Da Stewarts

21 weeks pregnant.

2011-10-17T22:14:00.004-06:00

Yeah, I know. Long time. Latest news, I'm 21 weeks pregnant and it's a boy! We are so excited to have another little man in the house.Here are a couple cute pictures of Cooper who is now 14 months old and a hand full!!!

How cute is that!!!

9 1/2 Months

2011-06-01T20:22:00.003-06:00

I had to post this. He is growing up so fast!

New Winter Activity

2011-01-26T22:55:00.003-07:00

Brett finally talked me into trying to ski. I wish I looked this cute going down the slopes...unfortunately adults cringe and small children flee when I strap my skis on. I am not very good yet, but I won't give up....and I am not just saying that because we just bought some skis and boots that I can't return.
Brett has been a really good teacher. We have gone three or four times in the last couple weeks and he has stuck with me each time. Hopefully by the end of this ski season I will be cruising down the mountain like it aint' no thang!

Cooper loves his toy

2010-12-01T11:17:00.005-07:00

A friend gave this toy to us at a baby shower and Coop is loving it. It plays little songs for him and helps him fall asleep at night.
Cooper is getting so big so fast and it makes me a little sad. BUT at the same time, he is so fun to interact with as he gets older.

He has finally figured out how to get his arm under his body to turn over all the way. This little video is from my phone so its not that great of quality. It is also sideways for some reason...oh well, here it is!

3 months old

2010-11-07T22:08:00.008-07:00

So it's official. We are not good bloggers. But by request of Gina Cook, we will update you on our little Coopster. He got to fly to Oregon with me to see my family. I was a little worried flying without Brett's help, but Cooper was amazing as usual and just slept the whole way. My family LOVED him and SPOILED him. He definitely had to go through cuddling withdrawls when we got home because I didn't hold him every second like my mom did. :) It was great to see him with my brothers and sisters because it was really their first time holding him and interacting with him. Everyone was so cute with him. Lizzy, my 17 year old sister, slept with him downstairs the first night and woke up with him so I could sleep in. Then my mom got up with him the rest of the mornings to feed him. I really got to catch up on sleep. It was sooo nice! Daddy missed us while we were gone, but I think he got in some good video game time so I don't think it was too hard on him.

Cooper has changed so much from our last post. He is now about 15 pounds and about 24 inches, maybe 25. He smiles a TON and giggles when we tickle him tummy. Daddy was also saying funny things to him and we caught him giggling a little in a video that we will post. Just to forewarn you though, Brett is saying something from Star Wars to Cooper and Cooper is loving it....unfortunately he is acquiring his parents geekiness. Sorry son.

I am loving being a mom. I feel like Cooper knows me really well now and when he's crying, being held by mommy usually does the trick. I love that he depends on Brett and I for everything. We love you so much Cooper and love seeing the new things you are doing each and every day.

5 weeks!

2010-09-20T14:44:00.003-06:00

So, we haven't posted for awhile...but I am finally getting the hang of this mommy thing and made Cooper go down for a nap so I could get some sanity time. :)

Cooper is doing so well! The first week home after the hospital (which was really week 2) was a little scary. We took turns sleeping with Cooper downstairs, watching his breathing. We were so paranoid...i don't know how we survived! Now, Cooper sleeps in his own room and usually lets me get 4-5 hours before he wakes up for food. Brett is a good helper and gets him all ready for bed at night during the week, and on the weekends he helps with middle of the night wake up calls.

Cooper is definitely a good baby and only cries when he is hungry or needs a diaper change. We wish he slept longer at night, but we will take what we can get!

He is just starting to smile and we are loving it. It is still rare to get a little smirk from him, so when it happens we get really excited. I have been trying to catch one on camera and I finally got it!

Here are some cute pictures I got of him today. Brett, being the photography buff that he is, didn't like that the flash was so bright in these pics...but oh well. :)

SO CUTE!
We are so lucky to have Cooper. He makes us smile everyday. He is worth all of our time and energy.
We love you Coop Dogg.

Coopdate

2010-08-17T15:42:00.004-06:00

Just got back from the hospital and Coop's doing really good. Melissa was able to feed him several times today and he opened his eyes a ton and was smiley the whole time Momma was with him. They said that he needs to continue with his antibiotics for four more days so that means he is stuck there for at least that amount of time.

We want to thank everyone for their love and prayers. We've felt the spirit strongly throughout this ordeal and know that the added strength we're getting comes from you guys. Thanks a ton, we'll keep you posted

Below is a video and pic I forgot to post the other day.

1st Day in Special Care

The First Few Hours

2010-08-16T22:59:00.004-06:00

Once Cooper was born the doctor basically threw him on top of me while Brett cut the cord. It was one of those moments where I was totally lost. I was in so much pain, yet it was so surreal to see our baby for the first time. My brain had no idea what to think.

