Best Days of 2013

Keeping with the tradition I started last year, here are the top 10 days of 2013! Last year, some of the events were narrowed into a weekend or a series of days, but this year they are all just 1 particular day. And to top it off, I did so good on blogging that each of these events has a post about it! I'll attach a link in each one if you want to read more or see pictures from that day.

#10 - November 22, the day I finished working at the Bank of American Fork. I feel like this one needs some explanation. It's not that I wanted to quit so bad that makes this a top 10 moment. It's the fact that I am now a stay home mom that makes it a top 10 moment. Seriously, I am SO grateful that once princess is here, I can stay home and just focus on taking care of her and Jake.

#9 - April 9, the day Jake drove a Lamborghini. We had just arrived in Las Vegas after spending the night in St. George, and after driving around looking at a museum, we followed the sound of some very loud cars to Exotic Racing. Literally, we FOLLOWED the sound. My husband sure loves the sound of nice cars! His reaction - when he asked if he could drive the car, to when he found out he could, to picking out which car he wanted to drive, to watching him get in the car, to seeing his face as he got out of the car - made this one of my VERY favorite days of the year!

#8 - January 31, the day Clint came home from his mission. After having faithfully served the Lord for 2 years, Clint returned from his mission in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was SOO hard to wait for him at the airport, especially when his flight was delayed. It was an amazing moment seeing the love that everyone in Jake's family has for each other as they all rushed to hug him when he got home. And of course, it was wonderful to have him home again!

#7 - January 27, the day that Jake received the Melchezidek priesthood. I still can't believe that this happened so close to my birthday - talk about an amazing birthday present! Having Jake have the priesthood has been amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had to have him lay his hands on my head and exercise his priesthood.

#6 - January 26, the day that I went in the temple for the first time with my husband.  For my birthday last year, one of the "gifts" I really wanted was to go to the temple with Jake and do baptisms for the dead, since he hadn't been endowed yet. We went with Brynne & Blake so that Jake would have someone in the dressing room to help him in case he had questions. It was AMAZING being in the temple together.

#5 - July 12, the day we found out we were having a little girl. First, it was wonderful to know we were having a girl, despite the 10 seconds of initial disappointment. Second, it was AMAZING to see a little person on the ultra sound screen! At our 8 week appointment, she was just a little bean. By the 15 week mark, I had been throwing up quite a bit and seeing that there is a real little princess in there made it all seem so worth it!!

#4 - December 13, the day we finished funding our emergency fund. After having this on my list of goals to accomplish for 3 years, it feels AMAZING to finally have this accomplished!! It's amazing the sense of peace and calm that comes from having our little emergency net set aside. Dave Ramsey really does know what he is talking about when he talks about women having a security gland and wanting this fund so bad!

#3 - May 10, the day we found out we were pregnant. That day was amazing. And overwhelming. But amazing. I'll never forget the feeling I got when I saw that little positive sign. I felt like a cartoon - my eyes bulged out of my head and I imagine my jaw hitting the floor and my tongue unrolling. I was stunned that I was actually pregnant. And Jake was stunned we got pregnant so fast. It was an emotionally exhausting day that was AMAZING in every way!

#2 - June 15, the day that Jake got endowed. Seriously, one of the best days of my ENTIRE life. Seeing my husband dressed in white was something I had already experienced when we went to do baptisms together, but seeing him in his temple clothes, knowing he was wearing garments, was amazing. And walking into the Celestial room and seeing him was one of the BEST moments of my ENTIRE life. I'll never get that image out of my head. Just thinking about it now makes me smile and tear up - I couldn't let go of him. AMAZING day!

#1 - August 17, the day that Jake & I were sealed for time and all eternity. It's crazy to me how many amazing days I had this year, but no day tops this one. Kneeling over the altar, holding Jake's hand, kissing him for the first time as my eternal companion, and feeling how INSANELY strong the Spirit was that day made it not only the best day of the year, but the best day of my life {so far}. Despite how many times I threw up that day {I want to say it was 8 times?}. Despite how much of the day was spent in the car. The memories I have of that day, both as we were in the temple and as we spent our 4 year anniversary night together at the Grand America, made it such an amazing day. It really felt like a do over of our wedding day and a second honeymoon. I can't say enough how amazing August 17th was.

