Babies are a blessing!

Well, so much has happened since my last post.  The little baby girl in my belly arrived, about a week late.  I had to be induced. 

Sunday morning I went into Ruby Memorial Hospital and by 4:56 am on June 10th our sweet Lucy Snow was born!

It was about 20 hours of labor.  Johnny and I got to watch several matches of the French Open and I ate A LOT of Jell-O.   Our little Lucy was 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long.  It took a while to come up with the name, but in the end John let me choose.  He is still very determined to name one of our daughters Alaska.

John was there the whole way and is actually on OB/GYN rotation now. 

I was overwhelmed with relief and joy and see our precious girl, especially because I was on oxygen right at the very end when her heart rate kept dropping.  Labor is a very tiring process as most mothers know, but definitely worth the end result.                                                                                             

   

John's parents arrived June 3rd, thinking Lucy would have already arrived.  Luckily, they were able to see her before heading off to L'viv, Ukraine to head up a new mission. 

She looked so much like John as a newborn.  Marmee said several people made the mistake of thinking Johnny was a girl.  She has grown so fast, now at two months she is looking more and more like a Squires (at least to me)

newborn photo

8 weeks

The first couple weeks of being a mother were challenging.  But, once Lucy and I got on a schedule life got a whole lot easier.  I love how each little body is sent to earth with a unique Spirit and everyday I discover a little bit more about Lucy's personality.

We had the wonderful opportunity to bless Lucy this past weekend on August 11th.  Johnny's four best friends traveled to Morgantown for the blessing.  Saturday was full of running, playing tennis, the driving range and floating at Cheat lake.  We topped off the day with a large meal at Morgantown Brewing Company.

Sunday was perfect.  I dressed Lucy in the same blessing dress I was blessed in 27 years earlier.  Marmee gave her perfect blessing shoes and Gena gave her a blessing bracelet.  Lucy was all dolled up for her big day.  It was a very special moment.

Mike Lemon, John Hill, Johnny, Taylor Jones, Mike Barber

I am excited to start this new chapter of our life as parents.  So far Johnny and I have been paranoid

just about every little thing.  Lucy is a very adventurous little girl and goes with us just about everywhere.  From hiking to running to camping to the Mon County Fair.  Johnny is just starting his third year of med school so we have two years left in Morgantown and so many more places to take Lulu!

The last few months...

Where to start....sorry it has been a while.  I am almost 34 weeks pregnant.  Johnny and I can't believe we are so close to becoming parents.  We are feeling very excited and slightly nervous.  Currently, we are having a difficult time deciding on names, but we do have six weeks to figure it out:)
To pass the time while Johnny is diligently studying, I have been taking a cake decorating class.

We started with decorating cookies and slowly moved up to cakes.  I chose to put a hamburger on one of my cakes which my teacher thought funny.  I can't wait until our little girl is here to make her birthday cakes.

Our ward here in Morgantown is extremely fun!  We get together quite often because few of us has family out east.  Our last event was an 80's dance party.  We all learned the 'Footloose' dance and performed it.  And of course dressed up 80's!  I had most of my attire except for the crimper, I had to borrow that from a co-worker.  John successfully cut off a pair of jeans and wore his favorite hooded shirt.

Lastly, my amazing husband is finishing up his second year of medical school.
At the end of second year WVU does a 'white coat ceremony.'   It entails several professional speakers, robing the med students in their white coats, and a delicious luncheon.  It is a ceremony to celebrate moving on from class to the clinical portion of becoming a doctor.  Johnny has a couple more tests during his second year, but will be moving onto rotations in the hospital. 

I am so glad to be married to my Johnny!  He is going to be an excellent doctor.  He has really good med school friends as well.

Danny and John

Brock and John

Rita's Water Ice and more...

