-Baby Smith-

Hard to believe there are a few short weeks left before Baby Smith will be here! We are so excited!!! A few months ago I came across this quote and it really spoke to me,
"Everywhere in nature we are taught the lessons of patience and waiting. We want things a long time before we get them, and the fact that we want them a long time makes them all the more precious when they come" Joseph F. Smith

Very few people know but Baby smith did not come to be the way we had planned.
I can remember when we were first married and were talking about when we wanted to start having kids, I thought I was ready right then but Rope thought we should wait a year. I was sure that year was going to take forever to pass. Well fast forward 2 very speedy years and we felt ready to start our family. It was summer 2013 and the first month I was sure it was going to happen, I was so excited at the thought of a baby. Unfortunately pregnancy didn't happen that month and continued to not happen for us.
We were very fortunate to be living in Saskatoon during this time where there is a new fertility clinic. We started seeing a specialist in the Winter of 2015. We had a great doctor throughout everything and knowing that we were receiving the best care was so comforting. Our infertility was "unexplained". I can remember when the Doctor told us this after numerous test. I was relieved in a way, that it wasn't anything more serious, but at the same time it was so frustrating that there really was no good reason we weren't getting pregnant. I would get so down on myself feeling sorry for the situation we were in and how unfair it was. All around us people were starting and growing there families and it felt like we were stuck. However, I also had lots of experiences during this time that gave me hope just when I was ready to give up. There were moments of peace when I was sure that we would have a baby but that I just needed to be patient and remember that Heavenly Father truly is in charge. Since we had been married for 3 years naturally we had been asked the question "So when are you going to start having kids" the first few times it was hard for me to hold back the tears while I made up some fake excuse. I don't know if I can say that it ever got easier but I got better at brushing it off.
In the end we got pregnant the month we decided to take a break from any treatments or doctors appointments and just relax. The decision to sit and do nothing was a hard one because it felt like we would be wasting time, but I truly feel like we had to get to that point, we were relying on Heavenly Father to comfort us and help us get through it. Nothing was ever able to be explained to us about or infertility, but I don't care, we are just so thankful to have a baby on the way!

Our journey to start our family wasn't anything like how I thought or tried to plan it would happen, but I wouldn't change it either. It was not easy but the perspective I have gained through this trial is priceless. Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us and knows what we can handle and what we need better then we know for ourselves. I know that Heavenly Father is also ready and waiting to bless us,  those blessing will come in his timing, but they will come! I also gained alot of perspective on the lives of others, you really never know what is going on in someones life. I have tried to be more conscious and thoughtful of this and to just show more love to those around me. I want to be a person that lifts others and brings them happiness just as people were able to do for me when I was struggling.
Now hurry up and get here baby we have been waiting!

sisters... sisters...

Let me just start off by saying I LOVE MY SISTERS
I don't know how my parents managed to do it but we all get along!.. and with 5 girls who are all different that seems like a miracle to me!
Of course growing up {and sometimes still} there was some drama {who took my shirt?!... my turn on the computer!} but we always worked though it and ended up "best sisters" again.
I think now that there are more siblings out of the house then at home it has made me appreciate them even more and love the times we all get to be together again.
I love group chatting with them and catching up on the lastest funny thing trey or claire did/ysa activity/basketball game/sleepover. It's just like when we were all living together and we would have sister meetings with the Barbie airplane intercom :)
Somehow we survived many loooooong road trips together all in the same vehicle without seriously hurting each other- again good job Mom and Dad!
I wouldn't change a thing about my childhood with my sisters, all the forts, Barbies and made up movies! Even when we found out Abby was on the way! {I can only speak for myself though :P}
I love laughing with them! Some of my funniest memories are with my sisters being silly.
I know I can always count on them to cheer me up or to just be there to talk- Sisters make the best friends!
I can't wait to get to watch them all continue to grow- for my younger sisters to graduate, make life plans, get married, start families. For my older sister to continue to build her family and for the chance I have to be such a big part of her kids lives :)

I don't know how people can go through life without a sister.. and I'm even luckier I got 4!

 

Loves

With the day of love {Valentines Day} right around the corner I'd like to share some of the loves of my life...

~ climbing into a bed that has just been made with a fresh set if sheets and all the corners are still tucked tight

~ surprising Rope

~ smelling and kissing a new baby.. More specifically baby Brigham at the moment

~ freshly steam mopped floors

~ a new funky necklace

~ when Rope surprises me! With a treat!

