Since the wreck...

Paperwork, phone calls, paperwork, and more phone calls. I am sick of dealing with 3 different insurances.

I had to return the rental car yesterday and we still don't have a car settlement
or another car.

The nice thing is we are not planning to get a car payment this time since we are trying to live on less, starting these new businesses. And Luke is no longer working as an SLP unless we need too. Kind of scary. Really scary actually.

And we are in our new townhome!!! We have so much space and my kitchen/pantry is to die for. I just wish that everything was within biking and walking distance so I could go without a car more easily. The only thing I could ride my bike to, pretty much is a gas station, Del Taco, Iceberg, and Thanksgiving Point.

Now you know where we are, the first exit after the point of the mountain. Across from Cabellas and Traverse Mountain and just a little North of Thanksgiving Point. Only 10 minutes from my in-laws in Draper which is what we needed.

2 1/2 months of searching has paid off to find a nice place. Glad Luke didn't let me settle, but man is he picky!
Pictures will come sometime. But we would love to have you see it for yourselves! Come!

My 2 recent funnies...

1. Gracie took off her diaper on the dance floor at the reception we went to last night. That was our cue to leave!!

2. Tried to open the glass door at the car shop today about 6 times while pushing Gracie in the stroller. Each time I pulled, the wind blew my skirt up in the front--all the way up. So the guy at the counter and I, saw my nice white bloomers each time. I would let go, grab my skirt and the door would slam back shut. Well the last time I tried, I realized that the wind had blown the back of my skirt up as well and I didn't know how long it had been clinging to the hem of my shirt.
Ahh... I wonder how many cars on State Street and 123rd S. saw my whitey tighties too???

I know for sure the guy at Hillside Tire got a full view for a while, because as I thanked him for finally helping me open the door, he didn't have anything to say back. :)

Glad to be alive!

We were sitting at a DEAD STOP on I-15...
on our way to check out a home for rent in American Fork, 1 mile to our exit and...
we got rear-ended by a guy going 60-65 MPH who NEVER put on his breaks.
He pushed us into the car in front of us...
and then we went off into the ravine on the side.
Our seats BENT/BROKE on initial impact (not sure if this is a safety feature or not but I think it saved us from more injuries)... Luke's seat did not crush Gracie's legs behind him, miracle... (and now I know firsthand, the purpose of the latch system in the seats of your car to hook the car seat to, even though they are a pain, they are worth it because it kept Gracie's seat from popping up like this other one did.)
The AIR BAGS deployed on second impact...
and kept us in our seats with help from the seat belts! (I think the airbags broke the windshield.) I will never forget the SMELL of the airbag powder and the powdery SMOKE in the air. It was so scary!
I thought the car was on fire and it was so out of the blue, neither of us saw it coming, that it took me a few seconds as we were going off the side of the road to understand that we got hit. Luke and I were just talking and waiting in the traffic, Gracie was watching a movie on the DVD player, and then... BOOOM! (I will never forget that horrifying sound.)

My PREGNANT BELLY was so TIGHT and my chest seemed like a thousand pounds were sitting on top of it making it impossible to breathe. Luke was YELLING at me, "ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU OKAY?" And I couldn't answer. And then I turned to look at my Gracie girl who had the most SCARED facial expression in the world. And she was screaming and crying!!
I didn't care if I was hurt. I had to pry my bent door open to get out of the car to go get my screaming and crying little girl. She was just shaking and wouldn't calm down.

And to add to her fear, somehow our CAR HORN got triggered in the crash so it was going non-stop till someone helped us disconnect it. There was pieces of cars all over the road.

It turns out the SAAB driver hit us and we hit someone else, then he sideswiped a semi and hit another car into the cement barrier and then himself into the barrier. 4 cars and a semi that all got hit because the SAAB wasn't paying attention, or texting, or on the phone, who knows...

The ambulances and police showed up in a little while and they closed down the freeway and re-routed everyone because traffic was so backed up.

After getting a ride in the ambulance (sweet Gracie didn't want to leave my arms while they inspected me and my 26 WEEK OLD BABY, let alone sit in the car seat to go to the hospital), they checked us all out in the ER, x-rayed Luke's shin and my knee, which were in a lot of pain and determined they were okay.
Gracie went home with Grammy and Papa (so thankful to have them close) and then I sat up on the LABOR AND DELIVERY FLOOR for 4 HOURS while they monitored my baby's heartbeat. They discharged me at 3:00 am and Luke was right there to take me home. Like we even wanted to get in back in the car!