Some of the days that deserve an honorable mention are the first time Jake felt Kaycee move {October 9}, the day BYU beat Texas {September 7}, the day I got called to be in Young Women's {March 5} and the day I finished my second half marathon {June 8}. It was an absolutely amazing year! Next year, I already know which day will be the best day of the year - the day I see our princess Kaycee for the first time!

39 weeks - still a watermelon

Dear Kaycee,

Well princess, here we are - 39 weeks together! 3 days until your due date. How on earth did it get here so fast?? 

How far along? 39 weeks 4 days 

Total weight gain? Yeah not gonna discuss THAT one lol 
Maternity clothes?  Yep, wearing the same 3 or 4 outfits over and over again haha. It'll be SO nice to be able to wear some of my other clothes once my tummy is a little smaller.
Sleep? This week hasn't been too bad actually! I had been doing a lot of nesting lately, but this last week I have been doing much more sleeping. There was one day, the day after Christmas, where I slept all night without tossing or turning or re arranging or getting up to go to the bathroom. That does not EVER happen - I am constantly tossing and turning and get up at least 5 times a night, so having a night of nothing was crazy!! I've been going to bed a lot later, like around 3 or 4 in the morning, and wake up around noon. Hopefully that makes it a TEENY bit easier to be up in the middle of the night with you, since I'm already kinda used to it. Probably not but hey we'll find out soon enough! 
Miss Anything? My pre pregnancy wardrobe lol. Because I had lost so much weight, I had an entire closet of brand new super cute clothes. Can't wait to get to wear them all again! 
Movement? Yes, thank heavens. After our scare on Sunday, you've been miss active and I REALLY appreciate it. It's helped make me feel more at ease. Last night you were moving A TON right when I was wanting to go to sleep. Silly girl! 
Cravings? Last night I wanted some dessert so bad it was almost painful haha. I wanted like cheesecake or a frosty from Wendy's or something. I settled for some chocolate we had at home, but it didn't hit the spot like a frosty would have! 
Anything making you queasy or sick? Not this week! It's been nice to not get sick at all! If I am in the car and it gets too hot, I start to feel a little funny but as soon as I crack the window I am ok. I'm going to freeze dad out one of these days - he's so cold all the time because I have the house and the car set at such low temperatures. He sure is being an awesome trooper! 
Gender?  Girl
Labor Signs? At my appointment on Thursday, dad came! My midwife checked me and I am dialated to a 1 and my cervix is softening. She didn't get me an effacement percentage, but she did say I was softened enough to have my membranes stripped quite yet. We had been planning to have them stripped at that appointment, but I changed my mind last minute since I don't want your birthday too close to the holidays. Good thing too or I would have been disappointed that they couldn't strip me yet!
Symptoms? Nope! I had some Braxton Hicks on Saturday night, but they weren't super strong. We were walking around the mall and they stopped whenever I stopped walking. Once we got home, they started up again but I decided to just try and sleep through them. If it was real labor, they would keep going and if it was false, they'd stop. I woke up a few hours later and they had stopped. Nothing since then! And for the most part, I have had very little swelling. My feet are still normal. My hands are very minor, and it's only later in the day. I feel like my face is swelling when I look at pictures, but that could just be the weight I've gained. Blood pressure has been TOTALLY normal - not even a blimp in the concern radar. 
Belly Button in or out? In, and it'll stay that way :)
Wedding rings on or off? Still off. I'm having a hard time with it still :(
Looking forward to: You. We got your car seat for Christmas and every time I look in your room and see it, it makes me sad. I want to carry it with me, and put it in the car, and then take it back out of the car when I reach my destination. I want you to be in it! And I am SO looking forward to seeing you in all your cute clothes! And seeing Max's reaction to you. And seeing my sisters hold you. But same as before, I am just dying to see dad hold you. I can't WAIT to see dad holding you. 
Stretch marks? Yes and no, only what I had before pregnancy but they are faint and hard to see, thankfully.

