This is my 12 weeks photo. Trust me, I am bigger now! I am currently 14 weeks however I am beginning to think I am going to give birth to a toddler! It seems like this is going so fast yet at the same time so slow!!! My first trimester was not bad, however there were definitely times when I wish I could have just thrown up. I mostly just had an upset stomach most of the time. However, right before week 12 began I started feeling great! When I went for my 12 week appointment we were able to hear the babies heart beat which was pretty awesome however I have to say that the 3D ultrasound was a little better. It is reassuring to hear the babies heart beat and I look forward to hearing it at the next appointment! This has been such a fun and exciting experience so for us so far...well Justin might not agree with the fun part since he has to deal with my attitude...but he has been doing great, and believe it or not, we are still married! ha ha! I am also posting my pic of the ultrasound that we had done at 10 weeks. I really wasnt expecting to get a 3D one but I am so glad she gave us one!

Pregnancy

So in the beginning of June this year, Justin and I found out that we are expecting! This is such a huge blessing in our lives. We feel like we have waited forever for this to finally happen to us...and now we have to wait nine more months to finally get the baby! I am so excited to be experiencing pregnancy. Dont get me wrong...the first trimester hasnt exactly been the best 3 months of my life, but its well worth it! I knew before I took a pregnancy test that I was pregnant and I kept telling Justin that. I dont know if he really believed me because trust me, its not the first time I thought I was pregnant! However that morning that I took the test and it was positive I was so happy. I took a picture of it and sent it to him in a text. He was in the bedroom still asleep. I walked into the bedroom and told him I heard his phone going off and that he should probably check it because it might be important. He kinda blew me off and said he would check it later. I then became more persistent that he needed to check his phone message right then so he did. He was really excited! Since then the pregnancy so far hasnt been too bad. I have had some bad nights where I just feel blah and of course the nights when I cant decide if I want to laugh or cry, and the nights where Justin cant do anything right, but for the most part its been pretty good. Justin says he cant wait for me to get out of the first trimester so he can have his wife back. Unfortunately since I work I dont get to take little cat naps during the day so when I get home I pretty much eat dinner and crash! I am so tired! One thing I didnt expect about pregnancy is how much my appetite controls my life. As soon as someone talks about food I either want to throw up or I wont stop thinking about that food until I can eat some! Its crazy, and some foods that I use to love I cant even stand the thought of them anymore. I am really beginning to show as well. I am so surprised that I am showing so much because I feel like its too early to show. I guess I am just working up a 9 pound 8 oz baby like its daddy! Anyhow, its been a great experience so far and I am so excited to be stepping into the second trimester...I heard thats the best one! I am 10 weeks right now so that means I finally hit double digits!! YAY!!!!

Sadi

So Sadi is getting so big, she has been alive for a whole year now! She is such a big part of our little family. We have gotten so attached to her! She is SUCH a good dog. Justin can do anything to her and she is so laid back she doesnt even care! The other day he picked her up and put her on his shoulders and she just sat there and enjoyed the ride! She is going to be GREAT with kids. However, about a month ago we noticed she started limping on her back legs. We figured that maybe she just pulled something or whatever and we figured it would go away. After about 2 weeks of her limping we decided to take her to the vet just to be sure. The vet looked at her and pulled on her legs and noticed that they were really tight. He looked up at us and said, "well its look like your dog has arthritis." Seriously??? She is still a puppy! A very big puppy, but a puppy none the less! So he gave us some pills to help her and they worked however they were expensive so they vet told us to give her childrens tylenol and it would do the same thing. So for the rest of her life, my poor dog will get cherry flavored childrens tylenol. Its so sad! Anyhow are still very happy to have her and even though I still dont like dogs a whole lot, I love my little Sadi! So here are some pictures of here.

Sometimes Justin uses her as a pillow and she is perfectly fine with it...however this is him after tackling her. She loves it!

she is really good at shaking but this is her latest trick you just say "Sadi give me a high five" and this is what she does!

This is her shaking

Standing on her hind legs

This one is hard to see what she is doing but she is standing up on her hind legs in this one. (I have such a talented dog!)

And of course I cant forget about Roxy, she is a talented dog to!

Preparing to be foster/adopt parents

In November of last year, after trying for almost a year ourselves to get pregnant, Justin and I decided to consider other options. We did this not simply because we thought we wouldnt be able to have kids but because we just felt like this was the right thing to do. So we starting to do some research and found that there are plenty of kids out there that need a good home to grow up in so that is how we found foster care.

The foster care process is such a long process. We had NO IDEA!!! First we had to do the initial application and back ground check. Once you pass that then they have to do the first walk-thru of your house. This is where they tell you everything you need to do to make your house safe. For example, you have to have hand railings, fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors, locked medicine cabinets etc... (all stuff that we hadnt even thought of!) The next part was getting referrals. Each person we put as a reference had to fill out a questionnaire about us. So once those were in your start a 9 weeks process of classes. They were 3 hours every Monday night and they were an hour away! Justin and I missed one of the classes so now we have to wait till July to make it up! Anyhow, along with the classes you have homework and question papers to fill out. Plus you have to have physicals and get your fingerprints done...its crazy! After classes end you have to have 3 home visits with a counselor/worker which last about 2 hours a visit! Anyhow, Justin and I are finally in the ending stages of this long process. We still have to get our physicals and make up our one class and one more home visit. We are getting so excited that this LONG process is almost over. Assuming we get things done we will be officially certified by July 21st!

Anyhow, before we can take in any kids we have to show that we have things like a bed, car seat and so on. Which since Justin and I dont have any kids we really dont have ANY of it! So I went on a craigslist shopping spree and here is what I found!