So far this is my longest lasting injury... seatbelt bruise! Glad that is there...
(and to think I previously hated seatbelts! I am an advocate now.)
My knee has hurt for a while, but I am going upstairs normally now! It still kills to touch it.
Gracie bit her tongue in 3 places! (Her mouth was bloody when I got her out of the car, but we are glad it was just from biting her tongue).
Her two small fingers were bruised and a small cut. I am guessing she must have had her hand on the belt or buckles of her car seat. They are partly healed here.
She bruised the underside of her chin too. And now every loud noise has been scaring her and the car horns too. The loud thunder storms and lightning here have not been helping. She has been crying from the thunder and all I can think of is it reminds her of the accident.
Luke's legs took the brunt of the damage. His shin is still hurting him. I am so glad he was with us when this happened. He is our protector, literally! I am so glad none of us got severe injuries.
We are all very sore, but feel very blessed. I am so grateful for our big nice car, that is now TOTALED (bye my favorite 4-runner, who was so good to us and saved our lives).
I am so grateful for airbags and seat belts. I think and hope everything is going to be covered well by the Saab driver's insurance, including my snapped-in-half cell phone, popped out bottom piece lap-top, medical bills, and car coverage. (And we have to get a new car seat now because they said they lose their safety ability after being in wrecks of speeds over 30 mph.)
And don't forget my recent ultra-sound to check for damage to the placenta and decreased fluid. CUTE PICTURE of our safe, and littlest baby girl coming NEXT.

We are so thankful to be able to walk-away from this!! Baby, Gracie, and all.

NOTE to you: PLEASE WEAR YOUR SEATBELT and BUCKLE and HOOK CHILD CAR SEATS correctly. Gracie has always said, "Buckle Mommy!" as I got in the driver's seat way before this accident. Please think of her reminding you to "buckle", you and your child in.

(If you are one who doesn't buckle a child in even for just a quick ride down the street, don't do it anymore! You woud be so sorry if they got hurt. And they would. Trust me, we weren't doing anything wrong or unsafe to get hit Monday night. It just happens! No nursing while driving either, I mean it and I have done it!!)

Finally I am posting again...

Ready to play catch up? It has sure been a whirlwind but there are things I don't want to forget so I have to start somewhere so here goes...

1. Clear back in March my sister Nancy and her husband BJ visited us for Spring Break. This is the only picture I had. We didn't even get one of us, rrr. Nancy was expecting a little girl and now... she has had her. We just went to her blessing last week. And again... no pictures of Star (her little baby) or anyone else together. It was a special and fun day especially now that we live closer. Congrats Nance and BJ. She is gorgeous. Thanks for visiting us in Vegas. I will always remember watching the Village with BJ and hearing him jump 10 feet high and scream like a little girl. And going to the magic show and the helping comedian was the best part with his bowling ball tricks that we screamed on and peanut W&W's (M&M's).2. Gracie will miss her best babysitter so far... Isabel Spaugh!! Every time we came home, Isabel had cleaned the house up, done the dishes, and put away Gracie's toys. It was always better than I left it. And Gracie liked her too. These are photos from when Isabel took her over to her house to play with her little sister Amelia and her mom was the awesome photographer. Thanks Isabel, we will miss you. I love these pics April!
3. In April Luke made pedestal table legs for a gorgeous, perfect table top with a leaf I found in DI for $40.00. We sold our awesome pub table and eight leather chairs to our friends who wanted them before we were planning to move in August. So I sold them to her and was thinking to just buy a cheap small set that would tie us over till we moved. Well, after finding this awesome top, I convinced Luke he could do this wood project for me, we spent about $50 on maple wood and supplies and 24 hours non-stop in the garage to build it. He did an awesome job. It was so sturdy and I was very impressed. We wanted to get it in the house and start using it before staining it, so we did that night about 3 AM. Well we never got around to staining it, didn't get chairs to match yet, and then tried to sell it when we moved suddenly in June. I think people did not want to finish staining it, so we ended up fitting it in the back of our 4-runner to bring home to UT with us. Thank goodness it fit. Retrospectively, I wish that I wouldn't have been so excited about it. I wish I would have thought about the expense of buying chairs separately and how much time I expected of Luke to do it, only to need to sell it later. Once again, a learning project, but I like the table. I painted the legs the Saturday I flew back to Vegas to finish cleaning our house but now it is in storage so you will just have to wait and see it in our next place.
4. We were able to sell our 7-piece King bedroom set and mattress easily before we left. We sure miss our King mattress. Luke can't wait to buy another one and we will miss our set too, but glad we were able to sell it.

5. Gracie misses her buddies because we don't have any kids her age to play with right now. Good thing we have Grammy and Papa.

6. Can't forget the time Gracie fell in the pool. Don't know how, but here is the proof...
7. The night before we moved, my Vegas friends surprised me and took me out to dinner at a place I had prego cravings for, Alfredo sauce and breadsticks and salad at The Olive Garden. It was so kind of them to do that for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the night after I got over the shock of it all. I had 15 minutes to go shower when Luke finally told me what was going on after I had been swimming and just went right to packing after that. I looked horrible. And to top it off, I was pregnant and starving for the dinner that another kind friend had just barely brought, when Luke told me I couldn't eat it and that we were going to the Elder's Quorum BBQ where it was our last night in Vegas, we were essentially gone, and you have to bring your own meat (not frozen duh), and remember I looked horrible. I was so mad that Luke was insistent upon us going to the BBQ and we needed a babysitter too. I was so exasperated that Luke finally told me what was really going on, why i needed to hurry and change. And then in the mad rush, I got all flustered and nervous about the surprise. I shouldn't have been because they are my friends and we proved it that night. We had such a fun time eating and talking (all of us pregnant, not planned together), that the server had to come at 5 minutes to 10:00 to ask us if she could take the salt and pepper shakers. Oh, now I know that is code for get out of here, quite using our table, we are closed. Whoops. Good times! Thanks girls, and thanks Cassidy for arranging it. It was a nice goodbye to our friends in Vegas. And then the next night, all their husbands came to help us pack the truck and took Luke out for Wings at 10 pm. Thanks for being our good friends.More recent catch-up and update to come soon!