As quick as they threw him on me, they took him just as fast. I tried to watch as they wiped him off, wondering if he was ok, but the pain that I thought would lessen once he was out just got worse. I felt like I couldn't enjoy the amazing moment because the pain was all I could think about.

The doctor finally got me stitched up, and Brett was able to hand me the baby. I could only hold him for about 2 or 3 minutes before Brett had to take him back because I was shaking so bad from the pain. I could tell Brett was really worried about me because he had Cooper in his arms, but he couldn't stop looking at me and reassuring me that I was going to be ok. It felt like FOREVER before the nurse brought in some meds that were suppose to help with the pain. I ended up taking an Ibprofen and Percocet and finally, after about an hour I was doing a lot better.

My family and Brett's parents got to the hospital pretty quick, so they were there before Cooper had returned from his first bath and check up. At that point I hadn't really even seen or held him. Once they brought him to my room the nurse said that I needed to try and breast feed him...which ended up not being very successful. He was exhausted and so was I. I was able to hold him skin to skin for about 45 minutes or so, and then I handed him off to my mom and the rest of the family so they could have their turns meeting him. After they all had their time, the nurse said she needed to check his vitals and it was then when she noticed that he was breathing pretty fast, and that she wanted to have him checked out by the nursery just to be safe. When Cooper didn't come back to my room for what felt like an eternity, we began to wonder what was up. The nurse finally came back and it was then that she informed us that Cooper would be needing to stay in the Special Care Unit for the time being because he had some meconium in his lungs from a bowel movement he made in my uterus before being born.

Seeing that Brett and I were pretty worried, our families left in order for us to be able to figure things out with the doctors.

Even though this happened a couple days ago, it is all kind of a blur when it comes to our emotions and what we were feeling and when. I just know that I had a really hard time with not being able to see him or hold him in the first hours of his life. Brett and I were both pretty shaken up by everything that was going on and really felt helpless. We just sat next to each other and waited...praying that everything was going to be ok.

An update finally came and we were told that Cooper was being put on oxygen and iv's to help flush all the junk out of his lungs. At that point it was just a waiting game and we knew we just had to be patient...which is probably the hardest thing to be in this type of situation.

Later that day...

When we were told that we could finally go see him, Brett helped me into a wheel chair and slowly rolled me down the hall to the Special Care Unit. When we got there was had to do a five minute scrub down of our hands and arms. One of the nurses had to do it for me because I couldn't even stand up from the wheel chair. After washing, I was rolled over to his little heated bed where he was hooked up to a bunch of different tubes and monitors. Seeing him like that broke my heart! My emotions were all over the place after that and they have been a roller coaster ever since. Even writing about it makes me a little teary eyes because I hate that he has to be stuck in that bed hour after hour.

That night, Brett and his dad gave Cooper a blessing while his mom and I stayed back in the room. I knew I couldn't handle listening to the blessing because I would have lost it. They came back to the room looking very hopeful and at peace, and I knew everything was going to be ok. Chuck, Brett's dad, told me a little of what Brett had said in the blessing and it was so good to hear that we were being reassured by our Heavenly Father that everything would turn out fine. I was also told that Brett told Cooper to honor his mother and to know that I had been through a lot to bring him into the world. After hearing that I balled. I just imagined Cooper growing up, turning to me for his needs and loving me as I love my own mother.

I love Cooper so much. I can't even explain how I feel when I see him and touch him. I was a part in creating such a beautiful little person. It is incredible to feel this much love for someone. This whole experience has also really brought Brett and I together like never before. We rely solely on each other and our Father in Heaven.

We are a family.

Cooper Vid's

2010-08-16T18:02:00.005-06:00

Coop just chillaxing under the heater before his first bath.

This is where Coop will probably spend the next week.

(to watch in HD click here)

Our Beautiful Baby Boy

2010-08-15T23:34:00.003-06:00

Here is a cute picture we got of Cooper before the mayhem started. We will be posting more about the situation that is going on soon. He just has to be in the Special Care Unit of the Nursery for lung issues for the next while.

Cooper with Grandma Fotheringham

What an Entrance

2010-08-15T16:36:00.008-06:00

On August 14, at 7:43 a.m. Cooper made his dramatic entrance. But before I get to that, let's go back a few days and recap the last week that led up to Coop's dramatic appearance....(cue sparkly flashback effect).

Monday August 9, 2010

The day was Monday and Melissa went in for her 40 week checkup. I decided to go with her because after all, it would be her last visit right? WRONG! That Monday visit was the first of daily visits and daily membrane scrapes that would go on until Friday.

