"The Breakdown of a lifetime…"

Where oh where do I even start this post!  As many of you know in the apprenticeship things change from week to week, day to day.  Since about June we had been told work was getting pretty slim in Sterling and there would be a big chance of a layoff anytime.  That of course had me very nervous because I was due in August but in the end it all worked out and I got to deliver Bashlyn in Greeley (yay!).  We had been putting off going home because we just figured we would go home when Brandon got laid off, introduce Bashlyn to all her friends and family and finish up things with my dads estate, ect.  Then we got word that we may be in Sterling for awhile longer so Brandon talked to his foreman about going home before the snow hits.  Driving 17-18 hours is not fun period but really not fun in the winter.  Brandon talked to his foreman and he said, "well next week would work".  I wasn't surprised, in fact I was semi prepared to leave at the drop of the hat.

I had my 4 week Doctor appointment on Thursday at 1:30 in Greeley.  Brandon got rained out Thursday afternoon so he raced home and got home a few minutes before me.  He started packing up the truck and I started racing around the 5th wheel frantically trying to pack our clothes and bathroom stuff.  Bashlyn of course just wanted to be cuddled the whole time so I was able to use our front pack for the first time and she LOVED it! She instantly fell asleep and slept the whole time I was packing.  I packed and got everything clean and in order in Piper so we could come home to a nice clean house.  After a couple hours, we were on the road by 7ish Thursday night!! This was great news, we would pretty much get a whole extra day in CDA!

We drove 5 hours to Casper, WY and got a hotel.  We stayed at the C'mon Inn and it was so fun! They gave us a double room though so Brandon and I had to sleep in separate beds, I definitely felt like I was on an episode of "I love Lucy".  Friday we drove about 12 hours and made it to CDA around 10 pm.  Bashlyn did AMAZING!!!! She slept pretty much the entire drive, only waking up to feed.  Surprisingly she still slept her usual schedule that night too!

We had such an incredible trip home, we got to see all our friends and see all the sights of beautiful Coeur d Alene! We had wonderful whether for the most part and enjoyed it to the fullest.  We went on a bunch of hikes, coffee dates ( with actually good coffee!!!) and meeting up with Friends, it was just perfect! We even had time to sneak in a family photo shoot, so fun! I will forever cherish the memories of seeing our friends meet and hold Bashlyn for the first time!!

Then the rain storm that would be our life started.  Our renters sent us a text late Thursday night saying they wanted to talk.  Friday afternoon they told us they were moving out (in a month!!), breaking their 3 year lease and had no intention on paying anymore rent.  We spent most of our day Friday dealing with that, going to the place, inspecting it and then trying to decide what we were going to do.  We decided at the time I would come back in two weeks and deal with getting it rented again.

Saturday morning we started our drive back home to CO.  We were driving along, talking about our trip and talking about our rental situation.  We decided we would look into property management companies because dealing with a rental 1,000s of miles away was just not working.  We got to Missoula and were driving on I90 and the truck just shut down.  I was driving and I told Brandon, "there is something wrong with the truck, its not going"  It had died, so we coasted to a stop and Brandon had me try to start it again.  It turned over but just wouldn't fire.  We sat there on the side of I90 with semis and cars flying by us, frantically trying to figure out what our next move would be.  Brandon was doing some things under the hood but didn't know what was going on.  He got back in the truck and said "well should we call someone, I don't even know who to call, we don't have AAA" Then I remembered we had roadside assistance on our insurance so I called them and arranged for a tow.  It would be about an hour and twenty minutes until the tow could get to us.  We started calling every repair shop we could find on google in Missoula, most were not open and the couple that were open did not work on diesels.  We decided to have it towed to the Ford dealership because we didn't know what else to do.