The day after Christmas, dad & I took it pretty easy which was SO nice. I started getting worried you might come sooner rather than later, and wanted to make sure that the Christmas decor was taken down before you came, so we took it down last weekend. I LOVE Christmas decor, and usually leave it up until January 2 or so - at least after New Years. But this year, it came down either the 26th or the 27th. It was really sad to take it down so fast, but it's been really nice to have the house "back to normal" as far as decor goes, and to have everything put away back in the basement. We also built the bookshelf in the guest bedroom, since I had taken it out to put in your room, and straightened up the mess in there. It's SO relaxing for me to have the house be so tidy again. Good timing too, since I haven't had much energy since then! 

Last Thursday, after my 39 week appointment, dad & I went to Orem Community hospital, where we are going to be delivering you at. We didn't know exactly where it was and wanted to make sure we knew how to get there! We figured out which door to go in, which parking lot to use, etc. and we even got to do a tour! It was exciting seeing the rooms! And it worked out AWESOME when we went back on Sunday when you stopped moving because we knew exactly where to go and what to do! 

Getting ready to tour the hospital!

I keep feeling kinda yucky after I eat, which is weird - normally eating helps me feel better! I think it might be from eating too much, so I have been trying to stop eating when I could still eat more and it seems to have helped me not feel gross. One of the times I had to really use some self control was when dad & I went to Cafe El Lago in Saratoga Springs with my grandpa {Poppa} over the weekend. He was here from California for Christmas, and it was SUPER fun to get to spend some time with just him and us.

Love my Poppa!

You're due in 3 days. You're due this week. But not until next year. THAT'S kinda trippy to think about! So if all goes according to karma, you'll be here in 10 days when I get induced on the 10th. I was 2 weeks late, so I've always thought my kids would come late too and have to be induced. I picked my ideal birthday for you though - January 7. 1/7/2014. If you add up the digits, it equals 15. Which is my favorite number. And I am compulsive about that number. That's how many letters are in your name. Kaycee McClellan. Yeah, I'm a nerd. But if you came on the 7th, your birthday would add up to 15! That would be SO awesome!! Or if you came January 13, that would also add up to 15 if you don't include the year. But you're going to come when you're good and ready so we'll see. But I think it'd be awesome if you came on the 7th! 

All along, my ENTIRE pregnancy, I have been hoping and hoping that you wouldn't come on New Years Eve. I'm not super into hosting parties, but I'm going to get over that for your birthdays. I want to make sure you have fun birthday parties each year, but I don't want to have to host a New Years Eve party. I just want to have a normal My Little Pony or Rainbow Brite or Cowgirl birthday party. I have been SOOO adamant I don't want you to come today, and it's looking like you won't be here today! Right now, it's close to 1 PM. If contractions and labor started right now, you probably wouldn't be here until tomorrow. That's SUCH a relief. Thank you SOOOO much for not coming today princess. I want you to have your OWN day, that's special just for you! And the farther we get from Christmas, the better it'll be. That's another reason I am ok with being induced - your birthday would be January 10th. That's a good distance from the holidays. 

Can't believe you're due in 3 days. That just blows my mind. I've been saying all week that you are due on Friday. It's so weird to think it's THIS week. Everyone at dad's work keeps asking about how you're doing. Dad gets to take some time off of work when you get here, which I am SOO grateful for! They have been SOO understanding about realizing that we can't schedule your arrival and we don't know when you'll be here. Right now, we are planning on having dad take a week off, but if I end up having a C section he is going to take a little more time. And if I go in the middle of the week, he'll probably take the rest of that week off and then the entire next week. Good thing dad gets LOTS of PTO - it'll be so nice having him around for your first few days with us! 