Melissa's family was in town from Oregon and her dad had to leave that Wednesday the 12th, so we pleaded with the doctor's to induce her but all of them repeatedly told us that we had to wait until their definition of "full term" had elapsed (41 weeks). So everyday we prayed that he would come early and on Monday I even gave her a blessings with her father, but as much as I wanted, I couldn't bless him to come early. In fact, I started saying crazy stuff like "be patient" and "prepare yourself emotionally" when he comes and stuff like that. Little did I know that those words were exactly what both Melissa and I would need over the next few days.

At the end of the day we took a long walk to see if that would induce labor and at 11:30 pm the contractions began. Melissa's family and I all got a little anxious and excited so we whipped out our iphones and timers and began to time the contractions. They were about 6-7 minutes apart and continued until about 2 a.m., but by that time we realized they were too far apart and not intense enough for us to justify a hospital trip, so with Melissa still contracting we went to bed and decided to call it a night and see if tomorrow they would intensify.

Tuesday August 10, 2010

On Tuesday we woke up hopeful that today was the day. I stayed home from work and went on a few walks with Melissa. Throughout the day she continued to have contractions and after measuring them for about an hour, they were steady at 5 1/2 minutes apart so we decided to go to the hospital.

We checked into Timpanogos Regional with a sort of spring in our step and a sense of excitement for what we thought was ahead of us. An hour went by and the doctor told us that Melissa was at a "3" and her contractions were too far apart to admit her. They discharged us and told us to come back when the pain intensified and the contractions were between 2-3 minutes. Disappointed, we left and went home and took several walks that day. We hoped that at our doctors appointment the following morning that she would be at a 4-5 and the doctor would send us so we once again anxiously went to bed looking forward to the next day.

Wednesday August 11, 2010

(Melissa's turn to start writing) On Wednesday we had a doctors appointment at 8:30 in the morning. We were hoping that I was dilated more, but it was still a 3. Luckily I had the younger, more aggressive doctor check me that day and he stripped my membranes like nobody's business! If anyone has ever had their membranes stripped, they can imagine how I felt. He got up there and scraped for the longest 5 seconds of my life...or so I thought...

Brett decided to go to work and had his phone on alert incase I had any updates about how my contractions were going. That day I had pretty consistent and somewhat painful contractions for hours after I left the doctors office. Again I thought "today might just be the day", but Cooper tricked us again. I ended up taking a nap that afternoon, exhausted from all the counting and tightening in my uterus, but when I woke up the contractions disappeared. False labor once again left Brett and I frustrated.

Thursday August 12, 2010

When Thursday arrived I was pretty depressed and was giving up on seeing this baby until my scheduled inducement which was the following Monday. I stayed in bed late, I didn't walk around the block at all (which was a daily occurrence before that), I was moping around that house feeling all sorry for myself. What made things worse is that my mom and sisters had to keep themselves occupied and I felt bad that I wasn't bringing their new grandchild/nephew into the world for them to see! I knew I had limited time with them, and as the days went on, that time was fading fast.

Brett came home that evening and he asked what I had done that day to help bring on contractions, and not being in a very good mood, I complained to him that nothing was going to help and that we just had to face reality.

He, being the hopeful one, said "Get up, we are going for a walk". So we walked around that block a couple times.

That night I had a couple contractions, but nothing that alarmed us enough to go to the hospital.

Another thing that happened that day that made my feelings a little more tense was the fact that our friends, the Turleys (who we LOVE and were so excited to hear this news) who were due two weeks after me, were in the hospital having their baby.

Friday August 13, 2010

Then Friday came...it started as any other morning. Brett went into work (mainly because they were serving Donuts like they do every Friday) while I slept in. Lunch time rolled around and we were invited to come see Lydia, the Turley's brand new and adorable baby girl. I loved being able to hold her! It brought back feelings of excitement and happiness, and I knew that even if I had to wait until Monday, It would be so worth it!

Little did we know what was coming for that night.

Brett, having gone back to work for the day, arrived home at 5:30 with a little bottle of GUESS WHAT. If you guessed Death in a Bottle you are correct. Thanks to the advice of the Housleys my husband went out and decided to get me a bottle of Castor Oil. I had done some light reading about drinking castor oil and knew that a lot of people tried it for inducing labor, but that everyone, like with all forms of at home induction methods, had different results. Living with myself for 23 years, I knew that I would be one of those people who would try castor oil and only have the bad side effects take place instead of the wanted labor pains that supposedly it brings. Brett could tell I really didn't want to take it, so he suggested waiting and maybe trying to take it in the morning if I felt up for it. (It wasn't until a little later that I found out that Brett had a golf tournament the following Tuesday, and if we were in the hospital being induced on Monday he would miss it for sure, so he was determined to get this baby out on Saturday...arriving home just in time to go to the tournament. Like I would let him go after just bringing home a new baby! Brett's so cute when he dreams...)

