HOME SWEET HOME...

I cannot tell you how good it feels to be home for more than two days in a row! It is traveling season for Ryan at work and so Nix and I tagged along on his business trips just for the fun of it! I am SO grateful for such an amazing husband who works hard for our family! Thank you Ryan for being such a great husband and father:)

Our first trip was to New York!! If anyone knows me well, they know that New York has been my dream vacation since I could talk! When I had to make the little posters in Elementary School, about myself, I would always say that I wanted to go to New York so that I could watch the Yankees play.... and after 23 years, I finally made it there!!

The new stadium was AMAZING and so was the game! New York played Boston (we couldn't have picked a better series) and we killed them! I felt like a little kid in a candy store. At one point I told Ryan that no matter how hard I tried not to smile, I just couldn't help it!:)




While Ryan worked I needed someone to hang out with... so luckily my dad had a business trip planned that same week and I was able to spend most of my time with him. I loved that he was there for the trip since he is the reason I am a 'die hard' Yankee Fan! It was so much fun spending time with two of my most favorite people in the whole world.






And.. finally this picture is for you Crys! "Carl, come on down. We're bobbin for Oysters"! Haha


New York was fun, but I had a hard time being away from my baby boy! Luckily my sweet mom took good care of him for us. Love you Mom!

Our next trip was to Las Vegas... this trip wasn't as eventful since Ryan and I aren't big on Vegas. We mostly hung out in our room and relaxed. I loved it! Ryan and I have so much fun together. He really is my best friend! No one can make me laugh as hard as he does.

One night while we were in our hotel room Ryan took a shower and then laid next to Nixon on the bed. I had ordered room service so I told Ryan he needed to get dressed before they made it up to our room! Of course Ryan fell asleep before they got there. As soon as they knocked on the door, Ryan jumped up like a crazy man on the bed and did a 'Fred Flinstone' run in place (the covers were moving all over but he wasn't going anywhere)! Finally he jumped off of the bed and right as his feet were about to hit the floor he happened upon my suitcase and fell FLAT on his face!!!!!! I was laughing so hard that I had tears coming down my face and I couldn't stand up to open the door! Cute little Nix found it pretty funny too and started giggling at his dad... if you are reading this, maybe don't tell Ryan I shared this story on our blog;)

Our last trip was to Sand Diego! We took my best friend BreeAnn Manning with us. I don't know how she puts up with Ryan and me, but somehow she manages to keep coming around! We had a ton of fun just relaxing by the pool, playing in the ocean and hanging out at the zoo with Jake and her boys:). Not to mention running from giant bugs while making fools of ourselves at the pool;)

Love this girl!!





I am pretty sure this man could have passed as one of the animals with all of his back hair... had to get a picture!!
Of course Ryan had to entertain us again... he decided to show his coworkers how much he could eat one night. I am pretty sure he ended with six steaks and four or five huge plates full of food! He is just so talented:)

We had so much fun on our vacations.. but home is still my favorite place of all! There is a special spirit in our home that I miss when we are away. It feels good to be back!

"A home is much more than a house built of lumber, brick, or stone. A home is made of love, sacrifice, and respect. We are responsible for the homes we build. We must build wisely, for eternity is not a short voyage. There will be calm and wind, sunlight and shadows, joy and sorrow. But if we really try, our home can be a bit of heaven here on earth. The thoughts we think, the deeds we do, the lives we live not only influence the success of our earthly journey, they also mark the way to our eternal goals" -Thomas S. Monson

LET THE FAT LADY SING...

I am finally doing it! I honestly never thought this day would come, hence the title to my post! Finally, my first post on the blog Natalie helped me start months and months ago (Thanks Nat)!! So here it goes… hopefully you will find my life as entertaining as I do!
On July 17 2009 Ryan and I found out that we were expecting our first child! I have never been so excited!! I wanted a boy and Ryan wanted a girl. Of course, I got what I wanted and I think Ryan is pretty happy now that I won out!
As we got further into our pregnancy with Nixon we found out that he was going to have some complications. Nixon has what is called Hydrocephalus (water on the brain). We were first told that ‘IF’ he made it to delivery, he would be severely handicapped. Ryan and I were devastated! I have never felt so much sadness and frustration in my life. The thought of losing our son hadn’t even crossed our minds until this point. All of the excitement and anticipation had quickly been replaced with anger!
After battling an emotional rollercoaster for the first week we went to a specialist who told us that he didn’t see anything indicating that Nixon wouldn’t make it to delivery. That was the best news that we could have heard!! Each appointment got better and better. Nixon’s Hydrocephalus seemed to be stable each time we went in!
Ryan and I were more than open to the idea of having a handicapped son! To us, this was the biggest compliment that the Lord could have given us. I even started walking on handicap signs in parking lots… and for those of you who know me, and my OCD, know that this was a HUGE step in my life!! Ryan and I had a new found love and respect for one another and the spirit in our home was almost tangible! We couldn’t believe the blessings the Lord had given us already because of Nixon.. we couldn’t wait to get the little guy here to share in our happiness and love!
We finally hit the 30 week mark and the Doctor told us that due to the size of head Nixon would most likely have (one of the symptoms of Hydrocephalus), we would need to deliver early. They scheduled me to come in on March 10th even though my initial due date was March 26th. They told us that Nixon would need a brain shunt placed in his head after birth in order to drain the CSF from the ventricles in his brain. We were also told that we would need to deliver at the University of Utah so that he could be passed through the window to the NICU as soon as he was born. We were both pretty nervous and didn’t really know what to expect, but the Lord was more than comforting.
We finally were admitted into the hospital on March 11th at 2:30am after being told over and over they didn’t have a room for us yet… it was SO frustrating!! Once I was admitted they started me on some medication that slowly started my contractions. They said when my contractions were strong enough they would start the pitocin. At about 7am the Doctor came in and said my contractions were so strong she wanted to give me my epidural… I was SO excited, I figured I wasn’t too far from meeting my baby boy!
12 hours later… the Doctor came in and said they were going to do an emergency C-Section and told Ryan he needed to put the scrubs on. I had been dilated to a 5 for hours and Nixon wasn’t going to cooperate (Hopefully that wasn’t a glance into my future!). I had figured I would have to have a C-Section because of the size of his head, so this would save me a lot of pain! We were pretty nervous, but relieved at the same time because we just wanted to see him.
About 10 minutes before the Nurse came to get me, Natalie walked in the door! Her and her family had driven all day from Arizona to be here for Nixon’s birth and barely made it! I was SO excited to see her!! I honestly have the best family ever! (Including you Bree!)
On March 11th, 2010 at 8:14pm Nixon Brett Price was born! He weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 21 inches long! I instantly fell in love with him from the moment I saw him!!! Right after he was born, the Doctor quickly passed him through the window to the NICU and we were told that we wouldn’t see him for the next 5 to 6 hours. After they sent Ryan back to our room and were just about to wheel me back in, the nurse came back to the window holding Nixon! I was SHOCKED!!! He didn’t need any brain surgery and was completely healthy with a cute little head! Thanks to all of the prayers and fasting the Lord blessed us with a miracle baby. Although Nixon still suffers from Hydrocephalus, his brain has miraculously found a way to drain the fluid to relieve any additional pressure! We meet with different specialists once a week to make sure we stay on track, but so far we have been VERY blessed!! Ryan and I couldn’t love our baby more…