take pictures! Ryan and Kaylyn's wedding was a big event as well on February 19th!

I recognize I am the only one wearing green/teal (except for Ryan's tie) and that I am the only blonde, I stick out like a sore, and vibrantly caucasion thumb in this family.

March brought Myke's 23rd Birthday at Asian Star...oh so delicious. I gave him a recording of the song I wrote for our wedding. I tried to find a cheap place to record and, let's just say, I got what I paid for. The keyboard stand kept collapsing to the floor, it smelled like rotten food and the computer (from 1990) malfunctioned (literally, the blue screen of death...) so I had to record it all on one track, with no repeats or edits. What's the point of a recording studio if you have to record it "live?" At least I was paying pennies on the hour!

April came, along with wretched finals and a somewhat spontaneous road trip with Kent and Kailee to Arizona! We drove down to Chandler to see Porter, Devin, Preston and Jane for Easter! We REALLY need to make that a tradition! **these pics are not from that trip, somehow, none of us took pictures, but this is Preston and Jane :)

May was a crazy month full of last minute moves to the in-laws basement (definitely weren't planning on that one), purchasing our first pet, and my being promoted to office manager at my job earlier than anticipated! So much craziness...working full time, going to school full time, being HOMELESS...just livin' the dream!

This is Pookie - our bunny. He is extremely adorable and sometimes very naughty...but I LOVE him!

I don't know why I was worried about being homeless, I live at work anyway! I love it though, I work for and with great people...THAT is a blessing!

June is my birthday month, so clearly that was the most important thing that happened! I woke up to flowers and presents and cash from our parents for some much needed shopping. We had dinner at La Jolla Groves (SO deelish)...after which I became violently ill for no apparent reason and spent the night in bed, feeling like I was going to up-chuck my most delicious birthday dinner! Oh, such sweet memories... My brother, Kade, also opened his mission call on June 21st and we  were all stunned to learn he was going to Bangalore, India!

Birthday Flowers :)

My studly brother Kade and his best pal, Danny at the "not-farewell talk" after party.

July brought us a new church calling. We are primary teachers for the 5 and 6 year old kids in our ward! We are convinced it is the best calling EVER. We LOVE those kids! We spent Independence Day boating with my family and drove to St George in the middle of the night to meet our new niece - Maylie Nicole Laws on the 16th! We slept in and went to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe on July 25th and had a yard sale at my parents house on the 30th. Love those summer months!

 From L to R: Macey - the super mature 6 yr old, Porter (aka "PorterMan") - the cool kid, Kate - the daughter of a Harvard Grad who could go to Harvard at age 7, Katie - the sweet, quiet one, Eddison - the smartest most charming girl magnet of any 6 yr old I know, Elsie - the adorable daughter every mom wants, and Haley - the shy girly girl. We are missing Max in this photo, which is a shame...because I could write a whole blog about Max. He speaks Spanish most of the time, thinks he is a KING (literally, we are all his royal subjects), lives in an imaginary world 24/7, and can sing "Praise to the Man" like you wouldn't believe!

 

The beautiful miss Maylie

August came faster than we thought and we had a blast at the Laws Family Pool Party/Maylie's Blessing/Mathew's Baptism! August 12th was my LONG awaited Graduation from BYU with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise Science. FINALLY! And last but absolutely NOT least, a rockin' trip to Lake Powell!

After the blessing/baptism...before the pool party

Goodbye BYU! Thanks for all the laughs and TEARS, and blood, and sweat, and anxiety....

My Hawaiian husband

Being sprayed by an anonymous man from Thailand

Preston going down the slide on the houseboat! Rock on little man!

September came with a very highly anticipated trip to Montana to see Myke's grandparents. Myke was pretty sure I wouldn't survive in the "wilderness", BUT don't worry, I just hopped on this horse bareback and jumped across a river! Ok, it was a stream, but still... March also brought me my new life without school! It was even better than I thought!

At the Fair in Montana

October got us both down with some sickness (ugh) and our first halloween as a married couple! I also chopped my hair off and I pretty much love it a lot more than my thin, wispy, stringy, thin locks of yesteryear. I did my best at having long hair, but I think short hair suits me much better :).

Can you tell we are both sick? I mean, we still look AWESOME, but not as awesome as usual...

New Hair!

And here we are, back at November :) I threw a baby shower for my best friend Jess and my other best friend, Abbey, got engaged! Babies, engagements, and anniversaries...what a fun time of life! What a November!

 Cute, pregnant Jess and I at her shower!