Can't wait to see you little one. So many people are so excited to see you. I get COUNTLESS texts, calls & FB messages each day asking how you and I are doing. So many people can't wait for you to be here! I know your grandma's are both DYING to meet you, as are you aunt's. Aunt Brynne can't wait to see Uncle Blake hold a baby. I have a feeling they're going to ask to babysit you A LOT. I just can't wait to finally see you. After all, you have a very handsome dad, and I was a pretty cute baby {or so Grammy tells me}, so I can't wait to see what you look like with a little bit of each of us. 

Mom

Dad

Keep being safe in there princess - I can't wait to meet you. 

Love,

Mom

My dad turns 50!

Yesterday, my dad turned 50! We celebrated by having him over for dinner to our house and doing dinner and gifts! Jeannene & Lauryl went to get him, which was a huge stress relief for me. We were planning to have enchilada's for dinner, but because of the hospital excursion Jake wanted me to take it easy and not cook anything. He had already cooked the chicken in the crockpot, so we just had chicken taco's instead. Brynne & Blake brought Spanish Rice, Popper brought salad & Jeannene made apple pie for dessert. It was delicious! And Jake did EVERYTHING for our part of the dinner.

Including the dishes. 

Seriously, I have the best husband ON THE PLANET. He took SUCH good care of me yesterday. 

After we were finished with dinner, it was time for my dad to open his presents! We did presents from youngest to oldest, so he opened the gift from Popper first. 

She wrote him a sweet note. Such a good idea!

She gave him 2 framed pictures - 1 of the 4 of us from family pictures earlier this year, and 1 of Jeannene & Lauryl from family pictures 

Then my dad opened the gift from Jeannene

She wrote him a sweet note too, and is taking him to see "Saving Mr. Banks" in theaters this Wednesday, assuming we don't have a baby!

Reading Jeannene's note

Brynne & Blake got him a Clair M Poulson book - my dad LOVES his books!

We got my dad "Man of Steel" on DVD. We went with him to see it in theaters and he loved it

And we got him a framed picture of pictures from our sealing of the 4 girls with my dad and a picture of me and my dad

After we had dinner, we all chatted for a bit and then had apple pie for dessert! 

We didn't have any candles, so Brynne held up a knife for pretend while we sang to my dad

It was a great night, and a wonderful chance to celebrate my dad's birthday! I am so glad that we were able to have his birthday celebration on his birthday, since I know his birthday tends to be combined with Christmas sometimes. It was great! Happy 50th dad, we love you!

False Alarm

Yesterday, we had a false alarm with miss Kaycee.

Yesterday was my dad's, Jake's dad & Keisha's {our soon to be sister-in-law} birthday. I've been thinking the entire pregnancy how awesome it would be for Kaycee to come on December 29 - she'd have the same birthday as both of her grandpa's and an aunt! But I didn't have any reason to think she would come - no signs of labor whatsoever.

Yesterday was also our last day of 1 o'clock church. The awesome thing about 1 o'clock church is we can sleep in and not wake up to an alarm, which is so awesome! Jake woke up around 9 and insisted that I keep sleeping. I woke up around 10, ate some breakfast and immediately felt tired so I went back to bed. I asked Jake to come wake me up around 11:30 so I could shower before church, but when he came to get me I wasn't feeling ready to get up so we decided not to go to church. I slept for another few hours, then went out and laid on the couch since I wasn't feeling comfortable in bed.

Around the time I went out on the couch, Jake casually mentioned our little girl and asked how she was moving. I realized I hadn't felt her move in a while, so I had Jake get me some ice cream. Usually eating something cold gets her going right away, but it didn't work. I ate some lunch, making sure to eat lots of protein to see if that would help. Nope, no movement.

