2011

I know that I'm slightly behind on the new year post. I wanted to make sure to do all of my posts in order of occasion and with time always being short, here I am only a week after the new year has started. 2011 was such an eventful year for both Ben and I. Probably the most life changing year of each of our lives. With that being said, I have to quickly recap the most exciting events of the year.

January, we found out we were pregnant! I have some pictures of the pee stick and all, but I will save the blog world from seeing that. I was about 5 weeks along and quickly began showing. We could only fool our families for a couple more weeks. We made the big announcement in February and everyone was so excited for us. We were so excited for what this year would bring. Even as sick as I was, I was ecstatic to become a mom.
March, we made one of the biggest decisions of our lives thus far. We decided that the place our family needed to be was Arizona. Ben was accepted to Arizona State University and we both felt so good about it. Putting full faith in the Lord, we began our plans to move our little family to a completely new place. We were both nervous. Moving with me being pregnant, quitting both of our jobs, and leaving our families was so scary. We are now officially Sun Devils and love it here in Arizona.My best friend, Jan, also got married in March. I was a chubby bridesmaid with acne, but I was still happy to be a part of her big day! We are happy to welcome Spencer into our group.On April first, the Hardings welcomed Carston into the family. Tiffany and Carston's wedding was darling. They're so in love. We love Carston too.
The next day, on April 2, we were surprised with the early arrival of our first niece, Harper Susanna. She's a darling little girl. She's the first grandchild for the Ashdowns, so we were all so happy she was here. It is fun to have a cousin so close to Macee. We love her. We found out that our new addition to the family would be a girl. We were even more excited now! Ben had had many dreams about our little girl joining our family so this was just another confirmation from the Lord that she was really meant to be ours. Ben's wrestler will have to come at another time. Also in April, Ben graduated from Weber State. Yay! What an exciting month. Once he really started working on a degree, it only took him three years to finish. During his commencement ceremony, he found out that he had been selected as the outstanding graduate for the school of Social Work. I'm so proud of him for his hard work and dedication. It was a hard three years, but so worth it. Now on to grad school.On May 10, we made our move to Maricopa, Arizona. It was amazing how much we brought down with us. But, with the help of both of our families, we got all settled in just in time for Ben to start his Summer semester of school. Sorry, I can't find an exciting picture of our move.

The summer just brought us a whole lot of heat. We swam and stayed indoors as much as possible. I loved swimming and feeling buoyant and staying indoors worked out nicely so my ankles didn't swell. I got my job at Arizona Heart Hospital in a PRN position as an RT. It has been a nice job to have because it is flexible around our current busy schedules. The anticipation of our baby girl coming was almost unbearable.

September was obviously the most exciting month. We had been anticipating Macee's arrival for what seemed like eternity. She was finally here and we couldn't be more proud. As her mom, I can tell you she was perfect in every way. We were both in love with her more than we ever knew was possible.With Macee's arrival, we got some great visits from our families. We were excited to show Macee off, as well as our new home.

October and November just consisted of getting used to our new family life with work and school. We looked forward to our Christmas break in Utah.

December was our long three week visit to Utah.
Macee was blessed by her daddy. He did an amazing job and Macee looked beautiful.We also had a great time spending the holidays close to family. We went to many family parties and showed Macee off to more people than we can count. She's too cute not to show her off.

Ben and I are looking forward to the year 2012! We already have some fun plans made for our family. We're excited to watch Macee continue to grow, as she is already growing so stinking fast. Ben will be graduating in the first of May with his Masters. With that hopefully comes a good job with a stable income. We plan to take a trip to Cancun in May with the Ashdowns, Ben is going to Alaska with his dad in July while I visit Utah. And hopefully among all of that excitement we will be able to find a perfect little house to call our own. I hope that the new year will bring all of you joy as well!