Ryan's Birthday and Christmas

Ryan's birthday is on Christmas Eve. He turned 26 and we had a little party with cheesecake and presents. He had to work that day and had to leave the house by 5:20 am. Not much of a birthday!

Ryan REALLY loves cheesecake!

We had a really relaxed Christmas, just the two of us. We opened presents and had a nice breakfast in the morning and a nice Christmas dinner that evening. We just stayed inside in the warm apartment and enjoyed the day. The only problem was that I woke up at 4:30 that morning and couldn't go back to sleep! I think I was really hungry, and uncomfortable and the baby was kicking like crazy. So we opened presents around 6 that morning, then we went back to sleep and slept until 11!

I think I look a bit like a beached whale in this picture, but I guess that's bound to happen!

My mom comes to visit from Washington tomorrow. She is staying for four days. I can't wait to see her!!!!

Merry Christmas 2008

2008 has been a very busy year for us. We have accomplished a lot. Ryan and I both went to school year round this year in order to finish and earn our degrees. Ryan got his degree in Economics in July and I got my degree in Theater and Speech Education this month. In August we moved from Rexburg, Idaho to Bountiful, Utah. This apartment is the fourth we have lived in since we got married two and a half years ago. We moved to Bountiful so that I could student teach at Bountiful High School, the school I had been assigned. Before we moved, we had never been to Bountiful before and we are still trying to get to know the area. The same week we moved, we also found out we are expecting a baby. We will welcome a baby boy to our family the first part of April. So, besides student teaching (which ended in November) I have been spending the last few months resting and preparing for the baby. Ryan got a job at Discover Financial Services in the Salt Lake area. He enjoys his job but we miss getting to eat dinner together since he works in the evenings. We are blessed right now to get really good medical benefits though. He has also spent the last few months applying to 9 different graduate schools around the country to get his Doctorate in Economics. So, we will be moving yet again this summer. All in all, it has been a wonderful year, and we look forward to another year full of big events and a few surprises! We love you all and wish we could be near you all at Christmas. We are so grateful to have a knowledge of the gospel and to be able to surround ourselves with things that remind us of the Savior. Merry Christmas from Ryan and Heather!

It's Official!!

I know that I posted about college graduation this summer but I only walked with Ryan this July and wasn't officially graduated. Well, now it's official! I have now earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Theater and Speech Education. The reason I couldn't officially graduate in July was because I still needed to student teach (and take one more religion class) so that is what I have been doing all fall. I started teaching at Bountiful High School in August and finished teaching right before Thanksgiving. I taught advanced theater, beginning theater, and stage crew. I directed a one-act play and organized a showcase night for my actors to perform their projects for friends and family. For the most part, I enjoyed the experience although there were days when I wanted to take some of those teenagers and wring their little necks! Even though I have earned my degree, I am still not a certified teacher because I still need to take (and pass) my Praxis tests. I decided to wait until later (maybe this fall) to take them because they are expensive and I don't plan on teaching right now anyway. It is a great feeling to know that Ryan and I both have a college degree and I am overwhelmed by how accomplished I feel. I may never teach in a formal school setting but I am so glad to have earned my degree. I got to celebrate this summer with family and friends but Ryan and I went out to dinner this week as an unofficial official celebration.

Here's a little bit about my student teaching experience:

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11033550?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

This is the article that was in the Salt Lake Tribune about our play "Hard Candy"
and here are a few pictures of my cast (yes, I recognize that many of them look as old, if not older, than me).

Painting the Set

Pregnancy Questions

I think I have hit the point in my pregnancy where I am beginning to feel like there is so much I need to learn before I give birth! I have a ton of questions that I need answered. Some questions I need to ask my doctor but some questions I will throw out to all of you moms. Maybe you can answer a few for me.

- What can I do about my aching back? I'm not even big yet and I am always in pain!

- Is is safe to drink herbal tea?

- What are some good exercises I can do?

- Any suggestions for a birthing method? What's the best way to find a local birthing class?

- Any other tips? I will NOT be offended by suggestions. I am new at this and will take all the help I can get! Thanks ladies!!

Thanksgiving

I know it's been a few days already but I wanted to post briefly about our Thanksgiving. Ryan was able to get the Wednesday before off so we drove up to Rexburg on Tuesday night and stayed until early Friday morning (Ryan had to be back to work Friday afternoon). It is always so fun to see family and although we don't particularly care for Idaho, I think we both feel much more loyal to Rexburg than we do to Bountiful. We had lots of great food (I was really thankful for an elastic waistband) and just enjoyed relaxing for a few days. Here's a few pictures from our trip.

