End of Chapter one.

It all began four years ago to the day... 

when I graduated from here

And Moved here. 

I lived with these girls for a while... 

Before meeting this one.

And we were crazy. 

 Then I met this guy. and happened to take this picture on our first date. 

And we happened to take this picture the date we officially become boyfriend and girlfriend.

 and then we were engaged here, at this bridge. 

 and we got married. 

Our first apartment together was here

 we had our first christmas here with a pathetic little tree

rescued this poor dog here 

 Saw John Mayer here

had an awesome halloween here 

2nd Christmas here... with the same pathetic tree.

Jeff worked here 

we also lived here

We ran a 5k here

Graduated here

moved to west jordan and made awesome new friends here

had a bump here

had our 3rd Christmas here... with a real, giant tree... and a real, giant belly.  

had a giant belly here and here.

 had a miracle here.

and now... we're moving here.

4 years in Utah.

3 years of school. 

3 years of marriage. 

4 different homes.

1 dog. 

1 baby. 

countless friends, countless memories.

If our life was a book, this would be the end of the first chapter. Thanks to everyone who helped us write it! We love you, and we'll miss you. 

Goodbye, maddie's first home!

warning: this video contains dangerous amounts of cheesiness. be prepared. we're embarrassing parents already. 

Well, the time has come to pack up our apartment. It's kind of bittersweet. I really insisted that we decorate this apartment and make it feel like a home because it was the first place since we've been married that we would live in for longer than 4 months.

I particularly wanted to decorate maddie's room because we didn't know if we would be moving next year or not. It seemed sad to just take everything down before somehow documenting maddie's first home, so we made a video just for her to see what her first home was like.

A lot of people have asked me what maddie's room looks like, and now you can see for yourself! 

ps - here are the before pictures of maddie's room. quite a difference, huh? 

13 days and counting

In case anyone was wondering. 

(boxed days are days that Jeff works 16 hours. 

coincidentally, those are also the days when 

I'll be checking myself into the local mental hospital.)

Meet The Grandparents

We have had a busy past couple of weeks. Maddie has visited both sets of grandparents. We had a great time, and we miss them already!

 Grandpa Larry walking maddie around the restaurant so we could eat. :) Thanks, dad!

 Passed out on grandma Becky

 Laughing with Grandpa

Grandpa Larry - my dad 

 Grandma Becky - my mom

I wish we had taken more pictures in oregon, but the trip went by waaay too fast! I learned the lesson the hard way and turned into a camera nazi while Jeff's parents were in town. 

 Nana finally meeting maddie. (Jeff's mom)

 Love Love Love this picture! Laughing with Grump

 Just hanging out with nana, watching some TV. 

 Grump making maddie laugh again. 

 Passed out on Nana. again.

 All of us after church

 Maddie's new outfit, thanks to Nana! Her onesie says "grandma gives the best hugs." So true. 

We had the best time with both sets of grandparents. Now it's time to pack up our lives and move to saint louis! Aggh!

On a side note, after Jeff's parents left today maddie took a 4 hour nap, woke up, ate, and fell back asleep. She's pooped. 

Keeping up with the Molly Mormon Moms

Just to warn, this is a venting post. Feel free not to read if you're looking for something about how wonderful life is.

  Ever since becoming pregnant, I've noticed a trend. A majority of the women I knew from BYU who got pregnant all had the same image: a dewy glow, they somehow managed only to gain weight directly in their bellies and maintained sticks for legs and arms, a perfect new wardrobe full of maternity clothes, and a professional maternity photo shoot to make them look even more amazing.

(*those who managed to be honest and realistic about pregnancy - thank you. It helped me a lot)

  Here's what I had during my pregnancy: a new pair of stretchy pants... and I stretched out my old wardrobe with my giant belly (along with other giant body parts.) Because the truth is? Pregnancy wasn't perfect and dewy and glowy! I loved it, but I didn't have the money for the perfect clothes or the perfect photo shoot. 

  Now that Madison's here, a new phenomenon is surfacing... All the same women have perfect newborn photo shoots and meticulous brand-new outfits for their perfect babies, featuring pictures of themselves magically fitting into their fabulous pre-pregnancy jeans 2 days after giving birth.

   Here's what I have: a new camera (which I am so incredibly grateful for), cute hand-me-down outfits from people who loved and supported us, and a post-partum body that still doesn't quite fit into my old jeans. Shocker.

  I have to keep reminding myself that it's ok to not be perfect. Madison doesn't know the difference between professional pictures, and my attempt to act like a professional photographer. And the hand-me-down clothes are just as cute as the brand-new ones. Maybe one day I'll get my pre-pregnancy body back, but until then It's ok to look the way I do.

Besides, with a baby this cute, who needs a professional photographer? 

anyone else have any similar stories? PLEASE let me know! Maybe if we could all admit that we're not perfect it would be a little easier to stop trying to keep up with each other.