Then we had to figure out what WE were going to do now.  We decided to rent a car and continue the drive to CO, we HAD to get Brandon back to work.  I called a couple rental car companies but they had closed at noon on Saturdays and it was now 1:30. I found a rental car company and she asked me what time I was going to pick up the car.  I explained to her our situation and that I need to get to CO.  she said "Oh I'm sorry our vehicles are not allowed to go to CO, they can only go in the northwestern states".  My heart sunk, I really didn't know what we would do now.  I started looking at plane tickets to Denver and one ticket, one way from Missoula to Denver was $798 for Brandon to fly out on Sunday.  Then Brandon said well what if I fly out of Spokane.  Thank goodness he thought of that, I booked him a ticket flying out of Spokane for $258 leaving Sunday! We rented a car and we drove back to CDA.  It was so crazy to be getting back into CDA Sunday night when we had just left 12 hours ago!

So Sunday, Bashlyn and I put Brandon on a plane to go back to CO.  Saying goodbye to Brandon at the airport was honestly one of the hardest goodbyes I've ever had to do.  We got there and there was a HUGE line for security so I ran to the restroom really quick.  When I came out Brandon was all the way up the ramp, too far up for him to be able to bend down and kiss me and way too many people for me to be able to work my way up to him.  He had to hand me Bash over the railing and we had to just wave goodbye.  My heart just broke instantly and it took everything in me to control the tears so I wasn't a sobbing mess.  I wasn't ready to leave him, I didn't have any time to prepare to be away from him this early with Bashlyn and not even knowing how long we would be apart.

The past three days I have been running around meeting with property management companies and a repair guy to fix damages at the house.  I think everything will work out for the better, IF we can get it rented before the snow flies.  Ford was giving me the run around and wasn't looking at the truck so I arranged to have it moved to another shop in town.  Ford of course charged me $100 for an hour of "shop time".   Its at another shop now and hopefully I will hear some sort of progress about it today. Now Bashlyn and I are just waiting on the call that the truck is fixed and we'll start our drive to CO to see Daddy.  The sad thing is though, even when we get home we won't even get to spend time with him because he has class all weekend from 8-5 Saturday and Sunday.  You better believe we'll be driving to Denver with him both days!!

This has honestly been one of the most trying weeks of my life.  I keep trying to tell myself, "its only money, we'll make more, 10 years from now this will just be a memory" but I honestly feel like its just getting to be too much.  Then the emotional toll this is taking on me is so hard.  The stress from the rental, the stress of the unknown amount of money we'll have to pay for repairs at the house and the truck to be fixed, the stress of being away from my husband and a few other emotional things that have blown up this week is wearing me down.  If I could get a hug from him, if I could see him hold and love on Bashlyn it would make this all so much easier.  At what point is it all just too much? I know it will work out in the end and I know God knows what he is doing.  I am not trying to question him or change his plan.  I am just so tired and I just want a hug from my husband :(

Gosh time is flying! I've been meaning to write this post for over a week now and just haven't had the time.  I've been a bit busy cuddling and kissing on our sweet little baby girl every chance I get! Bashlyn is 24 days old already (ahhh slow down!!!) and she is absolutely perfect! She is only waking up two times a night, once around 1-1:30 and the next is around 4:30-5 (daddy's alarm starts going off at 5:20 so she's just helping him get up ;) ) She eats perfectly and then goes back to sleep, sometimes until 9 am!!

Bashlyn was so lucky to have so many family members drive and fly across the country to meet her.  Nana drove for about 20 hours and got to meet her the day we brought her home.  The following week her 3 mom and 3 pop flew from New Jersey for a week and got to get a lot of snuggles and kisses in! It was a great time, just getting settled in, getting used to and learning about this new member of our family! The best day though, was Bashlyn's Dedication.   As many of you know Brandon and I started going to Journey back in January when we lived in Greeley, CO.  In March we got moved to Sterling, and as much as we wanted to keep going to Journey every week it proved to be just a bit too far.  During my whole pregnancy, I kept saying,  "I hope we stay here or at least driving distance to Greeley, because I REALLY want Arron to do Bashlyn's Dedication!" Well God heard our prayers because we got to stay here and Arron DID get to do her dedication! Journey was incredible and accommodating to us and our short time frame ( I wanted to be able to do with it all the family in town).