It'd been about 45 minutes since I ate the ice cream, and normally I can get probably 30 movements in that time. I decided to call my midwife on call and let her know what was going on and see if she thought we should go to the hospital. My midwives always says that their goal is 6-10 movements in an hour, and normally she hits that in 10 minutes or less. I left the on call midwife a voicemail, and figured that she would tell us to go in to the hospital so I decided to hurry and jump in the shower. While I was in the shower, she called back and left a voicemail {my phone wasn't working right and kept going straight to voicemail} and said that yes, we should go down to the hospital and have her checked.

Up until she called back, I had been thinking maybe I was being a little paranoid. Yeah, she wasn't moving, but going to the hospital? I thought maybe she would suggest something else to get her moving. I had been planning on actually doing my hair, but as soon as we got the voicemail, we decided to just get to the hospital as soon as we could. I already packed the hospital bag, with the exception of a few last minute things {like blankets & pillows}, so I had Jake grab the last minute stuff, loaded it all into the car and headed to Orem Community.

Around that time, I text our families to let them know what was going on. Everyone was texting us saying that they were praying for us and to keep them posted. I kept thinking "I am not ready for this - I can't have a baby today!" and Jake was super quiet, which most likely means he was thinking the same thing. I tried talking about lighter stuff, or talking about fun aspects of it and not focusing on how drastically our lives could be about to change, since we were both already freaking out.

As soon as we were close to getting off the freeway, I suggested we say a prayer. Jake asked me to say it, since he was driving. I had been thinking I wanted to pray that I would not hyperventilate if we ended up getting induced and having a baby today, and instead as soon as I opened my mouth I started bawling my eyes out. Like full on ugly crying. I immediately got SOO scared that something was wrong with her. All I could say, over and over again, was "please let her be ok. Just please let her be ok." I pulled myself together just as we got to the hospital. We left all our bags in the back of the car and went in.

They did some stuff to get us checked in and then took us back into a monitoring room. They put a little heart rate monitor on my tummy, and right before she put it on, the nurse told me not to freak out if it takes a minute to find her heart beat because it could just be her positioning. I was just praying over and over again that we'd find her little heart beat. And the second she put it on my tummy, I heard something.

I wasn't sure if it was her heart beat or mine, but I heard something.

It took a few seconds before I could say the words - "that's her heart beat right?" And the nurse smiled at me and said "Yep, sure is. Unless your heart beat is 140. Which it isn't. So yes, we found it. That's her heart beat."

And I totally started crying again.

She found a position where she could leave the monitor on my tummy so we could monitor Kaycee's heart beat for a while, and then put a different monitor on to track if I had any contractions. It took maybe 3 minutes before Kaycee was doing everything she could to kick the monitors off. It was HILARIOUS to listen to - we could hear the heart beat, and then it sounded like a little kid breathing into a microphone because she would kick it so hard. The nurse had to come in a few times to re adjust her monitor because she kept moving it with how strong her kicks were. It was SUCH a relief to have her be so active. They monitored her for about half hour, and then we got the all clear to come home! And throughout that time, not a single contraction. I had kinda been worried maybe I was having them and didn't realize it or something, so that was kind of a relief to realize that I'm not missing something.

I felt really embarrassed to go to the hospital and be sent home, but I'm glad we went and got her moving and made sure she was ok. I was kinda ornery when we got home because I felt so dumb about  it all, but Jake has seriously been amazingly supportive and made me feel a lot better about it.

Princess, you scared the HECK out of your mom, dad, grandparents & aunts! Please don't do that again!

Hopefully the next time we go to the hospital, it'll be for real!

Christmas Day 2013

Christmas morning is my favorite morning of the entire year. I think almost the entire world can say that, but still. I LOVE Christmas morning. Jake & I woke up at a nice normal hour of 9 AM and got ready to open presents. 

Sleeping pills make it hard to open your eyes when you wake up!

Our tree - the only picture I got of it this year. 

Jake's stack of presents

My stack of presents 

The gift Miss Kaycee got

Our beautiful mantle, complete with Jake's new stocking & the stocking I bought for Kaycee! Jake turned the Netflix fire on for us, since our fireplace doesn't work because it isn't vented. The only person Santa brought a stocking for this year was Max. Apparently he was a very good boy this year!  

