And Baby Makes Three...

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage, Then... 

Coming July 22, 2014: Baby Bigler!

What a wonderful year it has been! Time flies when you're happy!

Luke and I just celebrated our one year anniversary last month and we just can't believe where all the time has gone!

In November 2013 we found out we were pregnant!! By far the GREATEST joy either of us has ever experienced. The last 8 months have been AMAZING! I've been fortunate to have a body that was made for making babies! Other than first trimester "morning" sickness, back aches and mood swings it's been a cinch! Nothing could get me down! Every time this little sweetheart gives me a little kick or love tap everything else melts away!

We found out in February that we are having a little girl and we couldn't be happier!! Pink, pink and more pink! We went (along with both of our parents) to A Miracle in Progress and got to see our little girl doing flips in my belly. Before that I wasn't sure that I'd been feeling her or not, but seeing her do flips and feeling the sensation of her moving at the same time confirmed-- it's been her all along!

Many happy tears and hugs came after! We couldn't wait to meet our little girl!!

We made a decision not to share what names we were thinking about with anyone... because heaven knows how easily influenced I am by people's negative opinions... and EVERYONE has an opinion on this name or that name. But we've pretty much got her name decided now and have since about the 7th month!

We can't wait to see her and see if the name is perfect just like we think it will be!

Now at 34 weeks pregnant I'm getting bigger and bigger by the minute and I love it! It is truly a miracle to me to see what my body can do! I'm blessed to have my sweet Luke who thinks I look more attractive now than I ever have been! I know my body will never look the same... and you know what, why should it? This body has created life-- where's the joy in that if I've got nothing to show for it... you know... except the baby! Ha ha!

8 Weeks Pregnant

32 Weeks Pregnant

Our doctor is Dr. Martin at The OBGYN Specialists (http://www.theobgynspecialists.net/) and we just love him! He along with the rest of the staff at the office have been amazing this whole pregnancy!!

Our little girl does great big stretches now in my belly and she seems to favor my right side (under my rib I think it her preferred lounging spot)! Luke loves spending time in the evenings just reading and talking to her with his hand firmly planted on top of my growing belly in hopes of feeling a kick here and there! Every time she kicks he just shouts out in joy, "what is she doing in there" with a great big laugh and smile. He truly is going to be the best Dad in the world!

We've both gone through every range of emotions... nervous, happy, stressed, worried, anxious... but in the end we're both just so excited to be parents and to meet our little angel!

We've known her before, we can already feel that connection and we can't wait to be reconnected here on earth! The Lord has blessed our little family in so many ways already, and we've only just begun!

Our house is stocked with baby clothes and diapers, the infant car seat is installed and her bassinet awaits her...

6 weeks to go and counting...

A Perfect Day For Maternity Pictures

On May 24th, at 32 weeks pregnant, Luke and I decided to have an amazingly talented friend, Christina Erdman, take some maternity pictures of us and they turned out PERFECT!

We knew that we wanted to capture a few images of our sweet little girl in my belly, and originally, we had planned on just doing this ourselves... but oh how grateful we are that we took the time to have someone who knows how to work a camera lens help us out!

We went out to Floyd Lamb Park on a beautiful sunny May day and walked around the park taking in all of it's beauty... we ran into gorgeous peacocks and noisy geese along with some adorable newborn baby ducks! It was so much fun! This park is so beautiful!

Christina had the perfect eye for all the right spots to shoot...

It was so much fun taking these pictures with Luke... we are both just so excited to meet our little girl in just a few short weeks!!

Luke already loves his little angel so much... He is going to make the best Dad ever!

What can I say... he's just so much fun! :)

I can't believe that our little angel is going to be here so soon... pink shoes and all! ;)

No matter what we know that we, along with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are the foundation for our family. Above all else, we love each other first.

And forever...

And now we just sit and wait... or waddle and wait in my case! ;) I have loved every second of this pregnancy. I have truly been blessed with not just a body that performs so well under these amazing circumstances, but with an attitude that stays on the up and up along with a husband that has been my rock at many times these past months. I just couldn't do it without him.

We know that our family is only just beginning here on earth and we can't wait to meet our little girl and all of her sweet siblings to come...

I love you little girl.... 

The Family Is Central To The Creator's Plan For The Eternal Destiny Of His Children... 

https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng

Luke's UNLV Graduation!

On May 17th, 2014 my sweet, hard working, amazing husband graduated with his Bachelors Degree in Psychology (Liberal Arts) from The University of Nevada Las Vegas!

I was so proud to see him up there, honor cords hung proudly around his neck (Cum Laude!!), receiving the degree he's worked so hard for! I couldn't help but tear up as he walked out on stage... he did it! I'm just so proud of him!

But even such a dignified event couldn't take the playfulness out of that man... he sported a Mickey Mouse graduation cap (that we got on our most recent Disneyland trip) amidst all the red caps in the crowd and it was a HUGE hit! Everyone loved it! It sure made it easy to spot him in the crowd too!