On August 25th we dedicated our sweet baby Bashlyn to the Lord in front of many friends and family. We were so lucky to have my mom, mom mom and pop pop, Erik, Shellie and (BRAND NEW, 3 days old) baby Oakley Hall, Amanda Henley and Uncle Chance Thomas there to help celebrate and witness our dedication.

Here are a couple videos from the dedication, the video cut out in part of it, but here is most of it.
After almost 4 hours trying to figure out how to upload these dang videos I resorted to taking video of the video playing on my computer on my iPhone.  So bear with me, hopefully you can hear and see most of the video…it was such a special day for us so I wanted to share it with you all! <3

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152639206443475&l=4551618552352645045

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152639213848475&l=5901221871891249181

It is such an overwhelming feeling to hold this little baby in our arms, this baby we had prayed for, planned for, created dreams for.  She is here and God chose US to be her parents, gosh we are lucky!!

Bashlyn Val has arrived!!

One last picture, minutes before we left!! We had to recreate our announcement picture :) 

I am so excited to be writing this post today!! This is going to be long, I am writing this in detail so I don't forget anything.  If you are interested and can hang in there with me, feel free to read along :)

August 10th 2013 at 10:12pm Bashlyn Val Underdown joined us.  Here is her birth story... :)

Friday August 2nd I had a doctor appointment and my midwife checked me and said I was completely closed up.  She said to start walking again and start taking evening primrose oil and hopefully we would see some progress next week.  On Friday August 9th she checked me and I was 1 cm and 30% effaced.  Woohoooo, we were so excited I had made progress!!

The Logan County Fair was going on in Sterling that weekend so we went to the fair Friday night and walked around a bit.  We were going to go to the rodeo but I told Brandon I was just feeling weird and didn't think I could sit through the whole rodeo.  My lower back was really hurting, just a dull ache.  We left the fair and went to a quick dinner and then went home to relax.  I went to bed about 11 and was woke up at 2:30 in pain.  I had what I thought was contractions but not sure.  I started timing them and they were about 7-9 minutes apart, lasting 30 seconds or so.  Laying down hurt so I moved to the recliner in the living room.  I was able to fall asleep from 6-7.  Brandon woke up and I told him "I think we're going to have a baby today" He goes "what, are you serious?  I better pack my hospital bag!" I told him I didn't think we needed to go right now because they were not that close so we decided to go to the parade in town.  We got to the parade and I walked down to Santiagos to get some breakfast burritos while Brandon set up our chairs.  I was still getting the pains pretty bad but I could walk and talk through them still.  We went home after the parade and tried to relax.  I cried to Brandon telling him I was scared and I just didn't know what to do.  I didn't know if these were contractions,  I didn't know if I was progressing and I didn't want us to drive an hour and a half to Greeley for nothing, just for them to turn me away.  I was sobbing. Brandon told me "Astra its ok, we're on Bashlyn time now.  If we go and shes not ready yet, we'll get a hotel"  That made me feel a lot better.

I decided to call my midwife around 1, I told her I thought I was having contractions, lasting 45 seconds to a minute long, every 5 minutes or so.  I told her I had some that came at 3 minutes and some as long as 7.  She told me she wanted them more regular and to go for a walk, take a bath, eat and call her when I didn't want to talk to anyone anymore.  Well I couldn't take a bath and it was almost 100 degrees out so we went to Walmart to walk.  As we were walking into walmart I got a contraction so bad it stopped me in my tracks.  We only made it about a halfway through walmart when I told Brandon I needed to go home.   I tried to eat an apple with almond butter and only ate about half of it.  I decided I would call my midwife at 3 and tell her I was coming in. My contractions were still only 5 minutes apart or so and lasting about 45-60 seconds.  I called my midwife and told her this and told her I couldn't walk through the contractions anymore and she goes "ok, how far away from the hospital are you" I said "about an hour and a half" and she goes "oh.....I forgot you were that far away, ok well I think you can make it if you head in now, just go to triage and I'll meet you there"