I try to get a picture of me and Ryan together, even if I have to take it myself. However, the height difference between us can make it difficult to get us both in the same shot.

Ryan always gets to make the mashed potatoes. Yummy!

Ryan with his mom and his brother-in-law, Michael.

The table

Here I am at 22 weeks. I'm not sure if I'm always this huge. I ate a lot that week. Again, I'm thankful for elastic waist bands!

Haircut!

Well, I finally went and got my hair chopped off. I really like it. Hopefully I can keep it styled and cute . . . we'll see.

Just in case you were wondering . . .

IT"S A BOY!!!!!

Today we went to have an ultrasound and got to see our beautiful baby. He is perfectly healthy and looks wonderful. Of course the biggest news is that our baby no longer has to be referred to as "it". The gender came as no surprise to me as I have "felt" that it is a boy since the week we found out we were expecting. We really had no preference but we are both absolutely thrilled!

Here are the ultrasound pictures of our boy:

I think that baby feet are the cutest things on the planet Earth.
You probably can't tell exactly which parts are which in this picture . . . the point is , It 's a boy! If you really want to know, I can explain it to you.
Here's his little spine. His head is on the right and he is facing down.
Okay, so this is a little freaky to me. I'm sure he has very cute facial features but we will have to wait to see them. He is looking straight ahead with his hand by his face.
Stop looking at me!! This one is my favorite. He would not move his hands away from his face and mouth. I think it is funny that the picture of the baby on my little pregnancy count down is in the exact same position.

Pregnancy Update: 19 weeks

Here's a picture of what I look like 19 weeks pregnant (you can also see why I so desperately need hair advice). I am feeling good, although I usually need to take a nap every day. The baby has been wiggling like crazy lately. Ryan hasn't been able to feel it yet but I'm sure it will be soon because the movements have gotten so much stronger even in the last few days. We find out next week what we are having!

Help! I need advice!

Well, I really need to cut my hair but it seems I have been in a hair rut for a long time. I have pretty much always had long hair until this Spring (you can check out an earlier post to see the change) and now it is starting to grow back again. I think it is probably time to keep my hair short plus I know I won't do anything with it once I have my baby. On top of all this I am finally starting to look pregnant and as excited as I am, I just feel frumpy and fat so I want to do a little something to pick myself up. SO, here is a picture of what I am thinking. You have to scroll to the bottom to see the "Sleek Medium Cut". http://www.latest-hairstyles.com/medium/shoulder-length.html What do you think? I probably won't go quite this short but I really like the style. PLEASE ADVISE ME! If you have any suggestions, let me know!!!

Baby Names

With our own baby on the way, Ryan and I have baby names on our minds. We haven't made any kind of decision yet, but check out this link for a list of things we are NOT going to name our baby.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23631411

Bartron Family Update

Nothing amazingly exciting has happened in the last month (which is why I haven't posted anything) but it's been a while so I figured I could probably come up with some sort of update. Our biggest news of the month is that Ryan finally got a job! Of course we are so excited. He is working in Salt Lake for Discover Card's Financial Services. It's not a great paying job but we get great insurance and once he's been there a while he gets a lot of paid vacation time. The biggest downside to the job is that he works in the evenings. I leave the house at 7 each morning and get home some time in the afternoon. Ryan leaves the house at 11:30 and gets home at 9. I can only force myself to stay up until about 10 so we really don't see much of each other. Oh, well. I will be done with student teaching in a little over a month and then we can spend mornings together at least. Trust me, life could be worse! As fore me, I am just teaching and sleeping and eating. I am almost 4 months pregnant but I really don't look pregnant at all. We are hoping to find out the sex of the baby the next time we go to the doctor but we are waiting (not too patiently) to make an appointment until out new insurance starts working. This will hopefully be in the next week or so. I can't figure out how to add the little poll application to our blog but if anybody has any guesses, feel free to post them.

Here's a picture of me at 14 weeks, looking terribly unpregnant. Two weeks later, I know I am bigger but I still don't look pregnant.

There Really IS a Baby in There!

I went to the doctor today and Ryan and I got to see our baby! This picture is kind of hard to see on the screen but I am still really excited about it. I am twelve weeks along and my due date is April 2. I really hope I don't have an April Fools Day baby but I won't complain if it comes a little early. If you can't tell, the baby is laying on it's back. It's huge head is on the left and it's bottom is on the right. We also got to see it's little heartbeat. It reminded me a little bit of ET when he gets sad and his heart glows through his body and flutters a lot. It was still really fun though! Yay! for the first time I really believe that I am carrying a real, live baby.