Well if you didn't already know I have a big love of ice cream.  There is a new ice cream place which has recently opened here in Morgantown called Rita's.  They make a delicious concoction called a gelati.  It is composed of three layers-custard, smoothie, custard.  It is honestly one of the most satisfying tastes to my taste buds.  With the grand opening they gave away one free Rita's, a week, for an entire year.  Therefore, my friend Summer and I arrived at Rita's, located inside a gas station, at 7am to wait for the 10am opening.   Around 9am we were joined by our friends Mollie and Havalah.  They were numbers 9 and 10 in line.  Summer and I realized quit quickly we didn't need to arrive quite so early, but had a great time talking and entertaining ourselves.

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A much more exciting note, John's parents were called as mission Presidents for a brand new mission in L'viv, Ukraine.  It is located on the western part of Ukraine right next to Poland and the language is Ukrainian.  We are so excited for their upcoming adventure. 
I am about 28 weeks into my pregnancy!  Johnny and I are so excited to meet this little girl and are still having a very difficult time picking out a name, but luckily we still have a little time to decide.

Snow, snow, snow

We made our semi-annual trip out to Utah.  I had the good fortune of getting about 2 weeks off of work and Johnny had a good three weeks off of school, so we were able to have a lovely visit with the family. 
John was overwhelmingly excited because of the large amounts of snow falling in the Salt Lake Valley.  The day after we arrived he was doing some back-country skiing with his brothers.  I spent the day with the Squires girls-making cookies and shopping for maternity clothes.  Saturday, I had breakfast with high school friends then headed down with Pete and Gena to our old stomping grounds in Provo.  Gena had planned a night of fun snow-shoeing, eating good food, playing the Christmas chimes and ping-pong at Aspen Grove.  Sadly, that same day Grammy Lattin passed away.  We had the good fortune to be able to attend a lovely funeral for her while in Utah.  I must admit, I have only ever attended two funerals in my lifetime.  The first one was of my Grandma Mack (my mothers mom).  Grammy's funeral was just how I pictured a funeral being.  It was full of family, full of love, and full of sweet memories regarding a wonderful person.  It is amazing the legacy she is leaving behind full of son's, a daughter, grandson's, granddaughter's, and many more to come, mostly named Dave, Dan or John:)

Marmee and I

James and Lindsey

Baby Jackson and I

Christmas Eve day was spent with my family.  We played tennis, ate a large breakfast and spent quality time together.  That evening we enjoyed a scrumptious Christmas Eve dinner and talked about the meaning Christ birth.  Christmas morning was spent with James, Lindsey, Mary, Aubrey, David, Gena, Pete, Aiden, Jackson, Marmee and Papa.  That afternoon we took a quick cross-country ski trip to a park close to Marmee and Papa's.  The weather was a sunny winter wonderland.  The baby kept fluttering about, so I am convinced the baby is going to love to ski.

Christmas afternoon, John and I made our way over to the Squires home.  Mom had prepared a flurry of food from delicious Honey-baked turkey to her famous candied carrots.  Dad was the Christmas elf and handed out all sorts of good gifts.  Dave gave me a new climbing harness and Sarah gave Johnny some new ski bindings.  I had been sewing a baby quilt for Sarah.  It will be perfect for the arrival of baby Ester in March.

 I had some quality time with my little nephew Kent, who is obsessed with balls and trains at the moment.

Kent and I

Pregnant sisters

I received plenty of useful
pregnancy advice from my sister Sarah.  She is about 11 weeks ahead of me and always trying to help.

After the gifts and a delicious lunch, games were next on the agenda. 




It is so great to live in wild and wonderful West Virginia because when I come home to Utah and get to see family, they really mean so much more to me.  Each time I come home, I just realize how much quality time and uplifting conversations matter to me. 

John and I had a lovely visit with friends as well.  And of course things were not complete without a family snowshoe day up Guardsman Pass.  Again, I think the baby loves the snow.  Each time I skied, walked, or played in the snow, the baby became very excited.