Brandon started loading the bags and car seat into the car.  We took one last picture in between contractions and then we were on the road about 4.  Driving an hour and a half to Greeley in labor was not the best road trip of my life.  I was so uncomfortable and I couldn't move or do anything when the contractions came so I just had to endure them.  I was nice to Brandon but I did ask him, "can you please not hit the bumps in the road, maybe get in the left hand lane, it looks less bumpy" As we got close to the hospital I kept saying "I don't want to have any more contractions in the car".  We got to the hospital about 5:40 and went to the birthing center.  We had to call on the phone outside the room to let them know we were there, Brandon goes "what do I say, my wife is in labor?!?!" I said "no just say your wife thinks she's having contractions."  We got into triage and they hooked me up to all the monitors and started asking questions.  I felt like all of a sudden I wasn't getting contractions anymore.  I kept asking "is that a contraction on the monitor there, please tell me I'm not crazy"  The nice nurse said "no you are not crazy, you are having contractions"  She had to ask a lot of questions to put into the computer.  My favorite was "Do you live in a house or apartment" Brandon and I laughed and I looked at Brandon and he goes "ummmm we live in a 5th wheel" She goes "ooookkkk it has running water and electricity right?" Brandon goes "oh yeah it even has a washer and dryer" She goes "perfect! They make them really nice now"

My midwife came in and checked me and I was a "5 almost a 6"!!! As soon as she said this I started crying and said "so I get to stay, I don't have to go home" She said "you get to stay, this is not the time to cry, this is so exciting" We got sent up to our room and got settled in.  My room was absolutely beautiful, a nice bathroom and huge jacuzzi tub! I walked a couple laps and my midwife said she'd come back and check me in a couple hours.  Every time I would get a contraction I would just brace myself against the wall or bed and rock my hips back and forth.  Brandon would rub my back and put his head on my shoulder and it was all the comfort I needed at the time.  I talked to my mom on the phone and texted with a few friends throughout these 2 hours.

Talking on the phone with my mom

I'm ready!! 

Cheers to having a baby!! 

My midwife came in and broke my water at 8:22.  I didn't know what to expect but that feeling was far from what I was expecting.  It actually hurt way more and the water was so hot! She said my contractions would get a lot more intense now and she would check on me in a  bit.  I got into the jacuzzi tub and that only helped me for a contraction or two.  I remember saying "I don't know what to do, I don't know how to get through these contractions"  From there it was a bit of a blur.  I remember getting out of the tub and all of a sudden there were 5 or 6 people in the room, the table was set up at the end of the bed with all the tools for delivery.  They told me she was going to be here soon.  I remember feeling like I didn't even have control over my own body.  I would get a contraction and my body would push on its own, I remember saying, "I didn't even mean to do that" and my midwife said "its ok its your body doing what it needs".  I remember this sound coming out of me that I had never heard before.  I said "oh I feel so bad, I'm going to scare all of the other ladies here with my sounds" and the lead nurse looked me in the eyes and said "oh honey you are the only one on this end, sing it loud girl".  There were several times they thought I would deliver her, once in the tub, while I was standing up and once next to the bed, again while I was standing.  They kept getting the stuff needed to deliver and the midwife would say "I need hands over her to help me catch the baby". I was so hot, I kept crying, "I'm so hot, please cool me off" I remember 4 people fanning me trying to cool me off.  Brandon said at one point after a contraction I said "dude this is hard" he said he had to laugh because I could have said so many other things.  He said I was so respectful, I kept saying thank you and I never said one swear word.  Finally my midwife was able to convince me to try to push in the bed. I didn't want to because sitting put so much pressure on me but I did it.  I was so exhausted at this point and I would cry through the contractions, but I think it was just my way to get through them.  I asked "how long does this take, how much longer is this going to be" my midwife said "for most women, 1-3 days" Brandon said that shut me up, haha :)

