1st Anniversary Weekend!

Time goes so fast! Our one year anniversary seriously snuck up on me.  With everything with my dad still wrapping up, Brandon going to a new crew, and being very pregnant, I lost track of time! We found ourselves on Thursday trying to brainstorm what we were going to do for our first anniversary.  I had an appointment Friday in Greeley so we decided to stay in Boulder Friday night and get a head start on getting up to the mountains early Saturday.  We looked for a hotels a bit online but decided we would just wing it and stay wherever we could find.  It turned out really fun and perfect!

Friday Afternoon I had an ultrasound because Bashlyn is measuring small.  My stomach is measuring anywhere from 2-3 weeks behind so they wanted to do an ultrasound to get a better idea of how much she weighs and her development.  I didn't really think anything of it, I thought "oh its going to be so fun to see our baby girl".  The ultrasound turned out way more stressful than both Brandon and I had anticipated.  She is only weighing 5 pounds 7 ounces at 37 weeks.  They measured her legs, stomach, ect and she is only in the 17th percentile.  They said if she goes into the 15th percentile that is when things could get really concerning.   They are worried she is not getting enough calories.  I've gained 30 pounds so I am on the right track for weight gain.  They had me do a NST (non stress test) to see how her heart rate is over a long period of time and how she reacts to any contractions I am having. I only had one in 20 minutes and didn't even feel it.  After looking at the NST results the midwife said she is doing really well and they think she just may be SGA (small for gestational age) They don't feel like there is a chance for underdevelopment at this point because she NST results were so good but they may do another ultrasound this week at 38 weeks to see if she's gained any weight.  I am banned from doing any 4+ mile walks anymore :( I said "ok so I should only do 2" and my midwife goes how about half a mile…..dang it! I am going to blow up, but whatever I can to do fatten my baby girl up!

After getting to see our precious baby girls sweet face and calming down after a stressful and confusing ultrasound we headed to Golden.  It is a really cute little town.  We walked through the street fair, had ice cream and watched some of the street performers.   We decided to just grab a cheap room since we didn't even get to the room til after 10 and would be leaving really early. We ended up staying at a motel 6 Friday night, worst decision ever! Brandon seriously brought his brass knuckles into the room with us! Oh man I didn't sleep much that night and we decided our "motel" days are O-V-E-R!!

Saturday we got up early, got Santiagos breakfast burritos and headed up to the mountains.  What a beautiful drive! It was so fun just chatting with my best friend the whole drive, listening to tunes on the radio and talking about the last year.  I am so lucky to be married to my best friend! We got to Silverthorne, drove through the little town a bit and then didn't want to waste any time and went straight to Breckenridge.  What an incredible little town.  It was so cute, shops, restaurants, people everywhere! We walked through the downtown area, went through an art festival and just took in the sights.  Then we decided to go  up the gondola to the mountain.  It was free so that was a nice surprise! We rode the gondola up to the base of Breckenridge.  They had all these family friendly events going on and all their restaurants and bars were open.  After checking out the sights there we headed back to Frisco, Co to find a room.  We stayed at the Ramada and it was fantastic! Beautiful mountain views! We relaxed a bit and then got ready for dinner.  We were going to go to Copper for dinner but when we got there it was raining and you had to walk everywhere.  We decided to go to Vail since we we were only 20 minutes away! Another breathtaking town! We drove through the little town, gasping at all the huge houses the size of hotels! We parked and went to go find some dinner.  It was raining but luckily I had two umbrellas in my car.  One was broken though and apparently when you are in Vail the cool thing to do is to have HUGE umbrellas, not dollar store broken ones, haha! We felt a little out of place but thats ok! We talked to a local that said we HAD to try this pizza place.  We love pizza so we were game.  It was really good and just a cute little place.  One guy goes "when is that baby coming?" and I said 19 days and he goes "wow don't pop in here" Our waitress said I was one of the most beautiful pregnant women she had ever seen, that was a very nice compliment because as I was leaving I had to turn to get between two chairs and I heard a girl go "wow she's just so big" haha gotta love comments from strangers :)

On the gondola :)

Vail! in the rain, but still beautiful!

