UPDATE!!!!

SO blogging has changed since I last blogged.... How in the world do I add photos?!?!?! Any help???

LONG WORDY POST>>>> SORRY!!!
I suppose we have had quite an eventful summer! Here's some of the important stuff!!

*Phillip graduated from Utah Valley University majoring in Biology at the end of April!
* Heather and Jason got married in the Portland, Oregon temple May 26th!
* Phillip received an interview invite June 4th, from Oregon Heath and Science University school of dentistry. This came a few days after he returned back to Utah after Heather's wedding...
*He called them immediately and scheduled his interview for that Friday. So back he came to Oregon!! ( Lacey and I were still in Oregon because we wanted to stay longer.)
*He interviewed Friday June 8th
*We all flew home together that evening. He thought his interview went well but didn't want to get his hopes up high.
*After THREE excruciating days, and a million refreshes on his email account, he got the ACCEPTANCE letter!!! We were so excited!! Oregon here we come!!!!!

Where are we now?!?!

Well after we found out about his acceptance it was crunch time! Everyone kept asking me if I was excited, and my reply was always "Yes!!!" BUT.... at the same time, I was stressed about all we had to do and also kind of sad to leave the place we made "home" for 4 years. So we frantically started looking for places to live, filling out financial aid forms, getting all of Phillip's needed immunizations up-to-date, last minute doctor's appointments, figuring out when we would move, how to get our stuff to Oregon, etc..... All while Phillip was still working! He stopped working a few weeks before we left (thankfully) so we were able to play before we said goodbye. We are now in Oregon and loving it! Though we are missing Heather and Jason!! We lived literally next door to them.... it was SOOO fun to make dinners together, play games together and have Lacey walk and knock at their door. We sure miss you guys!!! We also miss our friends!!

Phillip starts school tomorrow!!!!! CRAZY!!! We just had our 4 year anniversary on 08/08! I cannot believe we have been married 4 years!! It went by fast but at the same time it feels like we have been married for an eternity! I hate thinking that the amount of time we have been married is the same amount of time Phillip will be in school!!! Ahhh!! We have a long road a head of us..... everyone says it goes by fast, but we will see!!! In the mean time, we are going to enjoy how much we have been blessed and have fun!! We are very lucky to have gotten into dental school the first year Phillip applied and to our number ONE choice school!! That hardly ever happens so we are sooooo grateful!!!

Maybe I will get back into blogging??

Well it's been over a year since I last blogged but maybe this will be the start of me doing it again?!?! Only time will tell.... I will have to play catch up later but here are some pictures of Lacey and I's trip to Oregon. We just got back last night. My grandma Ellen and her husband Fred bought my flight because she knows how much I miss my family! Anyone who knows the Gruwell's, know that we are all extremely close. We sure love each other. Thank you Grandma and Fred for letting us have a fun trip together!!!! 

Lacey visiting Grandma Gene! We decorated her headstone for Spring!

My dad, Ava, and I went to the carnival real quick while my mom watched  Lacey. Ava LOVED the baby roller coaster! She didn't even get scared at all! My dad and I also took turns riding some of the rides!! I absolutely LOVE scary rides!!

Ava and Papa on the Merry-go-round!

Worn out girls!!

Bath time!! Lacey and Zoe!

Cousin bath!! Ava, Zoe and Lacey!

We celebrated my Dad's birthday early since we won't be there! (We really just needed an excuse to buy a Baskin Robins cake lol! )

My camera is so old and horrible... one day I will get a new one... But here's Grandma and two of her girls!

Cousin love!!! Hugs!!

Balloon's from Red Robin!!

We also got the girls' pictures taken professionally, found out that Shannon's baby number 3 will be a GIRL and overall had so much fun!! We miss you guys already!!! LOVE YOU!!!

Catch up!

I have been so busy with finishing up school and getting ready for this baby that blogging has kind of been put on the back burner! BUT.... I FINISHED SCHOOL!!! Yahoo! There was a minute when I thought I was gonna have little Lacey before school was out, but thankfully that didn't happen! =) So.....

