Spring Break in Houston

A few months ago, we discovered that Pete and his brother, Brian (in medical school in Houston) had overlapping spring breaks! We were able to find some cheap flights and decided it would be super fun to go visit Brian and Ashley. It was sad that Ash wasn't on Spring Break too, but I was so glad she spent as much time with us as she could amidst the busy-ness of nursing school. It was so fun to be with family, and Brian and Ash were excellent hosts! They let us sleep in their bed, gave us cool Texas T-shirts, and had a never ending supply of fun activity ideas and yummy food plans. They also made arrangements to have a high chair and pack-n-play for Ems which made the visit go very smoothly. We had such a great time with them and I really hope we can see them again soon!

Our adventures included:

A trip to College Station to have dinner with Aunt Kath. Pete and I hadn't seen her since we got married, so it was great to visit her. She fed us Deee-licious food and gave us a tour of her little bakery. Anyone who knows Aunt Kath knows that she makes amazing food. She sent us home with leftover dinner and her famous cinnamon rolls.

Me, Aunt Kath, Ems, and Pete standing outside the bakery: "Mrs. T's Big Buns" :)

I love this face of Em's...her mom makes her eat squash...life's rough.

RODEO! We had so much fun watching mutton bustin', sharing delicious barbecue/Mexican/everything fried, and my favorite---the petting zoo. Emery was so excited to see and touch all the different animals

Between the 4 of us, we sampled a lot of fried goodness: fried red velvet cake, fried cookie dough, fried oreos, and fried snickers (the best!)

All of us, watching mutton bustin'

Pete's dream car ;)

Eating yummy barbecue with my cute husband :)

Can you see her "excited hands" in the upper left corner? She flexes her arms, clenches her fists, and shakes when she gets reeeeally giddy :)

Strawberry Picking. We went to a U-Pick Strawberry Farm and picked strawberries to make homemade jam with. We may or may not have also tried a fried pie made with fresh peaches. And it may or may not have made my life complete. Mmmm.

Emery especially loved strawberry picking. From the pictures, you can easily see her transformation: cautious, curious, ecstatic, and...a big mess :)

On our last night in Texas, we put Emery to sleep and hung out at home chatting and playing Jenga! We had so much fun and came home missing Brian and Ashley. Hope to see you guys again soon!

Two Seven

I don’t remember how I happened upon this song, but I've loved it ever since. It reminds me of my sweet Peter and my little Emery. At the same time. Kind of weird, but whatever. 

Anyway...speaking of Peter...today is his 27th birthday! His birthday parties have a history in our marriage of being pretty lame. I’ve usually exhausted all my gift ideas and given him all his favorite treats for Christmas, so once January 8^th rolls around, there just isn’t a lot of life left in our celebration. I keep telling him we should celebrate his half birthday, in July; that way I’d have 6 months to think of fun ideas.

Anyhow, this year, like most years, was pretty low key. We had a couple friends over for dinner, apple crisp, and ice cream. Pete’s back to school again tomorrow morning, so it is kind of nice to have this last day of celebration before he hits the books again.

Pete was really worried about the candles melting and getting wax in his beloved apple crisp...so into the ice cream carton they went.  (I believe Emery is practicing opening wide for the day she goes to the dentist)

Eating with our friends, ChrisP and Dan-Ness (those are Pete's nicknames for them, anyway). They are currently wife-less as their other halves are still in Utah for a few more days.

blowing out our creative "27" candles

Happy Birthday Peter! Hope your 27^th year is as wonderful as you are! 

that's REALLY wonderful...in case you were wondering :)

Christmas Countdown {student style}

One of my favorite Christmas activities was a "12 days of Christmas" countdown that my family did for Pete and I one year. They gave us a big box full of small gifts with numbers on them and each day we got to open one of the presents. The gifts were so cute and creative, correlating well with the days of the week. For example, on Friday night we got popcorn and a movie, on Monday night we opened a talk from a General Authority and packets of hot chocolate (for FHE). It really made that childhood "magic" of Christmas come back into my somewhat adult life and ever since that Christmas, Pete and I have wanted to do it for someone else. When my friend Marie (who's hubby is in school with mine) told me about a similar idea she was doing for her husband--- a "4 Days of Finals" countdown---I couldn't help but catch the countdown bug and copy her :) 

This week was finals week, so each day for four days, I put a little gift/treat on Pete's desk...sometimes it would be there when he woke up in the morning, sometimes it made its appearance in the middle of the day...I had to keep him on his toes, ya know? All in all, it was super fun for me to surprise Pete with some of his favorite treats, and I hope it was a nice boost for him during a tough week.