After dinner that night (pizza's on the grill of course), Brett and I went for a long walk. When I got home I noticed contractions that were around 3 minutes apart...some even shorter. They had never really been that short so I was getting a little anxious. I decided I wanted to walk a bunch that night, just to feel like I was doing everything on my end to bring this baby into the world. We ended up going on several long walks, and I even followed my mom and sisters to the Clubhouse gym and walked on the treadmill for quite awhile. Brett was also making fun of me because I had read that when walking it was good to move your hips side to side to push the baby down. I looked pretty ridiculous struttin' my stuff around the neighborhood like I was some hott baby's momma.

At around 11, my sister Liz (who had been my trustworthy little timer for that whole week) started timing my contractions and we noticed them ranging from 1.5-3 minutes apart. Having nothing to lose, but a few hours of sleep, we decided to go to the hospital. I took one last walk around the neighborhood, slow jogging in fact, and then we were off.

Upon arriving, they took us into one of the large rooms at Timp Hospital. I dressed into the fine linens they provided :) and got all hooked up to the monitors. I measured at 4 cm when I got there and we were hoping that was enough to keep us there. After the hour was up, she came and measured me again, but I was still at a 4 even though my contractions were close together. We were pretty bummed when she said that unfortunately we were probably going to have to go home, but then all the sudden she changed her mind and said "you know what, I don't like that the baby isn't moving a ton so I am going to keep you for another hour and see if anything changes". I think she felt sorry for us and was being sympathetic, but her good intentions paid off. At the very last second of the very last part of the hour I had a huge contraction and was starting to feel a ton more pain. She checked me, and I was still at a 4, but she called the Doc and told him that she didn't like how the baby wasn't moving a ton and that I was in a lot of pain. She must have convinced him because they ended up admitting me!

Within an hour they started me on pitocin and gave me the much needed epidural. I thought the pains I was having then were bad...so young, so naive.

I progressed from a 4 to a 9 in about 4 hours. Throughout that progression Brett got some sleep while I laid there, trying not to have an anxiety attack because of the fact that I couldn't move the lower part of my body. It is the craziest feeling! When I reached a 10 however, I could start to feel my foot and I thought I would be fine without pushing the button for any more epidural because at least I would have a little feeling to help with the pushing part of labor. BOY WAS I STUPID. The epidural wore off so fast once I had to start pushing...it was the worst pain I have ever felt. Being a first time mom I heard rumors about labor pain...but when you go through it with no numbing for the pressure that is building up down below, it is indescribable.

The only good outcome was that I got him out pretty fast because I could feel everything. I pushed for about a half hour, feeling every movement and every SNIP SNIP from the doctor's scissors to my ...*ehem*...

Brett was also able to watch everything because he was holding up one of my legs while our AWESOME nurse Cheryl held up my other leg. It was really cool to have Brett down on my right side because I felt very supported by him during the whole process.

7:43 am, Cooper Charles Stewart was born. 8 lbs 9 ounces of pure cuteness came out of me...he was HUGE!

I want to also write on here about my feelings once he came out, but I will do that in my next post. We are still at the hospital and I am in need of major sleep.

A Baby Story

2010-01-11T15:05:00.003-07:00

I keep watching A Baby Story on TLC and ball my eyes out every time! Probably not the best thing to watch when my hormones are out of wack, but its so cool seeing real births and how happy the parents are when their baby is finally here.

I am so happy for all of our friends who have had their babies recently and for those friends who are about to. I can't wait to be a mom!
Pregnancy has been pretty miserable so far, but i know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Also, Brett has been amazing throughout this whole thing. He is always asking me what he can do for me. THANKS LOVE!

Stewart Media LLC

2009-10-29T13:57:00.004-06:00

Yah, that's right, we started a business. We can can take care of all of your marketing needs :) This is a prototype logo. I'd like to get everyone's feedback on what they think.

NEW DIGGS

2009-10-11T18:57:00.003-06:00

Before

After

Our new entertainment center from Craigslist. $175...what a steal.

We love our new house and want to thank those who helped us move in. We also love our new ward. We are still in the process of getting things hung up. We still don't have cable or internet, but Brett just hooked up an HD antenna so he could watch his football on the basic channels. Heaven forbid he goes a week without his football...

It has a backyard and our spring project is putting in brick pavers to make a nice patio. We also just back from a cruise. We'll put those pics up soon.

It's Coming in October

2009-08-28T14:33:00.001-06:00

Relaxating!

2009-08-28T14:29:00.001-06:00

#1 PLAYERS!

2009-06-30T10:51:00.008-06:00

The boys did it! They beat out the #1 Team last night...with the help of a couple friends that Brett brought along (Derrick, Brent, and Sterling). Here are a couple pics from the intense throwdown.

~Brett getting ready to Rumble~

My man up to the plate. Always a straight shooter (wink wink).

D-ROCK on base. Look at him struttin' his stuff like it aint no thaaang.