All ready to open his stocking!  

Sure love this guy 

Helping him open everything in his stocking 

A few new toys, some treats and holiday dog cookies 

He immediately went to town on his Santa cookie 

Miss Kaycee got "Financial Peace Jr." - the game system created by Dave Ramsey to help teach your kids about money. It's for ages 3+. So we've got a while before she'll need it lol. 

Les Miserables on DVD! 

Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover" - I have read this book MULTIPLE times but never owned it. Now I have my own copy!  

And new flat irons! 

A full size one, and a travel size! 

Jake got new cologne

Max eating his cookie while playing with his new toys 

A new remote controlled helicopter 

Jake LOVES it - I had no idea he was going to like it so much. He plays with it multiple times a day! 

He's been very anxious to open this present, because it's so big 

A fire pit for the back yard!

Confused about what the last gift is...

Realizing what it is - a new laser/flashlight combo for his .40! 

He was so excited he immediately had to go get his gun and put it on!

My 2 boys playing with their Christmas toys

Our Christmas breakfast! Peppered bacon, Kneaders French Toast with caramel syrup, whipped cream & strawberries & orange juice

After we were done opening presents, we played with our toys on the couch for a few hours while watching "A Christmas Story" on TBS.

Laying down, feeling princess move around and watching Jake playing with his helicopter

Our new fire pit!

Max modeling the fire pit

We also went in the backyard and built a fire. Afterwards, we got ready and drove to my parents house to spend some time with them for Christmas! Shortly after we got there, we opened presents. Nobody in my family can contain their excitement on Christmas Day - it's too hard to wait for presents leading up to Christmas. Once it's Christmas Day, it's time to open them already!

Jake leaning on our AWESOME gift for Kaycee from my mom - Kaycee's stroller & car seat combo!

Buzz's present from Max - a stuffed turtle. Buzz got Max a little Winnie the Pooh toy and 2 bags of treats!

My mom opening one of her gifts from us

Little Mermaid on DVD! 

We got Poppa a new hat that says "This is what the world's greatest Great Grandpa looks like!"

Modeling his new hat 

We got Rick a University of Utah t shirt 

And a big supply of Reese's!

Kaycee got ANOTHER present from my mom... 

Little Mermaid on Blu Ray! I love that my mom and I got each other the same gift! This was one of my VERY favorite Disney movies when I was little!  

We also got my mom "The Cougar Cookbook" - it's a collection of recipes from the BYU players & coaches wives 

Jake opening Kaycee's new travel system! 

We had SO much fun playing with the different features and figuring out how it works. Then we went to the car and got the base all snapped in, so now her car seat is already and in the car! 

Shortly after, Jake decided he needed another soda, and decided to take Jeannene & Popper with him to the gas station. And let them drive the Mazda. That NEVER happens - he has never let either of them even start the car, let alone drive it. They both kept saying it was a Christmas miracle :)

After we were finished with presents, we all talked for a while {while Jake & I continued playing with the car seat & stroller} and then we had Christmas dinner. We had ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole & meatballs in the most amazing BBQ sauce ever. It was DELICIOUS! After dinner, we all talked and then had dessert. Jake & I brought strawberry cheesecake & a white chocolate mousse cake. It was REALLY yummy!

After being at my parents house for a few hours, we decided to run Max home and head over to my uncle's to see them for a little bit. We were over at Bryan & Shauna's house for HOURS just talking and laughing with them. My dad was over there too, so we got the chance to see him on Christmas Day too! It was REALLY fun to get to see that side of my family on Christmas! After we were done, we drove my dad home and then went home. We were both super tired after a long, fun Christmas Day!

And just think - next year, we are going to have someone who is nearly 1 crawling/walking around the Christmas mess with us. Jake and I both kept saying that to each other over and over again on Christmas - SO crazy to think!!