Chocolate Rules

The other day I went to the store to pick up one item. I came home with a plethora of sweets ingredients, including semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. This is unlike me, and we usually don't keep these things stocked up. But I got sick of craving cookies or brownies and having nothing to make them with.

When I got home, I strategically placed the chocolate chips away where they wouldn't be in plain sight. Being an oldest child and naturally a bit bossy, I told Pete in a serious tone: "Okay, Peter, now the rule about all these chocolate chips is that they can only be used in recipes. No snacking on them." Pete didn't skip a beat before replying, "I'm going to hold you to that." And then we laughed, because we both know that out of the two of us, I would be the first one to bust open the chocolate chips solely for the purpose of popping them straight into my mouth.

Fast-forward a few weeks to right now, when you can find the package of half-eaten semi-sweet chocolate chips sitting on Pete's nightstand, and the half-eaten package of milk chocolate chips sitting on my nightstand. Although Pete was the first one to start snacking on the chocolate (claiming he "forgot" the rule...which he actually probably did), I quickly followed suit. I'm not sure how it started, but sometimes at night when Emery's gone to sleep, we each pour a little cup of our preferred chocolate chips and sit in bed, reading together. 

And the only reason I'm not upset with myself for being undisciplined is I believe eating chocolate while reading to be one of life's supernal pleasures.

I guess I need to come up with a different plan for keeping chocolate chips on hand.

Emery Laughs

Thanks to Pete and his push-ups, we finally caught some of Emery's laughing action on video.

On Monday we get to celebrate three wonderful years of marriage

 as well as five challenging, amazing, sleep-deprived, awe-filled, and ultimately beautiful months of Emery.

Oh how we love this little girl! 

Three Dads

I'm late.
But better late than never.
Here's a little tribute to three dads in my life:

My dad...

Growing up, I was definitely a daddy's girl. Making popcorn together, camping, fishing, playing games...these are all good memories I have with my dad. He has always encouraged me, pushed me to do my best, and supported me in my endeavors--even when it wasn't convenient for him. If I could I would buy him boats, 4-wheelers, pick-up trucks...all the things he would probably be able to buy for himself if he hadn't decided to have 6 kids instead :) Thanks for the sacrifices you make for our family! Thanks for your teaching and your example that I continue to enjoy today.


My hubby... 

Watching Pete become a father has been such a wonderful thing. From the moment our little Emery was born, I feel as though a new happiness, a new light entered his eyes. I recall a doctor or nurse (can't remember which...I was heftily drugged at the time) at Emery's delivery remark how happy and excited Pete was when Ems was born. While being parents is challenging, I can see how the sacrifices and time that Pete gives to Emery only makes him love our daughter more. He is always reminding me what a sweet spirit she has and how special she is. I love how he helps me maintain this perspective through difficult times.


My father-in-law...

"Gramps" with Emery (don't mind her showin' off her tummy) :)

His gentle, spiritual nature is something I admire and wish I possessed. He is always checking up on how I'm doing, encouraging me in the things I do, even calling me during difficult times or to congratulate me on things like graduating from college (and this is no small feat considering he has 11 kids of his own to keep him busy). From the time Pete and I were dating, my father-in-law has made me feel so welcome in the Hoyt family. I am  inspired by his optimism and his ability to love everyone.

Oh how I love these three men! 

My life is so enriched by them.

Silly Husband...

Here's what I came home to last night. 

("Bride" is the current nickname I'm called by the husband).

The stats from yesterday's appointment: 

1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, baby at -1 station.

Better than nothing :)

I love how the midwife says 

"We'll see you next week, if you're still pregnant then!"

Trust me. I think I will be. For a while still.

To end on a positive note: 

we finally bought a car seat yesterday!

Happy 26th Birthday Peter!