Brett: Well done, sir.

Brent: And a tip of the cap to you, Miss Corningstone.

~MY cute husband~

This wives corner. I am so glad you guys came!

~Autumn and Jen~

~CUTEST BABY EVER~

ALSO: St. George Trip with the Skips!

Brent and Jenny at the starting point.

Here is a delicious man who happened to be walking by with his lovely wife who had just about as much clothing on.

Thanks for coming guys!

MY FAM

2009-06-15T12:03:00.005-06:00

Ok...So Brett had to work at this concert for Digis. He had a booth with his buddy and they wore mullets and played guiter hero, all while promoting Digis...pure talent. Then he got to go to the concert (areospeedwagon and styxs). He has a pretty funny story of him and some drunk people...you'll have to ask him about that. This is us when we met up after. I just came from a Temple wedding...and he came from his Drunken Rendezvous.

My cousins wedding was this last weekend. It was so great to see my family. Emily, you looked amazing in your dress!!! The Fotheringham family is the best! We all have so much fun together. Its especially great to hang out with my parents and sisters when they come to visit.

The Temple was amazing! What a perfect day to get married.

We love Cruisin

2009-03-30T17:19:00.009-06:00

You probably already know by now, but we love cruisin. We are actually kind of spoiled :) Here's a list of places we've cruised to in the last year.

Cruise 1 (Caribbean) 7 days
Princess Cay (Bahamas)
Jamaica
Grand Cayman
Cozumel

Cruise 2 (California Baja) 4 days
Los Angelas, CA
Catalina Island
San Diego, CA
Ensenada, MX

Cruise 3 (Western Carribean) 7 days
Puerto Rico
St. Maarten
St. Thomas
St. John

Cruise 4 (Mexican Riviera) 7 days
Cabo San Lucas, MX
Mazatlan, MX
Puerto Vallarta, MX

That's 25 days of cruising in about a year and a half...not bad. Our most recent cruise pictures will be coming soon...

Couch Deal

2009-02-17T09:57:00.002-07:00

I know, I know, everyone wants to know if we got that house...well...we still don't know unfortunately. We should know this Friday.

In other news we got a killer deal on some couches. This set is normally $1499.97 and we got it for $799. Also if we get the house in the post below, we will need some appliances which we just so happened to get a steal on as well.

That's all for now, we will keep you posted on the house :)

Future House?

2009-01-31T09:16:00.003-07:00

So this is the latest house that we have an offer on. It's located two blocks SE of the Mt. Timpanogos temple. It's beautiful with new carpets, granite countertops throughout, dark hardwood floors and sweet travertine tile. There is no fence, however, the backyard flows into a park that is shared with about 20 homes and is really cool. I hope we get this one...we should have a pretty good indication by Wednesday of next week.

ITS ABOUT TIME

2009-01-21T14:51:00.010-07:00

HELLOOOOO HOTTIE.

These are pictures from the family cruise we went on in December. It was so amazing to be away from the cold in Utah. Thanks Chuck and Kelly. What amazing In Laws.

A Cool picture my husband took at one of our stops.

Amazing food. Of Course we took a picture of it!

Brett's Favorite Place on the Ship :)

A Fort in Puerto Rico we went to.

The view from our room.

My sweet husband.

One of the formal nights with all the fam!

The beaches were amazing! Blue water, white sand, Awesome snorkeling.

Strawberries on icecream...not gunna happen.

2008-11-27T10:27:00.003-07:00

So Brett thinks its so weird that I like foods separate rather than mixed together. I love fresh strawberries and I like vanilla icecream, but I don't like strawberries on vanilla icecream. To make him understand a little better I said....Brett, I love you, and I love Jennifer Love Hewitt, but I don't like you ON Jennifer Love Hewitt. I think that cleared things up for him.

Winter Viking Heritage

2008-11-24T09:55:00.002-07:00

There's nothing like motivational viking speeches to bring in the Christmas spirit.

But alas, it was Sold Out

2008-11-10T17:12:00.002-07:00

Whelp. Body world was sold out. But we still got to eat at Tucanos which was so good....like I can't even describe how we felt when we were eating there. We also got to pick up Brett's new phone at some place in down town Salt Lake. We actually had to sit there for quite awhile....love you Brett :).... At least we got to see some Black people in Utah for once. :)

Anyways, for anyone who is planning on going to Body world...get tickets beforehand. It was packed Saturday night with no hope for us.

We go together like Traffic and Weather

2008-11-07T08:54:00.004-07:00

I thought I would pull a Mike and Jess and make a shout out to my wonderful husband.

I feel bad that I am gone so much with work and school, but Brett has been so great. He knew I really wanted to go back and get a degree and he has supported me all the way, with bringing me meals, sending me cute texts, and even volunteered writing a stupid Biology movie review paper for me (I won't tell you if he did that or not...ok he did...).
We are going on a date this weekend and I am so excited. I think the plan is Tucanoes and BodyWorld Exhibit to look at all the cadaviers!!! mmmm, eating meat and observing meat.
I love you Brett!!!