An old picture of  (the now-engaged) Abbey, Me, and (the now-pregnant) Jess...we actually sent out Christmas cards from our apartment with this picture, haha. Best Friends!

A whole year later and we still love each other! Love you Michael! Happy Anniversary!

What a year of Laws Lovin'!

Jess's BabyShower: Frogs, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails...

I had a baby shower for my gal pal, Jess. She is due December 19th (I think, maybe the 17th, I keep getting mixed up) and she looks ADORABLE as a little pregnant mama! I decided to base the shower theme around the nursery rhyme "Frogs, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails, that's what little boys are made of." I think it turned out pretty cute and we had an awesome turn-out because everyone loves Jess so much! I should have taken more pics, but at least I got these ones!

 

These were the announcements I sent out. Ordered them from tinyprints.com if you're wondering :).

These were my FROGS, aren't they cute!?! I made "frog eye salad" and then put these little fruity frog faces on them. I thought frog-eye salad was a well known food, but apparently it isn't! If you haven't had it, you should google a recipe 'cause it's tasty! It has little tiny pasta pieces in it called, "acini de pepe" that look like frog eyes or frog eggs, which is where the name comes from. 

 

 

These were my SNAILS...cinnamon snails! I pot them on kabob sticks and then poked the sticks into floral styrofoam that I attached to the inside of this cute bucket thing. My first attempt at creating this idea, did not go well! I made really good dough, but it was too "yeasty" and when I put it in the mini cupcake pan and baked them, they exploded out of the pan and become one giant mound of cinnamon bread stuff. So, in my next attempt, I made it easy on myself and bought the pre-made cinnamon rolls that come in those cool cardboard cylinders that POP open when you take the wrapper off. It worked perfect! I just smashed the dough out a little thinner, rolled it up, put it in the mini cupcake pan and voila! They even come with their own frosting! Can't get better than that! I used the cinnamon rolls and the orange rolls for my snails and I think they turned out pretty cute...and tasty!

And finally, the PUPPY DOG TAILS. I had a harder time thinking of how to do this part, but I finally came up with the chocolate dipped pretzel rods idea. They kind of resemble puppy dog tails, right? A word to the wise, white chocolate seems to take about 15 times longer to dry, as compared to milk chocolate. I made these the night before and it was kind of fun! I used coconut shavings, brown sprinkles, and smashed oreos (chocolate and golden) to give some variety to the pretzels and try to make them look more "furry," haha...you know, like a puppy dog tail. I thought chocolate licorice fit the bill pretty nicely too. 

  I served a warm Caramel Apple Cider drink because it was FREEZING outside! There was a recipe on a box of apple cider drink packets I had, but it required butterscotch schnapps, and we don't drink alcohol...so I improvised with a similar idea. I had apple cider in the crock pot with a cinnamon stick and orange slices. You fill your cup with the apple cider, add some caramel (ice cream topping), swirl whipped cream on top, drizzle more caramel on top of the whipped cream, and then sprinkle it with cinnamon and nutmeg. Super easy! Super deelish!

I didn't do anything fancy for the Thank-You's. I bought cellophane treat bags, lined them with brown tissue paper, put some of those cute gummy frogs in the bottom and tossed in a chocolate dipped pretzel rod. I made quick "Thank you" tags with envelope labels and a $1 package of paw print stickers. I just wrote "Thank you" on each of them with a sharpie marker. Easy peasy. 

This table was set up in the family room with a bunch of onesies and fabric markers. All our cute guests designed a onesie for Jess's little babe while they munched on some snacks. I had lot's of muddy buddies (aka "puppy chow") on the tables too, I thought that kind of went with the theme. The onesises were SO cute, I can't believe I didn't get a picture! Just imagine the cutest onesies you've ever seen, girls are so crafty!

And that's it! It turned out so fun!

We had LOTS of beautiful women come and it was just a blast! 

Thanks to all you lovely ladies for making it such a good time!

Thanks to Jess for having a baby and letting me throw a shower! 

It's so nice to do something other than work!

Baby Bump Jess, Hillary and Hill's adorable son, Julian. He looked right at the camera! What a little stud!

 Jess and the beautiful Mandy.

 Jess and Abbz! Abbey just got engaged the night before! Woohoo! Looks like we need to plan another shower...bridal shower this time!

 The lovely Megan, glowing Jess, and beautiful Lacey...oh look! They are working on their onesies...and you can see a few on the table behind them! So fun!

 Stacy, Jess, Johanna, Jenny, and Julie...so pretty :)

 And of course, the Jess and myself!

Love you girl! Can't wait to meet the little one!!