Saying Goodbye:(

On December 24th, I said goodbye to my beloved horse Ross. And no, he didn't die - I just gave him to a little girl that could get more use out of him and take better care of him than I can. With Ross being old, he was needing more care than Riley and I could provide at this time. He needs a barn where he can be warm an dry and we just don't have that stuff yet. Although I was beyond sad to say goodbye, I'm so glad that he is sitting in a nice warm barn making another little girl the happiest little girl in the world.

For a while there, Ross became a taboo word for my family. Anytime someone brought him up I would get extremely upset and always ended up bawling and sometimes hyperventilating. My family quickly learned to avoid the topic.

Ross and I made so many good memories together. We traveled all over together, competed together, and had fun together. I would not have been half as good at roping as I was without him. He is an athlete and a competitor and made me better because of it. I think he wanted to win as bad as I did.

I know that I'll never replace him - I'll probably spend the rest of my life looking for something half as amazing as he was. I grew up with Ross and he was a huge influence on my life and the way that I've turned out. I'm sad to see him go, but I'm so grateful for the memories that we have together. I can't wait to go see him compete at the High School Rodeos this Spring.

Here are some pictures from my High School Rodeo days with my old boy Ross!!

December

Since I'm behind on blogging (again) I decided to just update the whole month. So here are all the events from December!

We started the month by vacationing in Las Vegas. We went to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) for 5 days. Riley was so excited that he got to meet these Rodeo Super Stars. The first one is Trevor Brazil and the second one is Tuf Cooper (for those of you who didn't know, we are big fans of both - we are even going to name our first boy Cooper).

I wanted to go to the Bellagio flower gardens. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't too impressed. But it did smell good in there! We took this picture by that card made completely out of flowers and plants.

The only picture we got of us on the Strip. We aren't really big Vegas people. We only enjoy doing the Cowboy things while we are down there. But what is a trip to Vegas without a walk down the strip. Too bad we were both in Cowboy Boots - both our feet were blistered after our "little" stroll.

The next big event was our Christmas Vacation. This picture was taken on Christmas Eve at my Parents house. My parents always throw the best Christmas Eve Party. I don't think I could ever miss it! This year we played games, ate tons of YUMMY food, (my dad's beef brisket and homemade BBQ sauce - enough said), played X-Box Connect, and had lots of fun chatting the night away. Pictured above is Zach, Riley and me, Callie and her new guy Dave, and Jake (who looks a little out of it - ha ha).

We spent Christmas day with Riley's family and had a blast! Little kids make Christmas so fun! We opened presents, went to the annual Coates family breakfast, played games (including food storage Bingo (my favorite)), and laughed our heads off. On a side note, our little Hazyn is already spoiled. She received her first doll from Grandma Julie and her first horse (stuffed) from Grandma Brenda (among several other things from the two). The best present that she got came from Papa Ron. Every year my dad goes to the Diamond Store and picks out the best jewelry for my mom, my sister, and me. We all love this tradition because it means so much. Well this year my dad included little Hazy in this tradition and got her first bracelet. It even match the neclace he got me. It may or may not have made me cry. I know she'll cherish it someday just like I cherish all the jewelry that my dad has given me through the years.

We had the best Christmas Vacation and enjoyed all the time we got to spend with our Awesome Families.

After Christmas, my awesome mom made the long voyage up to Logan to spend some time with me. Because of our location and need to visit both families when we go home, we haven't been able to spend as much time together as we would like:( But fortunately we are both teachers so Christmas Vacation was the perfect time to do that. (I've been a little homesick for my mom and I think she sensed that - so thanks Mom for coming to visit - It meant a lot). While she was up here, she was kind enough to tile my backsplash:) It looks awesome!! I can't believe how talented my mom is. I just handed her tiles while she did all the work - I bet you all wish your mom was this awesome!! She also took me shopping and bought a bunch of maternity clothes for me so that I wouldn't feel bad about myself.

I don't know what I'll do when I have to do this stuff by myself. (Actually, I know exactly what I'll do - I'll just pay someone to do it - ha ha).

And to finish off our December (and year), we attended a Team Roping for Riley. We thought it would be a little jackpot, but boy were we fooled. The Jackpot had 680 teams. We arrived at 9:00am and left at 10:00pm. And we even left before it was over. It sucks not being able to ride and rope too. But don't worry, I'll be back at it this summer. We'll just need to get one of the Grandmas to come with us to tend:)

2011 was a great year, but we can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us. We especially can't wait to meet our little Hazyn Jane!!