It's Been a While . . .

Well, I'm sorry that I haven't updated out blog in a long time and I really hope we haven't completely lost all of our readers due to my neglect. I believe I have a good excuse as it has been an incredibly busy month. Even if you don't agree, I hope that I can at least redeem myself by updating with lots of really fun news.

Graduation

On July 18 Ryan and I graduated from BYU-Idaho. My whole family came to visit and Ryan's sister Janelle came from Arizona with her five kids. We had such a blast seeing everyone. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful support from our family. It was a very special occasion for us and one that we worked really hard to achieve.





Moving to Utah

The first weekend of August we moved from Rexburg to Bountiful, Utah, about three hours away. We are in Bountiful because I am doing my student teaching at Bountiful High School. we found a nice apartment here and so far we really like the area although we really don't know anyone around here yet. I have friends that live in Salt Lake and Provo but we don't get to see them that often. We will only be in Utah for about a year then we will be moving again. Gee, I can't wait. Ryan is looking for a job and will hopefully find one soon!



The BIG news

About a week after we moved to Utah we found out that we are going to have a baby! I think I am due around the beginning of April and we are so excited. I haven't been too sick but I have been REALLY tired.

Student Teaching

I started teaching in the Drama department at Bountiful High School a few weeks ago. So far I really like it. I am teaching the beginning and advanced drama classes and will also be helping with the stage crew class later in the semester. My only complaint is that school starts at 7:30 in the morning. I forgot high school started so early!

We're Graduating!

Birthday Wishes

Tuesday was my birthday and I realized that when I blew out my candles I didn't make a wish. Even though I had been dreading my birthday a little bit because I have been so stressed with everything in my life lately. It turns out that a birthday was exactly what I needed. I felt so blessed and so loved all day. I was surprised over and over again by all the people who thought of me and who wanted to help make my day special. I feel so blessed that I am so well taken care of by so many people. I may not have made a wish on my birthday but I really can't think of anything I need.

Stick it to the Man!

I am so tired of dealing with paperwork and the head of this and the chairperson of that. Tell me, does it ever end!? Even though I transfered from SVU to BYU-Idaho almost 2 years ago I am still trying to get everything figured out so I can graduate. I have been trying to get my high school AP credit accepted to no avail. I know you all don't want to hear the whole long story but I just need to vent! Why will no one listen to me and understand my problems? I just want to scream and make everyone listen. Hello people, I am an adult!!!!! Whew. Okay, life goes on (right?).

The Hunt for Asparagus

A friend of mine, who grew up in the Rexburg area told me recently about how asparagus grows wild in the ditches this time of year. We decided to see if we could find any yesterday. The three of us (me, Heidi, and LaNelle) searched the ditches for this yummy (and expensive) veggie. We didn't find much because there has been a lot of rain and not a lot of sun lately. We all came home with a few really good pieces. I felt like a homeless person on the side of the road with my grungy clothes and my plastic bag, digging through the ditches. It was quite an adventure and something I'd like to try again!

Waiting and waiting...

I am really bad at being patient. Graduation is coming up for both of us and I'm feeling a little lost. Ryan graduates in July and right now we are waiting for him to find a job in Salt Lake. I walk in July and graduate in December. I am student teaching this fall in the Salt Lake Area. I start teaching in the middle of August and I am still waiting to find out what school I am teaching at and what classes. We want to have a baby, and we all know how much waiting that takes! Doesn't it just seem like every time you get life figured out, you have to start all over again? Even though I am nervous I know that this whole experience will be a great way for me to build my faith and trust in Heavenly Father. I know He has a plan (I just want to know what it is, RIGHT NOW).

Haircut!

I just got my hair cut and it is "short" for the first time in about seven years. I love it! I usually go to the local beauty school for a five dollar hair cut but because this cut was a little more drastic I went somewhere nice. Here are a few before and after pictures.

Our House

I have been meaning to post some pictures of our townhouse here in Rexburg for a long time. We did some deep spring cleaning this week so it looks pretty good. Here are some pictures of our kitchen, dining area, and bedroom.

Welcome Hannah Camille Steele!

We had a week off from school last week in between semesters and it worked out perfectly because my best friend Alex had a baby and we got to visit her and her new little family in Salt Lake. Hannah was born on April 9 and is a petite little girl at 6 lbs 3 oz. We had so much fun holding her and getting to know her. Congrats Steele family!

Alex, Devan, and Hannah

Hannah sleeping on my lap

Ryan holding Hannah

Me holding Hannah

Hannah Camille Steele