Sunday, our actual anniversary, we slept in a bit, relaxed and then I was able to convince Brandon to take me to some outlets in Silverthorne :) It was super fun, although we did more shopping for Bashlyn then either of us :) We went to lunch at this delicious restaurant called "The Lost Cajun".  Its a guy that owns it from LA, him and his wife came out here and opened their first restaurant.  Now they have 3 locations and just sold their first franchise.  The owner was there when we were eating and he was a very nice man.  The food was delicious.  I got the chicken and sausage gumbo, Brandon the red beans and rice and we of course shared. We both got sweet tea and beignets and of course Brandon had cafe au lait.  It was such a fun lunch and we talked about all our fun memories of going to NOLA :) We headed back home and then got caught in the dreaded Denver traffic.  It took us hours to get back to Denver, it was tiring and frustrating but we made it.  A quick trip to Costco for fruit and lunchmeat and we were on our way home.  We got home about 8:30, unloaded the groceries and then had some "italian cream cake" ice cream.

For a last minute trip it was such a great weekend! It was so fun exploring these new places and just getting to spend a whole weekend with my husband.

Manitou Incline

On Sunday Brandon and I decided to go to Colorado Springs and check out a few places we had heard awesome things about.  We wanted to go to "Garden of the Gods" and see all the beautiful red rocks and we wanted to go to Manitou Springs and check out "the stairs" and the springs all over town.  We planned on it being a pretty laid back day and didn't even leave Sterling until about 8:45 or so.  It was about 3 hours to get there but we didn't think anything of it cause we were in no rush, just excited to get out of Sterling and do something we had been wanting to do for awhile.

We got to Garden of the Gods and it was breathtaking! It was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen.  Nothing like the lush green trees, bright red rocks and beautiful blue skies! We drove through the park but we didn't stop and take pictures cause we figured we would do it on the way back, it was really busy at the time we drove through.  I am bummed we didn't get pictures but we'll go back and get some, maybe with Bash! :) 

We continued on to Manitou Springs and had lunch at Hell's Kitchen Pizza.  It was delicious! Then we walked through the little downtown area and found a couple of the "springs".  Its so cool there are 11 springs throughout the town and you can just fill up your water bottle.  They all taste a little different.  Its naturally carbonated water, not the best tasting but hey I had to try it, Brandon was NOT a fan! haha :)

Then we decided "lets go find these stairs everyone talks about" We went to this parking lot where there were tons of people, we saw a trail and we just figured that trail must go to the base of the stairs.  As we started on the trail I asked Brandon "are these the stairs" and he goes "these are the stairs to the stairs".  (You could see the stairs from anywhere in town, they go straight up the mountain and you CAN'T miss them) So we just figured we would take this trail and it would connect us to the bottom of the stairs.  We walked for about 20 minutes or so and didn't see the stairs in sight but we thought they had to be just around the corner.  An hour went by and we still hadn't seen the stairs but we were still walking.  By this point everyone that passed us coming down the trail or going up said "Oh wow you are pregnant" "Oh now I feel like a whimp, look at you doing this pregnant" "You are my hero" and my favorite…" trying to induce huh" haha oh man we HAD to of looked like a bunch of outcasts.  We were the only ones in street clothes and FLIP FLOPS! But we carried on because now we thought, ok we are an hour into this we HAVE to be close! Another half hour went by and finally I asked someone if this trail led to the stairs and she said "oh yeah about 15 more minutes and you'll be there" SWEET, we felt so relieved, 15 minutes away, at least it wouldn't all be for nothing!!  A couple passed us and goes "theres a huge storm coming in, be careful!"  Then it started to storm, like crazy! Thunder as loud as you can imagine and lightening in the mountains all around us.  Brandon started to get nervous because he was worried about my core body temperature dropping.  I told him I was actually really hot and would enjoy the rain to cool me off.  We came across the FIRST sign on the whole trail that said the TOP of the stairs were 1/2 mile away.  haha oh my gosh all we were looking for were the bottom of the stairs the whole time and now we were a 1/2 mile from the top! Well 30 minutes later (probably would have been 15 minutes for a non pregnant lady) we found the top of the stairs!!!   The view from the top was breathtaking!!

My Handsome Hubby! You could see this exact spot from the stairs!! 

34 Weeks 3 days!! 

We were level with this mountain peak! 

The top!! With the rain all around us :) 

So happy to see the top of the stairs!! That trail as far as you can see down is the stairs!!

We had to make the decision to go back down the trail we came up (which took us 2 hours) or go down the stairs that went STRAIGHT down the mountain.  We decided to do the stairs because at least we could see how far we had left to go, where as on the trail we had no clue.  It was pouring rain which made the stairs even more slick but we just took it one stair at a time and went very slowly.  Brandon kept saying "be careful, take your time, plant your foot every time" and I was saying the same to him! "You can't get hurt!!!" It was so crazy, there was rusted culverts, rebar and mangled up stuff all over the trail.  We took it super slow and made it down in about an hour! It was so awesome to see so many people coming UP the stairs despite of the rain.  It was by far one of the funnest hikes I have ever done! I would love to do it not pregnant, and in hiking shoes, not flip flops but oh well nothing we could do about it at the time.

crazy hiking trail!! 