Sista Pictures

2008-11-04T22:38:00.006-07:00

My sister asked me to take some family pictures...here were some good ones I liked.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T15:44:00.002-06:00

Flava-flav's Halloween party

2008-10-27T19:15:00.004-06:00

Saturday night we had a get together at our new place. My husband decided to dress up as a Black guy off a tv show. It was pretty hilarious. I hurried and put a costume together and ended up being a CSI agent. I even set up a crime scene in the front entry way.

Our friend all dressed up as well....heres some pictures.

Mike and Kaila

Brad and Carmen

Mike and Jess...we didn't catch them with their costumes still on...Mike came in a pink tutu as Ace Ventura (hilarious!) and Jess was a cute witch.

My hott black husband....

Thanks for coming guys!!!! I hope you all made it home without getting killed off by creepy guy in black hat and sports coat....

ONE YEAR

2008-09-30T14:49:00.004-06:00

We made it! We can't believe its already been one year. Its been so fun and we can't wait for the next and the next and the next. Brett took charge and made reservations at the Garden Room, at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake for dinner. The food was soooo good. I got a roast with garlic potatoes and Brett for the Chicken Parmesan. Here's my adorable husband and his grood food.

Then, we spent the night at the Hilton. We made eachother cute gifts and had sooo much fun.

AND, we saved our cake and tried it for our year anniversary. It was kind of weird eating it, but it was actually not that bad. I forgot how cute our wedding cake was!!!

I love Brett and am so thankful for an exciting first year.

My new sweet baby - Jordyn!

2008-09-30T11:19:00.001-06:00

What do you think about my little new baby Jordyn?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

Our ugly baby

2008-09-30T08:55:00.001-06:00

What do you think about my little new baby Tanner?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

Vote for Melissa!!!

2008-08-19T11:18:00.001-06:00

My New Job!

2008-08-11T17:04:00.005-06:00

So as many of you know, I have quit the horrible life of a saleswoman at Digis and have moved on to bigger and better things. Job interview after job interview went by and I broke many companies hearts by denying them my services. I could only work for the best and they just didn't have what it took. Days, weeks, weeks and a half went by, and still no luck....

Then, it happened. I got the phone call. "Melissa, would you please come in and interview with us here at _________".

"Hellllllzzzzzzz yah," I replied.

So I interviewed, they loved me, I loved them, we laughed, we cried, we toasted to good life and great weather.

I started right away and I have found much joy in my new found career.

My job title: PROFESSIONAL TANNING BED OPERATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE
Yes thats right people, I hold the power of the sun.

So come on in and achieve your dream. Thelma comes in everyday, and I am proud to say that I am apart of this beautiful process.

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL

2008-08-08T11:58:00.003-06:00

It's that time of year again where football enslaves me. Every day I have to check the status of all my players and see how their practice went, if any of them are injured and see if any of them gave me a shout out in one of their press conferences.

You see, I have an alternative, no let's call it a "backup religion" that I am faithful to for about 7 months that is called, "The Second Holy Order of the Pigskin Euphoria," or more modernly referred to as Fantasy Football.

For years Tiki "Torch" Barber and "The Bulge," Marc Bulger, carried me away to fantasy football bliss. Where touchdown dances and screams of delight were often heard echoing from the chambers of my heart (as well as the chambers of my apartment complexes.)

The "torch" has since retired and is doing the today show or some crap like that, and the bulge got hurt pretty bad last year so they are will no longer be hoisting me up to heavenly heights, instead I will now fly on the wings of "Flyin" Brian Westbrook and the terrific tandem of Derek "I ain't nobody's Ho" Anderson and Braylon "You know what I'm sayin'" Edwards.

This team could be the next fantasy football hall of fame team for the books (I keep little books in my office). There will likely be more said on this matter forthwith, but for now I must go and practice my "Happy Dances" that will make the earth shake and the cherubs cheer!

Boston and the Be-yach

2008-07-16T15:55:00.000-06:00

Brett and I just got back from Boston. We stayed at a beach house in Salisbury. My grandparents rented one out for a whole week for all of the family (thanks NANA and BUBA!). It was a great trip and Brett and I did a lot of fun things.

Boogie Boarding was a Blast

BLUE MAN GROUP!!! The show was so fun. We got half off tickets because my aunts neighbor is in the show. Boston is the Blue Man Groups home town.

Bretty-poo Drinking Orange Crush...we drank a lot of orange crush!!

Working...I mean WALKING the Streets

and enjoying the awesome architecture!!!

It was a great vacation to the East Coast and we look forward to traveling to more of our beautiful country.

