Trials and Heartache

I remember being a full time missionary and teaching people to Trust in the Lord and that things are done according the Lords Will not ours. I also remember feeling a little guilty in not being able to teach much from my own experience on these subjects- I grew up in a nice home, with good parents, in a good neighborhood-and didn't see too many trials or heartache in my life.
When I got home from my mission and started back in the dating realm I experienced what I thought-until today were trials and heartache.
Today our family has felt heartache-today we received confirmation that after 5 weeks, we've lost our baby. Its been an emotional roller coaster in which trying to stay positive and look at the "bigger picture" feels impossible. When I first found out about this pregnancy something in the back of my mind had told me I was going to miscarry- however I figured that was me being paranoid-So I did what most moms-to be do-got excited and started thinking of names.
However I knew something was wrong this last week as I started to have symptoms that aren't "normal" in healthy pregnancies-nor did I have when I got pregnant with Luke.
On Friday night- we spent a good 4-5 hrs in the Laramie ER. Because I wasn't too far a long in my pregnancy they couldn't do an Ultra Sound to hear the heart beat. Instead, they tested my HCG levels in my blood and told me they were low for 5 weeks-howere they wouldn't be certain about anything 'til I got tested on Monday morning to compare results( in a healthy pregnancy your HCG level doubles every 48 hours).
It was a very loooong weekend. We were debating if I should just stay in bed and rest or if we should continue with our plans as normal. I needed to take my mind off of things so I voted for continuing as normal. The weekend came and went and I felt fine-which of course made me feel optimistic about Mondays test.
Well- here it is Monday and I went to the hospital first thing to get this all over with and my worrying over with-so I hoped. Sadly my test results didn't show my HCG level double in the last 48 hours. I was able to keep it together 'til I got in the car.
Sure- I know that misscariages are common in pregnancies and there is always a chance for complications-but until it actually happens- until you have the Dr. confirming it all- it seems like it could happen to anyone BUT you!
I'm finding myself trying to hold onto those truths that I taught in Portland several years ago. I feel like maybe if I didn't do this or that- than it would have been fine-knowing in the back of my mind that this isn't our fault. Its so hard and feels almost unfair to have a righteous desire of growing our family and it feeling like its being taken away-this is our trial and our heartache.
I'm grateful that the Lord has blessed us with one healthy child- I will NEVER take that for granted-nor will I take for granted-when ready- to be pregnant again.

Luke's BIG Announcement

Yup thats right-Luke is going to be a big brother! We are excited to announce that coming Summer 2013 is Baby Bias #2! We'll have our first Ultra Sound in a few weeks-nothing beats hearing that heart beat for the first time-we can't wait!

1st snow

We had our first dust of snow here in Laramie. Our neighbors probably thought we had never seen snow before-we we're the only family out playing in it. I'm sure as winter progresses we may get a little less excited about it, but as of now-we enjoy playing in it. This was Luke's first experience with cold-wet-white stuff-HE LOVED IT! He didn't want to come inside. Sadly the snow didn't last long but we took advantage of it 'till it decides to come back and stick around for a bit.

Luke: 18 months

I can't believe Luke is 18 months! My little monkey is getting too big-what happen to my baby boy : *(

Here is Luke at 18 months:
-He LOVES going to nursery, he runs into nursery every Sunday without ever looking back to mom and dad!
-He wieghs 26.2 lbs and 32 1/4 inches long!
-He's already a lady's man, in nursery he's always surrounded by little girls
-He loves watching Curious George, Dinosaur Train, and The Mickey Mouse Club House
-He's down to 2 naps, a morning one and afternoon one.
-He loves playing with his cozy coupe.
-We've introduced him to the "potty" not ready for "full-on" potty training yet:(
-His favorite snack are pretzel sticks and gold fishies
-He loves playing with Olive.
-He's interested in anything with wheels (toy cars, wheel chairs, strollers...etc)
-He's got 5 teeth, including 1 of his top molars-the other is trying to break through.
-He's still a daddys boy (sad day for mommy)
-He loves to run around the house squealing
-He's learning more words every day
-He went to his first concert and liked it!
-He enjoys books! (got that one from Daddy)
-He'll only eat chicken nuggets if its with BBQ sauce, Not with ketchup

4th of July in Laramie

This years forth of July was WONDERFUL! It made such a difference that we weren't in the 100+ degree weather of Arizona. Kevins mom came to visit us during the week of the 4th which made the events even better! Our day was long-but very enjoyable. We started the festivities off by going down to Laramie's "Freedom has a Birthday" celebration at Washington Park in downtown area. This event was SOOO FUN! They had different venders, music, FREE ice cream, Free balloon animals for the kids, a classic car show, fun booths-jut lots of fun stuff to walk around and see. It was so nice being in such a big crowd in a small town feeling safe-not worrying about smokers/drikers-the place was packed! I think all of Laramie and then some came out to participate. Luke enjoyed having his first ice cream cone- he didnt really get the idea of licking it, he just tore into it with his teethies. He always enjoys being in big crowds and taking it all in-we decided to get him a balloon sword, Im not sure if it was more for Kevin or Luke, but Luke was excited about t as well.

After spending a good chunk of our morning at the park it was "family nap time." We had to be rested for a fun night of Fire Works! I had to do some homework regarding the fireworks though. Wyoming is having an unsually dry summer-which meant a lot of thunder/lightening storms (which we love), however that means A LOT of fires. Here in Wyoming-with the wind ALWAYS blowing-when theres a wild fire they let it burn because they're so hard to contain with the wind. Anyway, they're was a fire that started 30 miles out of town causing Laramie to cancel their Fireworks-booo! I finally found out that Cheyenne (about 30 mins away- where our nearest Target and Hobby Lobby are) was still putting on their show! From the sounds of it Cheyenne was the only city in Wyoming still doing them so we lucked out. It was probably one of the best fireworks show I've ever seen! We got front row seats to the action! We overall had an AMAZING first 4th of July here in Laramie, we look forward to many more!