A couple days ago, I said to Pete: "What if our baby girl looks like you?"
His response was a horrified noise that sounded something like "Behhhhh."
I think he must have been picturing a baby girl with a scruffy beard or something---clearly, he wasn't thinking of how cute he was as a tiny little one:

One of the things I like most about Peter is simply that he’s kind. He has true compassion for others and a caring nature devoid of guile. In the two-and-a-half years we’ve been married, I am overwhelmed by how much love he shows me in small, everyday actions and how much I have to learn from him.

If my life were a movie, the only parts worth watching twice would be the parts Pete’s in. Once he comes onto the screen for the first time, the narrator would say (cheesy) things like:

“And then she met Peter.”

“They had so much fun doing absolutely nothing.”

“They married young and then grew up together.”

“She didn’t know life could be so good…and then it just kept getting better.”

I love Pete because our hearts our similar. I love him because he’s different, he’s weird, and he’s funny in a way that makes me laugh every day. I'm so excited for the wonderful things that are ahead of him in life (fatherhood, Physical Therapy school, continuing to be an awesome husband, etc.) and to see the way he continues to use and develop his talents.

On Pete's birthday, I also tend to think of his wonderful mother (after all, she's the one who gave birth to him!). I am so grateful for the way Pete was raised. I know much of his character and much of what I love about him is attributable to his wonderful mother and father and I love them too!

Happy 26th Birthday Peter!!

Thanks for making my life beautiful :)

The Fate of the Chalkboard Paint and Other Unfortunate Events…

A storage bin, a stomach virus, and a drive to the gym. So began three separate events that have incurred some high costs over the past month.

First, the ever-growing-weightier storage bin full of craft items suffered an acute 10 foot fall during an attempt to place it high on the shelf in our bedroom. Unfortunately, the only casualty was a pint of black chalkboard paint. Despite our best cleaning efforts, we now have a 10-inch diameter, deep black stain on our bedroom carpet. Not sure how our landlord is going to feel about that…but I have a feeling we can kiss our $500 security deposit goodbye.

Secondly, due to some forceful vomiting, intense stomach pain, and advice from the doc in the family, we went to the Emergency Room on a Sunday night and incited $3000+ in total expenses. Good thing we have health insurance and will be paying substantially less than that! (and good thing the Dilaudid made it all worth it).

Third, while our own vehicle sustained minimal damage, making a too sharp turn in our underground parking garage didn’t fare so well for our good neighbor’s car. A patch of paintless metal and some rubber from our tire are what now remain on the once shiny silver corner of said neighbor's bumper. We’ve offered money and free carpet cleaning so far…we’ll see how that one pans out.

Now before you think “Well, this really isn’t too much to expect from Steph,”
I’ll let you in on a little secret:
Pete sent the craft bin crashing to the ground,
Pete was the happy recipient of the dilaudid in the ER, and
Pete ran into our neighbor's car.

Surprised?
Me too.
Because Pete's stressing enough for the both of us, I simply refuse to.

Life is good :)

Fall is here

I always think Summer is my favorite season…until Fall comes along. The colors in Utah are beautiful! Pete and I went on a Sunday walk in the canyon a week ago. I collected some leaves with which to do something crafty (or just scatter around the house for fun:), and we took some pictures:

Intramural Champ :)

I came to one of Pete's first games this Spring and spent the majority of my time sneezing and inwardly screaming at my immune system to "chill out! It's just grass!" I hate allergies. Suffice it to say I was not seen at the rest of those games there in the middle of the season. When it got to his last couple games--for the championship, I really wanted to go watch, so me and my over-reactive immune system prepared with Claritin, heavy-duty nasal spray, and even eye drops.

I'm glad I came because it was a really fun two games to watch (and this is coming from a girl who usually thinks baseball is pretty boring). They lost in a really close first game to the team "Pink Destruction" (now doesn't that sound intimidating?) and then had to play another one against them again for the win. The second time they really played well, securing the championship with a final score of 10-3. Peter has been playing with this softball team for 2 or 3 seasons--the team is mostly made up of friends from the ward he was in when we were dating. He had tons of fun playing with these guys and it looks like the summer season of softball intramurals are just around the corner (I guess I'll be stocking up on allergy meds).