Happy Birthday America

2008-07-16T09:18:00.005-06:00

So this is kind of a late post...but, I went to the balloon fest on July 3rd and snapped some cool photos. Voila...

Stay tuned for tales of Boston...

Segways

2008-07-03T11:28:00.007-06:00

So we rode some segways....and it was fun. Behold our photos...

...Just like George "Gob" Bluth!

Weight Loss Challenge

2008-06-24T13:41:00.005-06:00

So, recently Brett's work had a "Biggest Loser" Competition. Brett ended up losing 45 pounds in three months!!! His before and after shots tell it all...

Before

After

Camping

2008-06-18T12:51:00.007-06:00

So we went Camping....and it was fun. Here are some pics.

Melissa holding a can of coke

Steve and Kaila roasting marshmallows

Steve and Danielle....looking afar

The snake Samuel found in our tent

and finally, the chipmunk that fired acorns out of a mini bazooka all...night...long.

Magnum PI, or Child Pornographer?

2008-06-06T16:38:00.003-06:00

So, we had this contest at work called, "Are You Magnum Enough?" The point of the contest was to get people to dress up like Magnum P.I., but really it was just an excuse to sport a mustache and Hawaiian shirt.

Some people actually pulled it off and looked just like him. Others....well, they kind of resembled "Chester the Molester." I happened to fall in that category. This was evident to me when I drove home from work. Like normal, I stopped to pick up the mail from our mailbox, which happens to be located right next to the pool. Well....let's just say when I got my mail, kind of hung out by the mailboxes and bit my lower lip, it creeped out a lot of people.

Marriage...Hazaaah!

2008-04-10T08:56:00.021-06:00

My sis got married on March 29, 2008 and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. All week long the weather channel said it would rain on her wedding day, but as it turns out, the skies were sunny and they had a beautiful ceremony at Mt. Timpanogos.

I had the pleasure of being their photographer and I had a blast. I took pictures all day! It was so much fun. Something interesting happened while they performed the ceremonial cutting of the cake. Typically the guy "delicately" feeds his spouse a piece of cake and in return she smears a bit on his face....well, let's just say this wasn't typical.

It started off with her taking a small piece of cake and feeding it...sort of delicately to him. She did, however, get a little on his cheek and when that happened - the hulk was unleashed! Donny got this look in his eye like, "I am going to get you good" and he picked up an ENTIRE piece of cake and smashed it on her face and hair. THEN he saw that there was still a bit more cake on the plate so he decided to give her round 2 and smoosh her again. The crowd was in AWE... myself included.

For all of you single people reading this, don't follow this example. Guys, I know you think it would be really funny to get cake all over your spouses's face, but hey, let's be serious. The nicer you are at the reception, the nicer she will be to you on your honeymoon...

(below are some random pics that I shot with a Canon Rebel Xti)

New Baby!!!

2008-03-01T10:32:00.004-07:00

Ashtyn Mya Griffin was born on February 14th at 10:30 PM. She weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz and was 20 inches long. We are excited to have a niece!!! In the picture is our only nephew, Gage. He is 6, and loves his Ipod. Hooray for babies!!!

Scion tC 2005

2008-02-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

So, we've been on this car quest for the last month trying to find a car that was equal to our beauty, speed and power...Behold! Our Holy Grail.

We bought this late 2005 model at Brent Brown Toyota in Provo last Saturday. It's a 2-door hatchback with lots of bells and whistles! Not your typical ones like power locks, A/C, cruise control etc...but additional cool asian features like blue neon lights for your feet, dual sun roofs and windshield Sudoko (one of those options is false).

We like it a lot and hope that it last a long time. We bought it for about 5,000 below Edmunds pricing, so if you really want to know what we paid, I guess you can go to the website and do the math.

Sarah Fotheringham....eat your heart out!

West Coast Cruisin

2008-01-23T09:25:00.001-07:00

On January 14, 2008 we were berthed...not from anyone's womb or anything, but rather our ship was berthed in the port of Los Angeles. That's right, this was our second cruise in less than six months - rock on!

Unlike our honeymoon where we had to entertain ourselves;) this cruise was with six of our friends (Steve & Danielle, Mike & Kaila and Jon & Gina). We had such a good time.

Our first day we just familiarized ourselves with the boat and enjoyed a nice dinner together. Our servers were Martina from Slovakia and Julio from the Philippines. All week long we laughed and had a good time with them.

That night in the ship's theater we saw a comedian who just had us all rolling. He was this tall black guy who kept ripping on...well just about every race you think of. I felt like I was watching all of the offensive episodes of Seinfeld in about 30 minutes - Hysterical!

San Diego

The following morning we docked in San Diego and decided to explorer one of America's most historical battleships - THE USS MIDWAY. We got a really cool audio tour of the ship that only set us back 15 bucks each and managed to take a lot of cool videos and pictures like this one below.

