Can You See It?

We're now at 13 weeks! Last week in my first trimester!

I know that my bump is there but it's still very small. I know that first pregnancies take longer to show, but I kind of wish I was showing more! Perhaps it's from all the times I've had to tell people I'm pregnant. I just wait to point to my tummy and say, "See, can't you tell???" My husband will be the first to tell you that I'm not the most patient person. However, I'm realizing now that I'm a 1/3 of the way through my pregnancy and I still have a lot to do before baby Bradshaw comes! Here are a few nurseries I like:

Zion Weekend

What a weekend! Not at all like I planned, but fun none the less. There is never a dull moment in a Croft/Bradshaw family vacation. I learned a couple lessons:

1 - Always book your hotel in advance. Needless to say we did not know the St. George marathon was going on that weekend and EVERY hotel was booked. We ended up finding a hotel in Cedar City (40 mins away) which wasn't very impressive. What I mean by that is that they booked my parents a SMOKING room when I clearly ordered a non-smoking one. I couldn't even stand by the door it was so bad. The little foreign front desk guy would not take the blame. Oh, and the maids look my pajamas and Benj's shorts when they changed the sheets. Lovely.

2 - Be prepared for the weather. We knew it might rain on us but we didn't think all day long! Saturday we went into Zion National Park and I wasn't too excited to be wet the whole time. It let up later that night when we went to see Les Mis. To those who haven't been to Tuacahn, it's an outdoor theater. The performance was amazing except the last hour downpoured! I felt bad for the actors, but they didn't miss a note. It really made the play more dramatic!

3 - Remember to have fun. At first I was kind of sulking because of the hotel and the leaves hadn't changed yet and it was rainy, but I seemed to be the only one with that attitude. My family taught me to forget about the unfortunates and have fun! Generally vacations don't go as expected but it still is a vacation and something to enjoy!

Benj and I were nice and wet by the end of the day. You'll see from the picture above that I look like a turtle. We had to keep our backpack dry so I put in on under my poncho. My hair was nice and frizzy and I was a "grumpy gus" as my husband nicely put it. This was one of the sweet moments.

The family in their rain gear. I even saw some people using garbage bags!

Despite the rain, it was very beautiful.

This pic of Sam was taken Friday when it was nice and dry.

Andy's hair frizzed up like mine. Still a cutie.

One other GREAT thing about this weekend was conference. We listened to what we could in the car and it was so positive and uplifting. Definately a nice way to travel.

Mini Vaycay

We are off to St. George to enjoy a little R & R.

We hope to see some beautiful fall foliage . . .

as well as watch a bit of this . . .

The Bradshaws need a break! Have a great weekend everyone!

WE'RE PREGNANT!

We've been trying to keep it a secret for a month now and we can finally tell everyone! WE'RE HAVING A BABY! We went to the doctor this morning and we saw our baby for the first time! Baby Bradshaw was kicking and moving like crazy as soon as the technician found it on the ultrasound. Benj said, "It's no wonder you've been feeling nauseous." It was the cutest, sweetest little thing ever! I think Benj and I were just struck with awe as soon as we saw it. The baby has a nice, strong heartbeat and as soon as I heard it beat, I started tearing up. What an amazing experience! The doc says that it's about 3 cm or 1 1/2 inches. The estimated due date is April 16th, 2 days before Benj's birthday. So we're about 10 weeks along. We look forward to the months ahead and will keep you posted with any new info!
Oh, and for those of you curious, I've been feeling pretty good this trimester. I have my nauseous moments and definately a lot of tired moments, but I can't complain. P.S. For any moms out there, I greatly appreciate any advice you have. This is all very new to me!

Weekend Fun

We had a fun weekend and wanted to share with everyone!

Oh how I love my nephews. Colton (the youngest) has pretty long hair and Benj's mom wanted to take a picture of him with a ponytail to convince her daugher that it was time he needed a haircut. It didn't seem to bother him as you can see. He knew it was pretty funny!

I love his expression. :)

I convinced Benj that we needed to go to the Utah State Fair on Friday. It was so much fun!

We took the two boys and Grandma B. along. We first stopped at the rodeo.

Cameron's face says it all. We had already watched the rodeo for an hour and although it was fun, we were done!

I think Colty would have been fine watching the horses even longer. He would stare at Benj when he would start hollering and clapping, and then he would join in the fun.

As you can see he was clapping a lot.