Park Day!

Our ward had a BBQ at a local park-it was a great way to get to know the people in the ward better. It was also great to be able to let Luke play and run since we've been stuck inside unpacking!

4121 Cliff Street

Here is our new home for the next 5-7 years!

All Our bags are Packed!

The time finally arrived! One June 7th we packed up all of our belongings and our little family and started our 3 state-wide journey to Laramie, Wyoming! We will miss our family and friends in Arizona, but we're excited to start a new journey. The trip was super LONG! We left our "old" apartment at 4:30am with Kevin driving in a 24 foot long moving truck and Luke and I on our own in the Durango. We stopped in Grand Junction, CO to stay the night-an 11 hour drive! The drive from Grand Junction to Laramie was absolutely beautiful as we followed the Colorado River and it was only 5 hours long-woo hoo! When we finally made it to Laramie my parents were there ready to help unload as well as some men from our new ward- it only took an hour to unload the truck!

Lake Powell: Muhlenkamp Style

We had a wonderful long weekend get-a-way to Lake Powell with my family. We don't get to spend much time with my family so its always good to catch up. Luke was actually old enough at this gathering to socialize with his Muhlenkamp cousins. Because there were 12 of us getting together for the weekend, my parents decided to rent a house boat! It was a lot of fun! The house boat was equipped with a water slide(Kevin was a big fan of that), 4 bedrooms, a hot tub, and a lot of space for relaxing! My parents had their boat tied to the house boat for easy access to fun boating activities. The water was a little cold-but refreshing and smooth as glass! Kevin and I were a little hesitant about attempting Wakeboarding- its been at least 6 years and baby later since I went wakeboarding. To our surprise we both got up right away, we were pretty proud of our selves : ) We also had a lot of fun on the multi-person tube! The hot tub felt amazing to loosen all the muscles after that fun. Luke loved splashing in the hot tub in the day with his cousins! All-in-all it was a wonderful weekend full of family, sun, games, catching up, and RELAXING-nothing beats that!!!

Mothers Day 2012!

This year was my second Mothers Day! I feel very privileged to follow in the footsteps of all the amazing women in my life and their great examples of Motherhood. This year I had a wonderful Mothers Day weekend with my family. We went to Scottsdale to my favorite mall, did some shopping and had dinner. Kevin and Luke spoiled me with wonderful present-my wedding band. We've talked about getting it later on the future so I was very surprised when I opened it! On Sunday we went with to church with Kevin's mom and had her, his sister and his brother over for dinner. Sometimes its the simplest things like getting everyone together that make occasions like Mothers Day so great!

12 Dinners in ONE day!

One of the greatest blessings in our family is that Kevin and I are able to work from home. One of the curses of having both of us work from home is that we don't get done with work til around 7pm on a good night. I've tried meal planning and doing dinners for lunch and lunch for dinners but it still took too much time. Between my daily activities and work, making dinner is the dreaded task I hate- as I make a messes to make dinner-finally get it on the table to eat and then I still have to clean it up and do dishes, by then its time to get Luke ready for bed, I never got a chance to relax in the evenings. On the nights I would decide to be lazy and we would get fast food, I always felt nasty from the greasy-fatty food.
Today I decided to take my meal planning to the next step. I pre-cooked 12 dinners ALL in one day! Although the mess was tremendous- it was ONE mess. Now I have 12 nights of dinners in my freezer ready to be warmed up-which take no more than 45 mins to warm up, unless they involve the crock pot. Our dinners include: Lasagna, BBQ Chicken w/ veggies (x2), Teriyaki Chicken, Homemade Mac and Cheese, Chicken Tortalini, Enchiladas, Orange Chicken, Cafe Rio Sweet pulled pork, Southwestern Chicken Wraps, and BBQ chicken Pizza. We'll see how it goes! If you have questions on how to start this for your family...I did do lots of planning for these 12 meals and am willing to share my recipes and advice.

BIG BOY!

Luke took his FIRST steps! We were both super lucky to witness Luke waddle through his first 4 steps as we were picking a movie for our movie night. I've been trying super hard to get him walking on camera like any other proud parent- however Luke refuses to walk to when the camera is rolling, so like also like any other proud parent I've been making sure he doesn't know I'm recording him. With the trickery of recording him comes the lack of a decent video-my apologies. Hopefully I will get one soon that will be blog-worthy.
I can't believe how big Luke is getting! He has 4 teeth -2 top, 2 bottom and another one on its way on the top. He's eating normal food-the only thing he isnt a fan of is tuna. He's such a fun little guy, I love how excited he gets with such simple things.

New Ride

After much deliberation and test drives...Kevin and I took our Audi Allroad and Kevin's Ram 3500 and traded them in for one muti- purpose vehicle that is functional, updated, safe, and of course family friendly. We chose the 2012 Dodge Durango Citadel because its ability to handle its own in the snow with the AWD and V8. We were also very pleased with still having the ability to towe if needs be as well as fit our growing family as it seats 7 (yes, that means that #2 will eventually come along).
We love all the high-tech features that are new to us as this is our first BRAND NEW car together. The Adaptive Cruse Control, blind spot indicators, back up camera and senors really make the transition from driving a sedan to a bigger SUV very smooth. I think Kevin's favorite feature is the "cooled" seats. I will admit having cooled seats especially in Arizona is a great selling point, we'll see if he's still as big of a fan of them when we move to Wyoming. I would have to say my favorite feature is the remote start. It will defiantly come in handy! All in all we are very excited and proud to have our first "grown up" vehicle.