~ sleeping in when it's cold outside

~ mini wheats for breakfast.. Or lunch.. Or supper

~ starting a new book

~ being around kind and uplifting people

~ crocheting

~ when the sun shines!

Don't forget to tell your loved ones you LOVE them this Friday... And everyday!

Polyester...

Rope has a pair of 100% polyester royal blue shorts
{kaylee, lyndsay or Dana if you are reading this you know the ones}
When we were dating I would dread when he would wear them..
His mom and sisters would threaten, bribe and beg him not to wear them around me, but for some reason he loved them.
When we first got married I managed to hide them from him for the first six months, I even contemplated getting rid of them for good, but some how rope managed to find them.
It wasn't until recently that rope rediscovered the shorts and has started to wear them again
Now to the point of this story..
I was doing laundry today and came across this particular pair of shorts, I was surprised because I couldn't think of a time that I had seen rope wearing them. Earlier in our relationship I was brutally aware of any time I saw him in these shorts, or anything else that he might wear that I didn't approve of. I'm Happy to report that although the shorts are as hideous as ever I have stopped caring!
Now this might sound like a bad thing that I have stopped caring but it's actually a very good thing.
I'm embarrassed to think about some of the things that I have started fights over in the past but I'm happy to see that I am making progress and learning to be a better and more relaxed wife! {and just in time for our three year anniversary of being together :)}
I'm grateful for little moments like this where I can realize that maybe I'm not such a lost cause after all!

just for me

Don't you love when you hear something and it seems like it was meant just for you?
I love that! And it seems like for me more often then not the thing I hear is a song.
One of theses times happened to me when I was driving home from church today.
We have the same CD in the car to listen to on our way to and home from church every week and I got the CD in young women's so I'm sure I've heard the song 100 times.... But today was different.

If you would like to hear the beautiful song by Jenny Phillips this was the only place on YouTube I could find it... I love the message it shares. Enjoy!

life takes bravery

The last couple days has had me thinking a lot about STRONG women.

I have been blessed in my life to have some amazing people around me..

Here are a couple I've been thinking about lately :)

My sister-in-law Lyndsay is AMAZING! To read about her story visit her blog... 
you won't regret it!

In short I am soooo impressed with how she has handled everything that has been put in her life this year and I continue to be impressed with her. Love ya Lynz!

My cousin Brynn is a little power house! She has recently been re-diagnosed with cancer. Brynn is the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful 13-year-old you would ever meet. She has the biggest heart and the biggest smile to go with it. I'm so grateful for her example of strength and determination! 

Go Team Brynn! 

{My sister Amy is running in the Santa Shuffle December 1, 2012 for a Childhood Cancer Canada Charity event, if you would like to support Brynn and all other Kids faced with Cancer you can make a Donation to Childhood Cancer Canada here}


And here's a happy thought..
"It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. … If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers." - Gordon B. Hinckley

pin there

A couple months ago I was feelIng especially guilty about not writing in a journal.. I always think about my "posterity" and how sad they will be when they don't know what was going on in my life...  I used to be very good at journaling and have loads of notebooks full of all my {silly} high school worries. One night while browsing pinterest I came across an idea that I though would give me motivation to get writing again.
It's a daily journal that can be reused each year and gets better the longer you use it.. sounds great right?!

I only wish mine could be as adorable as the original

I've been using cue card held together with a hair elastic.. but I'm hoping to find the perfect little box sometime soon. Each day you write the year and something that happened that day. I've been writing my favorite part of the day or anything positive that happened to me, in this was it also works as a kind of gratitude journal and has made me more aware of how great my life is and how lucky I am!

 I love associating specific dates with events that happen in my life, I love knowing the day that Rope and I first met and when we got engaged etc... This first year has been a little tricky for me to stay motivated to do it, but im already looking forward to when the days start repeating and getting to see what was going on a year ago. I'm just over two months in.. Wish me luck :)

I've been having a lot of luck with Pinterest lately- here are a few more of my pins that became a reality

Pilsbury Crescent rolls filled with pie
filling  dipped in cinnamon sugar. Tastes
just like apple pie:)

Spray Painted Wreath from Michaels with
flowers.. On our door even if not many people
come to it.. :P

Made this tonight.. It
was Delicious! I added
Parmesan cheese

On a side note my husband is the sweetest :)