It's a....

We finally know what our baby is. And much to our surprise, it's a Girl! We were/are in shock still, but we are definitely excited! We are so shocked because the Wanlass history pretty much had me convinced that it was a boy. (Riley has all brothers and all of his brothers have all boys). I didn't care what we were having, but I secretly wanted to have a little girl.

The night before we went to get our ultrasound Riley told me that we are having a Girl. And then that night I had a dream that it was a little Girl. When we got to the ultrasound office, I was so excited. I laid down and the lady pulled up the screen with our baby. I had a hard time knowing what exactly what I was looking at, but Riley seemed to pick up on it a little better. After some time, Riley started saying I can't see anything there. (I still didn't know what I was looking at). After Riley stated that he couldn't see anything a couple times the ultrasound lady finally told is that it definitely was a girl. We both couldn't believe it. I made her keep checking - ha ha.

Our little Girl - who we've decided to name Hazyn Jane (pronounced Haze - en) - is an active little thing. She was going crazy kicking me. I hope she doesn't continue to kick that hard when she is bigger - it might hurt. But for right now I love feeling her little kicks. It is very exciting!!

For journaling purposes here are some fun things about my pregnancy so far..

• I haven't been sick at all and I feel so grateful. I know there are lots of people that get really sick so I'm glad I'm not one of them. (I think Riley is the most grateful because I'm not a very good sick person)


• The only time I get too emotional is when I think about my horse Ross. He isn't doing very good right now and it kills me every time I think about it. (In fact I shouldn't have brought it up because I'm crying again) Riley has banned me from the farm because it gets me too upset to see Ross be in pain.


• My students are really excited for me to have a baby - it's all they want to talk about (because they would like to get out of doing their math). They sometimes say funny things. One of my students told me that I didn't look fat, I just looked pregnant. I chose to take that as a compliment - ha ha!


• I still fit in my clothes (with a rubber band to help me button my pants). I am dreading buying maternity clothes and I don't know why.


• My family is so excited for little Hazyn. Someone from my family calls me everyday asking about the baby. Now that we know its a girl my mom has been going crazy buying stuff. Callie has been busy making plans for a baby shower and all the cute stuff she wants to make.


• I think Riley's family is still in shock that we are having a girl. They are pretty excited too. Julie can't wait to buy a doll:)


• I've only gained 2 pounds. I know that will probably change, but for now I'm pretty proud of that. Especially with how hungry I've been the past couple weeks.


• I can't wait to see Riley with his little girl. He is so excited. He always tells me that Hazyn is going to be a daddy's girl and that I don't stand a chance. I know that he is probably right too (even though she'll be a mommy's girl too).

To sum it all up, we are so so so excited to be having our baby girl Hazyn. We both feel very blessed! Now if May will just hurry up and get here:)

It's About Time...

We are so excited to announce that we are having a baby. And Can I just say that is it about time! I've always wanted to be a mom and when Riley and I got engaged, we made a plan of when we were going to start having kids. Well, Heavenly Father had a different plan in mind because it took us over a year and a half to finally get pregnant. Even though this is my journal, I'll spare the details. I'll just say that going through infertility is humiliating, depressing, and the biggest roller coaster of emotions. After lots of frustration, I finally decided to switch doctors. Dr. Olsen was a huge answer to our prayers because he finally found out what was wrong, put me on clomid, and a month later we were pregnant.

We had our first ultrasound today and got to see our little "peanut" as Riley called it. It was neat to see it's little heart beating. I'm 9 weeks and due May 15. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father answered our prayers and has blessed us with the opportunity to be parents. We can't wait!!

A New Sister (In-Law)

On 9/10/11, Riley's Brother Daniel got married. We are so happy for him and his new Bride (my new sis-in-law) Sierra. Rain threatened to ruin the day, but the heavens opened up and Daniel and Sierra's day ended beautifully. Enjoy the pics from the day!!

Project Update

Well I'm totally lame because I finished this a while ago, but I haven't blogged about it. So here is the finished Night Stand Project.

Project Sneak Peak

Here is a Sneak Peak at the project I've been working on. It doesn't look like much here, but I'm almost done with this night stand and it already looks awesome. Pics of the finished product to come. . . .