A highlight of my trip was a surprise baby shower by the Lattin ladies.  I was anticipating an afternoon of crafts, headed by Gena, but when I arrived at the clubhouse balloons and baby gifts greeted me.  I received several useful items and advice on what it is going to be like as a mother.  I am excited to meet this little one.  The connection I have felt to his/her sweet Spirit is overwhelming.  Johnny and I can't wait to find out the sex on Wednesday!  Anyways, Utah was a needed break from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives in West Virginia.  I am so grateful for the my beautiful family and the many memorable experiences we had to end the year 2012.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Cena Family-John, me Sophia, Lilliana, Ashley, Alfonzo, Emma

This year for Thanksgiving, Johnny and I decided to stay in Morgantown and not venture down to the North Carolina beach like last year.  In the morning, I went running and John played ward football.  The day was so beautiful, we decided to play a little singles tennis prior to our Thanksgiving feast.  Our wonderful friends the Cena's invited us over, along with a few other families.  The food was outstanding and there was plenty of it.  I think my favorite had to be the artichoke dip with cheese...I could not stop eating it.  The pumpkin pie, of course was divine, as was the turkey.

Friday afternoon we took a short trip to Washington DC.  We were both wanting to attend the temple and did.  We then turned John's subaru into a 'luxurious' place to sleep:)  We had previously removed the mattress off of our futon and put down the seats to create quite a large sleeping space.  Johnny had then put together a delicious dinner of turkey sandwiches, vegetables, and fruit.  We ate a 'picnic' dinner then got ready for bed and watched Home Alone on the laptop.  We parked in the neighborhood surrounding the temple and actually had a beautiful view of the temple.  It was so cold, the windows fogged up fast enough, so no one would notice two people watching a movie in the back of the car.  Overall, it was quite an adventure!

outside National Cathedral

Saturday morning we met up with our friend Mike Barber and went to Arlington Cemetery.  I learned that a descendent of George Washington married Robert E. Lee, the famous general in the Confederate Army.  Arlington Cemetery had a somber feel and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was fascinating.  I was starving, so we headed to a restaurant I had been craving for months- Cafe Rio.  After that, we went to the National Cathedral and were able to see a great view of DC from the top.  Our trip would not be complete without going to National Botanical Gardens.  The giant greenhouse had plants of every species and smelled amazing.  I felt like I was a character in the movie 'Jumanji' when the entire house is over-run with plant life.  Overall, it was a successful trip and always good to meet up with old friends.

John trying to blend in with his surroundings

'No shave November' both trying to grow beards

Parents come to visit!

My lovely parents came to visit us on Halloween.  It may have not been the best timing because hurricane Sandy had just hit New York a couple days before and the aftermath in West Virginia was severe cold and snow.  I was hoping the beautiful east coast fall would still be around, but hurricane Sandy blew away any remaining autumn color.  However, we still found many fun things to do.
Halloween night we all went to dinner, then Johnny had to study so I stayed up until around 2am just chatting with my parents.
Thursday morning we headed to OhioPyle National Park.  We were probably the only people up there, but we still went on a hike in the heavy rainfall, and ate at the most delicious little sandwich shop.  That afternoon, we had Johnny show my parents around the WVU facilities, including the hospital. 
My dad had a dental conference Friday morning, so mom and I got to go shopping.  I took her to the infamous Gabe's, which is a bargain...you just have to look kind of hard.  We then had a lovely lunch of talking and eating the most delicious french fries at Chiles.  In the afternoon, Johnny had finished his tests and my dad's conference was over.  We then visiting a Morgantown local restaurant and ate the infamous pizza known as 'Fire on the Mountain-' IT WAS AMAZING!
Saturday we ate a good breakfast.  Johnny and my dad went golfing (both were wearing parkas and gloves.)  Then we showed them what Morgantown is all about by taking them to a WVU football game.

Sadly, the Mountaineers lost by one, but it made for a good game.  It was extremely cold, but we were surrounded by so many 'spirited' fans it didn't seem that cold.  The traffic was crazy so we decided just to walk up the street from our apartment to Applebees. 

Sunday was church and a historical visit to Friendship Hill.  We toured the old house and then went on a short hike on one of the many trails surrounding the house, due to the extreme cold.  My parents left that evening.  I love when people come to visit!