that's a REAL BIG tummy!

For those who have been wondering and asking about the size of my tummy--- need we say more!? A girl in the bathroom at church today thought I had 2 weeks left! haha. Needless to say I still have 6 weeks left. I'm feeling super good, that is when the little guy isn't trying to bust through my side! I'm soooo grateful that he's so active in there though, I really can't complain about a single thing! Andrew has totally been spoiling me too! Yesterday I even got a full fledged pedicure! He's so sweet. He totally doesn't baby me but is so quick to help and be understanding. Love you Ands!!!
Now that I'm done with teaching, I have a month to stay home worry, wait and realize that I have a lot to work on before I can be a mom!! Even though it'll feel weird to stay home all day after the schedule I've been keeping, I'm grateful for this time to relax, get ready, and get some little projects done. I'm sure in the future months I'll wish I had these days back so I'll try to make the most of them. Here are some other fun pictures we took on our mini photo shoot in the nursery today:

Recent Happenings in the Ellis Household

I kept putting off blogging because I felt like I had so much to catch up on-- but i decided you people will never know if I don't tell you everything, so i'll just highlight what I want to!

My friend Sam and her mom Cindy threw me a baby shower a couple weekends ago. It was sooo fun and so sweet of them. My sisters and mom strung a serious string of lies making me think only my mom was coming in for the day, but then out came Jyl, Madi, Mandy, and baby Luke to surprise me! It was so fun and relaxing that we really didn't take any pictures, but trust me-- it was a good time with some seriously good company!! Thanks Workman Girls!!! ;)

Today was my last day of teaching! I can't believe how fast the year at Mt. Loafer went! It was definitely bitter-sweet. I'm excited for the summer and fun things to come, but it was hard leaving the classroom and not really knowing when I'd be back in the teaching thing. My experience at Mt. Loafer Elementary was more than I could ever ask for. Mostly I have Nicole to thank for that. Thank you Nicole for all you taught me, all your patience, all your support and kindness, and mostly for the friendship we were able to develop over the past school year. I hope it lasts for many many more years to come!
Here's some pics from our class end-of-the-year-luau:



We also were able to go home for mothers day and Luke's baby blessing. It was so fun to be with fam and get a break from the daily grind for a few days!




We also were so grateful to have Andrew's fam in town last week for his grandma's 90th birthday party. It's always a good time when you get the 4 Ellis boys together and we loved having the chance to catch up with his family in person! The El Paso'ans and the Virginians are too far away! Andrew's aunt Mo who's husband is currently stationed in Germany even made it for the party! It was great to see, and meet! lots of Andrew's fam we don't get to see often! The boys were cute and gave a tribute to Grandma by singing "When you Wish Upon a Star." Chris and Mike were on the guitars and Andrew even graced up with a sweet Harmonica solo in the middle! Yet again-- it was too fun to take any pictures, but here's a few:


Last but certainly not least, I will be 34 weeks tomorrow which is just crazy!! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. Needless to say I was very paranoid about going early or being on bed rest early with my risks so I pretty much am all ready to go. Now that I'm prepared of course I'll make it all the way, but I guess being over prepared is a good problem to have. Everything is going really good! At the very moment, I think he may be trying to break free via the side of my stomach but I'm VERY glad he's busy and active in there! I've been super super excited this whole time, but the nervous bug has definitely hit me the last couple days. Not just about the birth part of it, but about all the changes and hoping I'm cut out for all the work it'll be and the responsibility I'll hold! Andrew is awesome and always tries to comfort me, but all you mothers out there know what I'm talking about! I guess it's too late to do anything about it-- I wouldn't change it for the world even if I could, so I better buck up!

A Much Needed Update!

I've been slacking on this a little...or a lot. Life is still crazy but now instead of filling my days up with school and TAing, I get to fill them up with things I want to do (most recently playing with mom.) It's a VERY welcome change!! I'll just start listing things how bout that?

#1-- I graduated! Mom and Dad came out and suprised me by bringing Jyl and Gregg with them too!! It was sooo fun to have them here for the festivities. When you graduate from BYU, your commencement is more like general conference than a graduation-- Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Nelsom gave some amazing, uplifting and beautiful talks... a great end to some seriously great years at the Y.

#2- Dad headed home Tuesday, but Mom stayed and was soooo sweet to invite me to Women's Conference with her and her PLC Women's Retreat. Not only was it so fun to play in the afternoon and evenings with her and these amazing women, but it was so spiritually uplifting. We enjoyed afternoons of great classes, a tour of the Garden's at Thanksgiving Point with the woman who started them, amazing evening activities with the PLC Women up at Sundance and outstanding lodging in Karen Ashton's Cabin (far more like a lodge) for the latter half of the week. The spirit was overwhelming at all of these events and I was soooo grateful to share them with my mom! Friday night, Anne-Marie Hildebrandt came to give us a private concert. Part of the time she did this hymn-lounge where she just improvised on hymns for like 7 or 8 minutes straight. Seriously Amazing! I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the place! The whole end of the week was just breathtaking. Thanks mom for letting me be part of your PLC retreat!! We were having so much fun we didn't even take any pictures!

#3- I hit 30 weeks on Saturday and I'm really feeling great! The time is going by soooo fast. 10 weeks isn't that long, plus I have to keep reminding myself that 10 weeks is max. With my risks, this little guy could come a lot sooner than that! He's very very active! I love being able to feel (and see!) my rather large stomach go in and out-- I feel sooo blessed for my health and strength and to have the enormous privilege of carrying this precious spirit. I already love him soooo much and pray daily that I can be the type of mom that he deserves!
The Nursery is starting to come together!! It's sooo cute and I just love it! We can't wait to finish our rocker and put all the finishing touches on the room. I also had to model one of his new outfits, including the ADORABLE robeez that mom bought him last weekend that I just love! Can't wait to put his little feet in them!


#4- Andrew and I are actually heading to Oregon Wednesday night for Luke's blessing/mothers day/last vacation before the baby. We are both sooo excited. I got a little mini-vacation last week at Sundance, but Andrew really hasn't been out of Provo since Christmas, plus he started another semester of school last week so he's anxious to get away for a few days! fun fun fun~!

I'll continue teaching til the end of May. June looks pretty low key for me. Andrew will be done with school and graduated on the 18th of June so that'll be exciting! I'm so excited for him to be done-- let me tell you it feels GREAT! We're still on the jobhunt, but the HP job is still treating him good and our landlords treat us pretty well ;) so we lucky to not be too pressured. Mom and Dad want to recarpet and repaint the whole whole this month so who knows, we may never want to leave here!!

Ok that's all that coming to me right now-- maybe because my laundry pile and dirty floors are staring at me telling me I need to go be productive!