Both of his awesome grandparents, his parents, his brother and his little sister all came out for the wonderful, momentous event...

Even Our Little Girl Was There!

All the hard work Luke has done over the years is sure to pay off the in the years to come. He truly is making all of his dreams come true, and in turn, mine.

On to graduate school and our next wonderful adventure...

Disneyland... Because We "Had" To...

Anyone who knows me is fully aware that Disneyland is pretty much my favorite place to be (second only to The Temple and my husband's arms), and so it was no enormous challenge for us when we realized our 2-Day Park Hopper Tickets were about to expire and we HAD to go to Disneyland. Yes, I know what you are probably thinking, "that must have taken some serious arm twisting". Alas, it took nearly none! :P

Originally we were planning on going the weekend before, but Luke's sweet, amazing parents graciously offered to let us stay with them this past weekend at their Newport Beach timeshare (again, no arm twisting needed here), which was only a 20 minute drive from Disneyland. 

And so... to Disneyland we went! 

These days between me working, Luke's heavy class load, his lab hours, studying for the GRE, prepping for his upcoming Grad School application process and our callings (Luke doing Boy Scouts & me in Primary), we take every opportunity we can to steal away together! We always joke that we think we saw more of each other back when we were dating! We know that our "busyness" is a blessing and we are certainly grateful for all the blessings the Lord continues to bestow upon us! But needless to say, our trip was wonderful but far too short! 

Luke and I are really into pin trading at the park so we grabbed a hold of our pin lanyards and hit the streets (of Disneyland that is)... we got some GREAT trades: I got 3 new "Foods of Disney" pins and Luke is well on his way to collecting the full set of "Hidden Mickey Coffin Villain" pins! Unfortunately, Luke is still feeling the sting of what he refers to as a "pin hustle". He saw a pin he wanted and went in for the trade, but the girl with the pin he had his eye on made her play and before he knew it, he'd traded his pin, well worth actual monetary value, for a pin that was worth no more than a nickel and some sentimental value... but it did get him one pin closer to the whole set he wanted! No amount of consoling him worked, he knew he'd been hustled! Ha ha! 

Oh the hard knock life of pin trading at Disneyland! :)

Two Churros, one Monte Cristo, one Dole Whip float and a delicious Corn Dog later we were filled to our brim with Disneyland joys! What can we say... we go for the magic, but we stay for the food! 

To add to the joy I "Disneybounded". This is a new and AWESOME (might I add) movement of fellow Disney-fans who dress inspired by their favorite Disney Characters during their trips to Disneyland! It really helped add a new layer of fun and excitement in the weeks coming up to our trip as I scoured my closet for different pieces that I could put together to make a "bound". At first I thought I'd have nothing... but as the weeks went by it turned into a matter of "narrowing it down to just two"! 

Here's what I chose:

It was so much fun not only dressing up, but catching a glimpse of fellow bounders throughout the park! Definitely a tradition I intend to keep for upcoming trips! :)

As our trip came to a close we got to spend the morning with Greg and Sally (Luke's parents) at the condo before saying our goodbye's to Sunny California and heading back to even sunnier Vegas and the hustle and bustle of our blessed "busy" life...

Our Honeymoon

We're home from our honeymoon and as happy as can be! We started our honeymoon off right too with a trip to Disneyworld that really set the mood for magic-- and it really was! I'm a tried and true lover of DisneyLAND, so I knew it was going to take a lot of convincing to have me even consider DisneyWORLD as magical... but some short comings aside (Fantasyland was only so so, there is only one churro stand in the ENTIRE park and no Monte Cristo's) it really was magical afterall. 

The Caribbean was a DREAM... crystal clear waters, beaches with the whitest sand I've ever seen and our dive through the reefs of St. Thomas and around an amazing sunken ship was phenomenal! The water was an unbelievable 80 degrees-- it felt like bath water! We were shocked when the other divers around us put on wet suits (ha ha- weirdos)! :P

The Royal Caribbean ship we were on didn't sink, lose power or even catch fire-- at this point in cruise ship history I'd say THAT was a success all in itself, but the entertainment, food and service didn't hurt! We ate some of the best food ever (duck confit on top of a bed of arugula with mandrin oranges and asparagus and lobster and crab cakes-- YUM)! The shows on this ship were wonderful-- they had a magician that completely blew our minds and left us stary eyed the rest of the evening! And believe it or not there was an ice skating show! You heard right-- it was GREAT, but the best part was that we, ourselves, ice skated whilst on the ship-- that's right, we ice skated right in the middle of the ocean in the Caribbean! 

Here's the pictures from our dive... we had SUCH a great time!! :) 

Back on the boat... we got a wonderful surprise... we just LOVED the towel animals!!

Ice skating ON a ship!

We tried everything... ice skating, karaoke, rock climbing, surfing... everything the boat had to offer!

After 11 of the most FUN filled days of our lives, we had to say goodbye to the Caribbean and head back to reality. Oddly enough, as much as we enjoyed our AMAZING honeymoon we're happy to be home and starting on the next adventure life has in store for us...