Oh BOY! Moving like crazy...

So not only are "we" moving like crazy...
...but this little BOY growing inside me is too.
(YEP a boy, we found out 2 weeks ago at 15 weeks and about 10 seconds into the appt, Luke was not there and I didn't know doc was going to tell me - crazy - so we will see at the official ultrasound if it is 100% true!, once I get a new doctor in UT)

This morning I was laying on my stomach writing a note to Luke in our "love journal", and this boy would not stop moving (he woke me up at 6:30 am). I read yesterday that he now has movable limbs and I guess he just had to prove it. Either he is just way excited to be able to move them, going crazy about the move too, or he just wanted me to stop laying on his head!

Unfortunately, what he doesn't know is that I am going to keep sleeping/laying on my stomach until I can't anymore...

...But then I guess he'll keep getting me back by making me sick and throwing up.
The other day I puked about 4 times in a row - thought I was done, and then puked even stronger- and thoroughly wet my pants all over my kitchen sink rug. Pathetic!

He won the strength contest that day. Hopefully we can strike a truce and he will lay off making me sick and I will feed him more and stop laying on his head! What do you think?

Should I call a truce?
But then this belly that has been trying to show will win too (or I am afraid it already has). We will see at our last day at church today. Not very many people know I am pregnant yet so we will see if he passes the test. OH BOY! We are almost half way...

Monday's SURPRISE...

Surprise...We are moving... (I got Gracie to pose for the first time)
...NEXT WEEK!!!!
Aaaaah! We were up in UT for the weekend for Luke's best friend's wedding and my sister's baby being born and... on Monday night, (we stayed 1 extra day) Luke told me we needed to move to work with his dad on his new business. We had plans to move in August to our own place to be closer to them and help them out, but......we will be moving in with them since the money is not real great yet and then Grammy and Gracie and I can keep each other company while our husbands are going to work like dogs. I think we will move Thursday and then come back in 3 weeks after "Crunch Time" for the business is over and finish cleaning and moving out, and maybe take a little swim break too!

You can see we are all in shock here... (Gracie is not posed! My face will be like this too for a couple of weeks)
...but it will be good to be closer to family, Luke can work with his dad and maybe find something he likes to do better, and we will all be there for Grammy!

Sorry Vegas Friends if this leaves you in shock too. We will miss you terribly! :(

The timing makes sense, so we are doing it. Wish us luck!

Sweet Mother's Day

I loved Mother's Day this year!!!
No guilty, psychological turmoil feelings prompted by excellent Mother's Day Sacrament Mtg. talks like what happened last year and being mad that Luke got me a gift and card to celebrate me being something I am not doing good at.
And I am glad.

Mother's Day is a holiday even though no one gets off work for it. Not even mother's take the day off. But I am good with this because it is the one day of the year when you are more purposefully appreciated and celebrated for the actions that you do all the other days too. But this day it is more fun to do them because you are so GLAD you get to!

I love being a mother and having Gracie love me the way a child loves their mother. Even if they are making mistakes, or don't sing songs on tune, or accidently pinch their leg during a diaper change, or whatever, I love that she and I have an unexplainable connection. I think it is unconditional Christ-like love. If only we could all learn to love each other and our spouses that way naturally, all the time. I guess that would be Charity!

I am thankful for my Mother Heidi ALWAYS and my Mother-in-Law Lenna for the mothering they have done for me and Luke. I will never stop appreciating them and thinking about them no matter what the future brings. And I hope to be able to learn more from them no matter what the future brings. They are so kind.

Luke made such a wonderful Mother's Day for me. We made the best breakfast together by combining our Dad's secret breakfast tricks. Hashbrowns, peppers, and onions in butter patiently cooked like my dad's. Then Luke added the still-runny scrambled eggs and fried ham (we didn't have bacon) at the very end to make it his Dad's "Mountain-Man Breakfast".
The only bad thing about it was that it was so good we barely missed the Sacrament at church. I had a very awesome, fun and spiritual lesson with my Sunbeams. Then we came home and I received one of the best cards Luke has ever given me. (He made it while he substituted in the church library so I got to see his mad Origami folding skills combined with the perfect blend of funny and spiritual writing from the heart.) I LOVED IT!! I did my thing while Gracie and Luke took a nap. Then we ate the best Turkey Croissant Sandwiches and made Caramel Popcorn and drank Root Beer. We were then surprised by our good friends who also wanted to get out of the house and have some company!
A very sweet Mother's Day to remember!