Here is the story behind this picture..... Sorry about me looking so glamorous... I was really dressed to impress if you can't tell ;)

So I started getting a fever the day after thanksgiving... it spiked up to 103 at one point. I pretty much just tried to sleep it off and stay warm or take the sheets off because I was burning up! Well I was having pretty bad back pain and lower abdominal pain, and I knew my uterus was contracting, but I just figured it was Braxton Hicks + Fever= some pain, because my whole body ached due to the fever. Well I finally decided that I should just call my Dr. to make sure everything would be alright with my baby. He said, "well I think you better just go to Labor and Delivery to make sure you don't have a kidney infection." I wasn't really having any symptoms besides a fever and the pain. I went out and told Phillip we needed to go so off we went. They had me get a urine sample (I am a professional at those now... I have had to do them too often lol) and they hooked me up to the contraction monitor and fetal heart rate monitor. The nurse left the room to gather stuff, and I looked at what the screen was reading. I said to Phillip, "if that screen is what is monitoring me, I am having contractions." (For clinical's this semester, I was put on L&D so I know what the babies heart rate should look like and what "good" contractions look like.) I tried not to scare myself, and just said thought... oh that's probably another room they are monitoring. Well the nurse comes back in and says, "So do you feel those contractions?" Immediately I had tears streaming down my face because I was only 33.5 weeks pregnant and I knew what it meant if I had her. Phillip and the nurse comforted me and I was able to relax after the nurse told me my cervix was closed! What a relief! Well they did a bunch of work up tests on me, and I had quite a few new experiences, some of which I NEVER want to repeat! I was apparently very dehydrated because the nurses could not get an IV started! They finally called the anesthesiologist and he got one in right away.
* During the whole ordeal, Phillip was by my side and almost became a patient himself. He hadn't eaten all day and it was around five at night. All the sudden he said he didn't feel good. The nurse and I told him to sit down because he looked like a ghost. As the nurse was trying to help Phillip she had me reach for a nurse button and three nurses came rushing in. It was so scary because I was laying in bed and Phillip was out of it, he looked like he was about to have a seizure! It scared me, but I stayed calm. Phillip got crackers, juice and cookies. We joked with him saying if he was wanting some attention or cookies he could have just asked for them! I am glad he didn't fall to the ground and get hurt! He was such a good sport through all of the NEVER ending BEEPING monitors ALL through the night!

Anyway... My white blood cell count was 27,000 which is really high, so they were thinking maybe I had an intrauterine infection and they contemplated doing an amniocentesis. Anyway....  by morning my WBC count was down to 17,000 and my contractions were not regular anymore so I was sent home on bedrest for a few days..... to make this never ending story short I ended up getting a fever again a few days later, sent to ER, was put on bedrest and took Tylenol around the clock... and finally have been fever free for a few weeks! YEAH!! It's still a mystery what infection I had, but my body healed itself!
* Best part of the whole experience... besides me not delivering was that ambien!!! Oh my! Can I get a prescription of that?! I didn't hear one beep after I took that pill! AMAZING!... next time I will try and have the Dr.'s order one for Phillip too haha ;)

Cute Phillip =)   We were making a pumpkin roll!

This is my current belly.... me at about 36 weeks pregnant! I am popping!

Our graduation dinner!

Phillip and I got Lacey's room put together and her crib is up! We are pretty much ready for her arrival! We can't wait to meet this sweet angel!! I love her already!

My family... for the past year!

As this semester is coming to an end, I have bitter sweet emotions. Since January, I have put in more than 900 hours in papers, class time, projects and clinicals with some amazing people! As much as I can't WAIT to be done, I think I am gonna miss these guys!! We have had so many fun times together and it's sad to think it will all be over in just 3 weeks! All of these people have become my friends and I will never forget them! Cross your fingers and pray that we all pass our state boards!!!!! =)

This is in Salt Lake city at our life flight clinical. Arn't we a happy bunch! ;)

29 weeks!

Here is the newest picture of my growing belly! It just keeps growing and growing! I had a Dr.'s appointment today and everything looks great! I am measuring right on target and her little heart is beating away at about 148 bpm! I received my Rhogam shot last week and treated myself to Taco Smell afterward as my reward =) I also passed my glucose test so no signs of gestational diabetes!! Whew! What a relief!

Phillip and I are staying busy as the end of the semester approaches! Finals are just around the corner! Then Christmas, then the arrival of Lacey! I have a feeling this is going to all happen SO fast!

Learning how to blog!

I decided it's time to create a blog! Especially since we have a little one coming soon! I thought this would be a great way to keep family updated on what's going on in our lives! Hopefully I can figure this thing out!!