Soaking Wet! 

When we got to the bottom of the stairs there was a sign that said "Caution this is an EXTREME hike, consult your physician before starting this hike" Yeah I am sure my physician would have said "noway!".  Now I would have never signed up for this knowing how huge of a hike it was but now that I have done it I have to say I am pretty darn proud of myself.  I am almost 35 weeks pregnant, I have gained 27 pounds, weighing the most I have ever weighed in my life.  I hiked 5+ miles on a grade as steep as 68% in some places and an elevation change of over 2,000 feet! My calf muscles are sore today and my shins feel like I started track training again but it feels good to be sore.  I am excited to get back into a healthy lifestyle once Bashlyn is here and create these memories as a family! I can't wait to go back with her someday!! I haven't had any contractions or Braxton Hicks contractions so no need to worry, Bashlyn is moving around a lot and still getting the hiccups like crazy several times a day so everything is good here! :)

"Caution this is an EXTREME Hike"

We made it!! 

Getting through the first storm….

As most of you know when a storm hits a particular area linemen from all over the country go in to help restore the power.  When its a bad enough storm linemen from coast to coast come in! When Sandy hit there were guys that drove for days from California to get there to help restore power to the East coast.  Brandon has always wanted to do storm, and I have always been supportive.  Being in the apprenticeship there is less a chance of him going to storm because his crew has to go, he can't just decide he wants to go on his own.  So we were not too sure if he would get any storm work while in the apprenticeship or not.  Well sure enough he got the call to go to storm in Minneapolis and it could not have came at a worse time.

I went home June 3rd-12th.  I got home on Wednesday the 12th and Brandon was working 12s Thursday and Friday.  Then he had class all day Saturday and Sunday and he was back to working 12s the next week.  He even had to work Saturday too but we were hoping he would be off of work by noon.  He called me about 10 am and told me he was getting sent to storm in Minneapolis.  We hadn't even heard of any storms there but there was about 600 thousand out of power due to some terrible wind and thunder storms that had rolled through.  He said he was only going to be gone until Tuesday or Wednesday and then he would be home.  He said they had to leave by 12:40.  I started packing his storm bag with every work shirt, carharts, socks and underwear he had.  I ran to the store and got him some snacks for the long drive.  I raced home and got to talk to him for 15 minutes while he showered and then with a kiss he was gone.  I was so sad but honestly I was still numb at this point.

Friday night Brandon and I were outside and I was watching him while he was putting his steps on his truck and I got a phone call.  I got a phone call that my dad had been in a car accident that afternoon and passed away.  I was shocked and stunned.  I didn't know what I was supposed to do.  Brandon and I sat out on our picnic table as I talked on the phone and he talked on the phone with the Idaho State Police.  As I was on the phone with them the coolest thing happened.  I looked up and the most beautiful deer you had ever seen walked right up to our fence, stopped and looked right at us.  The sun was setting and it was so beautiful, it is a memory I will cherish forever.  I know that was my dad just saying "hey I'm ok and I love you".  My dad was the biggest animal lover I have ever known and I know without a doubt that was him.  We had never seen a deer here, we are on the prairie and I doubt we will see one ever again.

The next few days I was attached to my phone for 8 hours a day.  Making arrangements, getting information, letting family and friends know.  It was some of the longest and days of my life.  I am an only child and the only immediate family left so all the decisions were put on me.  It was some of the hardest days and I could not have gotten through without my mom and friends.  Tuesday and Wednesday came and went and of course Brandon wasn't home.  I didn't think he would be, I figured it would change once he got there and it did.  They finished up in Minneapolis and then they got sent to Michigan to help finish up another job.   The phone calls between Brandon and I each night only lasted about 10-15 minutes because he was so dog tired by the time he could call me.  He was working 16s while on storm.  In those 10-15 minutes I needed him to help me emotionally, tell me not to think like that or remind me of the good things.  I feel so bad that I couldn't even ask him about his days but I needed him in that time to help me emotionally so I had to be selfish.   There is nothing worse than being sad every night and not even having your husband there to hold you.

I am happy to say that after 9 of the hardest days of my life, and 29 days without a full day with each other, Brandon is on his way home! I can't wait to see him and hug him.  I am so happy that he got to go on storm, but I can't wait to have him lay next to me each night and just hold me.  We made it through our first storm and hopefully the next one is a little easier on us both!