This is the car seat that I found its only been used twice by its previous owner!

I also bought a convertible crib. It can be a crib, a toddler bed or a full size bed! (i didnt take any pics of the bed because its in like 10 pieces right now since we havent set it up!

This is the fabric I picked out for the room we tried to go with a gender neutral color with the baby green but there is a little bit of blue in one of the fabrics but it looks great in the room!

I also bought some toys and an extra car seat that is pretty ghetto right now but we are going to recover it with some really cute fabric. I am so excited about all of this stuff!

Our new addition to the family!

Justin and I have decided that we needed to add a "little one" to our little family. However, since having babies hasn't seemed to work for us, we decided a puppy would satisfy us for the time being. Meet our new dog...(sorry she doesn't have a name yet). My parents were lucky enough to have 14 puppies so of course they were more than happy to get rid of a few, so we took one and Justin's parents took one that they named Roxy. There is the black one and ours is the VERY cute butterscotch one. They have been so much fun to play with!

We have had some trouble trying to figure out a name. Justin and I have went back and forth on SOOO many names. We finally decided to take our favorite 6 and put them in a hat and draw out the official name. We drew out the name Claire. However after calling the dog Claire a few times it just didn't sound right, so we are back to square one. Any suggestions?

Our House...FINALLY!!!

After a LONG process and a lot of work, Justin and I are finally in our house! We have been working on this since the end of March and the time has come for us to finally move in. There is still plenty more work to be done, however the downstairs is complete. We moved in on Tuesday of this past week and it feels wonderful! Here are a few pictures of the house.

Okay its been since March since I have posted anything...I swear I have wanted to but just haven't found the time. So I am going to cram about 3 months of life into on blog post. Justin and I are home from Hilton Head and now the construction work really begins! Justin and I have started working on our house. For those of you who dont know, we are turning an old barn into a 2 bedroom house. Sounds simple enough...right? WRONG!!!! It has been crazy! I originally predicted it would take 3-4 weeks to finish this and now we are into our 3rd month and it still has a ways to go! From the end of March till about middle of May we worked on it constantly because Justins work was slow and I was home because I was being a stay at home wife. However, thanks to my BF Desiree I got a job working at the bank with her. Also at about that same time Justins work started picking up again and now he is working everyday. So needless to say, not much has changed in the house since then. It makes me really sad because it seems like we are so close yet so far! And of course as some of you may know, Justin and I are living in his parents basement until this is done...(I do not recommend this for any couple at any time in you life!) Living with his parents hasnt been too bad, however I just dream of the day when it can go back to just being us. I mean this with absolutely no offense to his parents because they have been wonderful to let us stay with them but I just cant wait till we have our house done...if that ever happens! Maybe I am selfish but I just want my handsom husband all to myself again!
Anyhow, Did take some pictures of the progress of our house, however I do not have them with me right now but I will post them as soon as I get a chance!

The next big thing in our life together is that we had our 1 year anniversary!!!!! I cannot believe that I have been married to the most incredible husband ever for a whole year!!! This has been the best year of my life and I look forward to the eternity that we will be spending together.

As I mentioned before, I am now working. I work at Empire Bank in Springfield and I actually really enjoy the job. Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed staying home and working on my house and being a wife a lot better, but its not that bad. I am glad that I work with Desiree, however I am sure that the people we work with probably get tired of hearing us talk about the good ol' days in Sweet Springs. The reason for me going back to work is because Justin is starting school this summer. Because he went on a mission and came back and was engaged to me after 3 months...he did not have the opportunity to start school. We now feel that the time is right so he is working part time and taking classes part time. Its worked out pretty good so far, however I get a little jelous of his homework. I guess I should just be thankful he is a MUCH better student then I ever was and he actually does his homework!

Justin and I had an addition to our nieces and nephews count. Justin's sister Shanacy had a baby girl at the end of March. Her name is Rebecca Lynn Critchfield. I havent seen her in person but from the pictures I have seen of her, I am a pretty proud aunt...she is definately cute! Justin and I are experiencing our first time apart for more than a day...he left on Friday to fly out to Utah for Rebecca's blessing. He will get back on Monday. I wanted to go out there so bad but because I am an employed woman now, it was not possible. :( I told Justin to take pictures of everything so that I could feel like I was there...I really miss my nieces...they are so much fun!

Dont worry, I am almost done with all of the updates, however my next big event is that my sister moved :( I am really sad about this. My nephew Egan is starting to stand up and tries to take steps and Blake is at that really fun age where you never know what is going to come out of his mouth. The other day he was playing in the back of PaPa's truck and I climbed up there with him and he said "no A-YAY (thats aunt Linzi to Blake) go get in your white car" It was pretty funny. Anyhow they have moved to Arkansas so that Tony can do his externship. Hopefully they will only be there a year! Speaking of my sisters, my little sister Jodie came up here this weekend since Justin was gone. Her and I played in a softball tournament which was a lot of fun. I am definately feeling it today though...But I was very happy when someone asked me if we were twins...that means that I still look 17!!! Its funny how when you are younger you always want to look older and then when you start getting older you want to look younger! When I told the team how old I was they were saying that they thought I was 19 or so...made my day!

Justin and I have been playing a TON of softball this year. Justin and I play on a coed team and then Justin plays on a men's team. It is a blast...when we win! Our teams are actually pretty good! I have also been picked up by a few other teams. Just this last week I played on Thursday, Friday and a tournament on Saturday so I was exhausted! I played a total of 6 games in 3 days and I hit my first tripple of the year (probably my only one to)! Anyhow, its been a great few months and hopefully in a few more weeks I will be able to get on here and write about how much I love our new house! Until then I will just work on doing better just writing something!