After several pushes and an hour and fifty minutes after my water was broke Miss Bashlyn Val Underdown was born.  They put her on my stomach and I can't even begin to describe the emotion.  I was sobbing, from happiness, joy, relief that labor was over and love.  I asked, "what time is it, is it still Saturday" and they said "yes she was born at 10:12."  Brandon got to cut the umbilical cord.  He said it was like rubber, he had to cut three times.  They took her to a station next to the bed, weighed her and gave her her first bath. She started crying and Brandon went over to her and started talking to her and she calmed right down.  She knew who her daddy was!  She weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces.  They gave her back to me and helped me breast feed her for the first time.  I was so exhausted I didn't feel like I had the energy to do this right now but I wanted to feed her so I did it.  They brought me a sandwich and then about an hour later they helped us get to our new room.  Brandon was able to do skin to skin for the first time, what a special moment.  I fed her a few more times throughout the night, I didn't sleep a wink because I could not stop starring at her.

I am so proud to say I did this 100% natural.  I didn't even have my IV hooked up until after I delivered her.  It was hard and yes there was pain but looking back I feel like I got to enjoy my labor and delivery so much.  It was painful and hard but It was almost like it wasn't even my body going through it, I had so much adrenaline going.  It has been so fun writing this blog and thinking back about everything.  This was truly one of the most incredible days of my life and I am so happy.  I could not have done it at all without my amazing husband who kept telling me I could do this and comforted me the exact way I needed, even if that changed from contraction to contraction.  The hospital staff was incredible and I am so thankful I got to stay with my midwives throughout my whole pregnancy!

Here are some pictures of our special day!

Where our countdown stopped :) 

Picking up Bashlyn for the first time :)

Daddy calming her down before her bath

Sleeping on my chest for the first time

All of our bracelets at the hospital :) 

Skin to skin with daddy

So here I sit 39 weeks pregnant,  7 days to go until my due date.  I have cleaned and organized everything at least 3 times.  All the laundry is done, dinner is planned, dishes washed, bags packed.  Everything is DONE. I have a lot of time to think about how my life is going to change, at any second, really soon.  I am going to have a little person that I helped create and brought into this world.  I am so excited and feel ready but I am terrified at the same time.

When I moved up to CDA I got connected with Casey and Lindzie and they had a precious little boy Kaden who was about 6 months old when I met him.  I was so lucky to be able to nanny him every week until he was about 3.  In that time his little sister Mica joined us and we were 3 peas in a pod.  I had babysat for a few hours a night here and there in high school but this was different.  Being a nanny, being in these kids lives every day was so special.  I got to help them learn and grow.  I got to watch them discover new things and reach milestones.  I learned so much in that time and it was some of the best times of my life.  I loved going to the library every Tuesday for mommy and me reading, blaring "Choo choo soul" the whole drive there.  I loved going to the park every day, Kaden would walk the whole way, and although it took a lot longer it was the best.  I loved doing crafts and the day to day adventures we found.  We can't forget trips to Java too!  We made so many memories but I think the one that sticks with me the most is the elevator story from the library that Kaden told to anyone and everyone for months after.  :)   I have so much love for this family because they have shaped the type of mom I am going to be. I learned so much about how I want to raise my kids from being in their house every day.  I sit here and I can't imagine what its going to feel like to have a baby of my very own  but I feel ready more than most because I was very lucky to have this experience.   Throughout the years I have watched many kids, all who are very special to me and impacted me deeply, I have loved them so much.  I can't imagine having my own baby, every day who calls me MOM and not Astra.

Kaden and baby Mica :) 

Kaden and I watching Bolt 3D while Mica was being born :) 

At our wedding rehearsal :) (mica was done taking pictures:) )

Cutest Flower Girl EVER! 

Such a big boy!! <3 

Thank you Casey, Lindzie, Kaden and Mica for accepting me into your home and letting me be a part of your lives. You changed my life more than you will ever know and I love you all so much.  I can't wait until we come home and we can all go to Java together :)

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!