We learned a lot about what life was like in the military and how hard it would be to be away from loved ones for long periods of time. (Also we learned that they shower just like we do)

After a few hours we decided to abort the audio tour and we explored the top of the ship. On top of the ship they had 0ver 15 different airplanes that had seen service at some time over the last 50 years. It's every boy's dream to see these up close and I sure had a good time.

After our "three hour tour, a three hour tour" we headed down to seaport village with Jon and Gina. Melissa got a really cool ring that an old man made for her on the street and we started searching for the perfect Mexican Restaurant to eat lunch. We found out the nearest ones were 2o minutes and a $20 dollar cab fare away so we decided to just head back to the ship.

That night the Monarch of the Seas Singers and Dancers did a variety show that was really, really good. The pipes on some those people...phew! They could SING! After the show we just ate more food and then went to bed. All in all a great day not to be at work.

Catalina Island
Catalina Island isn't all what I pictured it to be. I thought it was just some small island with sandy beaches and cheap crap for sale. Instead, it was very mountainous with no sandy beaches and cheap crap for sale. Not to say I was disappointed, it just took me back.

We didn't do a whole lot on the island besides eating a delicious caramel apple and then walking to the casino (pictured above). On the back side of the casino is a little area where you can snorkle and feed the fish. I kept taking little pieces of my apple core and hucking them into the ocean. My goal was to have one of the seagulls snatch the apple core before it hit the water. As it turned out I ended up going 1 for 10 (it was the bird's fault).

Fatigue (and hunger) started to kick in again and the Stewart's and Jackson's decided to head back to the ship. The Cook's and Housley's, however, decided to rent bikes and ride around the island. Remember my comment earlier about the island being really mountainous? Well let's just say they rode on a lot of hills and were beat by the time they made it back to the ship.

That night we enjoyed another delectable dinner and we all tried escargot (snails) fried in garlic butter. They were actually quite good :) The entertainment that night was a singing/comedy impressionist who did a lot of diddies for the older crowd. I enjoyed his Neil Diamond and Jon Denver and so did the majority of the ship. Phew another day spent....one more to go.

Ensenada

So our camera ran out of batteries on Catalina, thus no pics of Ensenada. However, a friend was able to capture this magical moment when Mike and I came across this sign hanging in a window. Don't ask me where they got it, but it was buy 10 get 10 free so of course I took advantage of the deal.

Other than the "poop" for sale, we bought a cool starfish for our bathroom and a winter beanie for the cold. Not much else to do in Ensenada, besides buying cheap crap and eating tacos loaded with dysentery (I had three). So after a long day of haggling and looking at perverted stuff, we headed back to the Monarch.

Back on the ship we decided to go watch karaoke in the Boleros Lounge. We all went with the intent of laughing at other people make a fool out of themselves, but then for some strange reason we decided to be those fools. Steve, Mike and myself (not Jon...pansy) went up and requested a karaoke song. Not just any karaoke song, but "THE SONG." We sang Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and we brought the house down. Well, maybe not all the way down, but we did manage to get a group of 20-30 drunk Irish people off of their feet. Take a Look.

The next morning we ate a quick breakfast and headed home. We stayed in St. George that night and played a few grueling game of Settlers of Catan. If anyone is keeping track the Stewart's are up 5-1 on the Jackson's. Go us!!!

See you next time. Just take a look, it's in a book - A Reading Rainbow.

Honeymoon Cruising

2008-01-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

The Big Fat Temple Wedding

2008-01-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

So we finally tied the knot on September 28, 2007! Hooray for ordained marriage....anyway. That day was spectacular. We sealed our fates at 10 a.m. at the Mt. Timpanogos temple. Our sealer was Joseph McConkie (Bruce's grandson) and he did a magnanimous job.

Melissa looked smoking hot in her form fitting wedding dress. Owe, owe. When we walked out of the temple I was so excited to show off my smokin' hot wife, that I kept shouting out, "This is my wife! This is my wife!" We got our pictures taken and then headed off to the wedding luncheon at the....at the...well the name escapes me, but I'm sure it will come back.

For lunch we had chicken cordon bleu, rolls and some good salad. Once everyone had eaten, our parents said a little something, and then we watched our wedding video that her brother made (he did our pictures too).

A few hours later our reception was held at "Somewhere Inn Time." A nice little reception center in Lindon. Our reception seemed like eternity but it was good to see so many of our loved ones and to celebrate with them. When it was time to cut the cake, Melissa's true character emerged and I got a nice piece of cake to the face. When it was my turn to feed her, I however was gentle and made sure not to get any cake smeared on her dress or makeup :)

After the reception we were so hungry that we stopped at Arby's on our way to the Marriott because we didn't have a chance to eat at the reception. What a day....what a day...