After the rodeo, Benj and Cam went down the big yellow slide. I was proud of Cam for going down by himself. Benj saved his life at the bottom when Cameron almost got ran over by another person. After the slide we walked around for a bit, checked out the rides and displays and went home.

Saturday we watched the Utes football game! We went with friends Joe and Katie. The stadium was packed! The Utes picked up a lot of speed in the second half and ended up crushing UNLV. There were a couple of downsides: I wouldn't recommend ordering a chicken taco from the stadium, bleh. Also, a mid-thirties guy trying to be cool was sneaking shots with his buddies right in front of us. I told security but they didn't do much. They asked the guy what he had and he showed him his Coke bottle. I was thinking, "Can't you smell the guy's breath?" Obviously not since they didn't kick him out. I found out I can text security if I see any disturbing behavior. I don't think it would do much good. After the game we stopped by Baskin Robbins and had waffle cones. It made the day all worth while!

Sunday we spent a quiet afternoon at home where we got some much needed rest. Overall a fun weekend!

Nothing Like Park City

I didn't realize it's been so long since I've posted. August has been a busy month! The most recent adventure was a weekend getaway to Park City. I LOVE Park City! It has such a different feel than Salt Lake or Bountiful so it feels like a real vacation, even if it only takes 30 minutes to get there! We met my family at the Park City Mountain Resort (where the Alpine Slide is) and stayed in a nice condo there. My family will be staying this whole week, but with school starting and work, Benj and I could only stay a few days. Here are some of the things we did.

The boys raced for the gold! Ok, so these are really bike racks, but this was a fun picture. The seats on them weren't really seats at all, so the guys got off rather quickly once the picture was taken. However, watching the Olympics was a part of our weekend!

We went shopping downtown. I love the stores they have, especially the art galleries. Oh, and there is always time for a visit to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (see last picture). Oh, and I wish there was another shot of this photo, look at the lady behind me . . . she should have known to get out of the way!

I thought this blue building would be a cool spot to take a picture. These are my handsome bros.

And my dear, serious husband. This is his model look. Oh, and if you couldn't tell, I got a haircut. I love it!

These moose are all over town. This one was Sam's favorite.

And I had to get a shot with Franz the Bear.

Nothing tops off a day of shopping like a delicious caramel apple. Get them pre-sliced and you're in heaven.

Past, Present, Future

It's already August! I can't believe the summer is about to end. I remember looking back when I was in school and hoping the summer wouldn't fly by quite so fast! I'm not going to lie . . . I'm looking forward to fall . . . cooler temps, football games, pretty colors. Sounds so wonderful, doesn't it?



Here's what we've been doing and what we're planning . . .



As far as this past weekend, we enjoyed going up to Brigham City and watching a play: Around the World in 80 Days. Our friend Katie was the director. I learned a lot about her theater background. She was even Brigham City Peach Queen! Who knew?!? While we were there, we stopped at Maddox for lunch. I ate so much but it was so good! We also killed some time playing games. I played the WORST game of Settlers of Catan in my life. So bad, in fact, that I up and left the game in the middle of it. There was no hope for me getting close, and the longer I played, the more angry I became! It also didn't help that Benj was just as competative as I was and therefore had no mercy! While they finished up I "cooled off" outside. Dramatic, I know. Settlers has been put on probation until further notice. Joe and Katie, however, were excellent company!



As far as the present day goes, I am waiting in anticipation for a family friend who was induced last night. Her baby has a heart condition where the left side of his heart didn't develop. As soon as he's born, he'll be monitored carefully and will have to have immediate surgery. I admire the strength and faith of Aimee and Hardy, and I wish them all the best for little Jackson. If you'd like to check out their story, check out their blog.



Benj is officially done with school until the 25th, so we're going to do one last mini vacation up to Park City with my side of the family. Benj and I will go up for the weekend and enjoy the comforts of the Marriot Resort. We hope to try to the Alpine Slide and Zipline too! I hope to try out my new swimming suit I got from the Layers Clothing Sale last weekend. If you haven't experienced this sale, you've got to go! They have way cute stuff. However, this outlet sale was crazy! I got there right when it opened along with 500 other girls. It seems the mediums were gone the fastest! I still left with some cute stuff. I think I'll try it later in the day next time so it isn't so crowded. Here's what the swimming suit looks like on the left. The only difference is I got different bottoms that look like a miniskirt. The top was $15 and the bottoms were $10. I saved 75%!

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys their last month of summer!