the first of many

Most people like to keep track of baby's firsts - first tooth, first steps, first word, etc - because these are fun and exciting moments, not only the baby's life but the parents' lives as well. However, there's one more first that our theater family likes to keep track of...Baby's First Show! (This is especially the case when daddy is in the show.) Baby was only eleven days old.

There's a choir in Logan, Utah called the American Festival Chorus, founded and directed by USU's Caine College of the Arts Dean, Dr. Craig Jessop, (former conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). They perform different kinds of concerts throughout the year. In October 2013, they had a Family Pops Concert for Halloween. 

My husband is known for playing the Cat in the Hat in Seussical the Musical at USU. It was a fun play and a great character that fit him perfectly. Dr. Craig Jessop, (who highly complemented my husband's Cat in the Hat performance) asked if he would like to return as the Cat in the Hat and be the guest performer for the Family Pops Concert. Of course my husband said "Yes!" As the Cat in the Hat, my husband would be the MC for the show (speaking in rhyme of course) and would sing the ending of a Disney melody ("Friend Like Me" - Aladdin).

We made our way back to Logan for the weekend, this time with our brand new baby. We loved showing our baby the city where we spent the last four years of our lives. My husband had a couple of rehearsals to attend so I played with baby and showed him off to our friends.

Saturday morning I woke up with pain in my stomach. I knew exactly what it was but it had never come this bad. I was scared and didn't know what to do. We went to the doctor and I explained that I knew why I was having the pain and I just wanted something to fix it. (The pain also made sense due to my recent delivery...and I hadn't taken any stool softeners.) However they decided to be more cautious and sent me to the ER. The doctor there had me get some x-rays and later informed me that he was worried it was appendicitis. After discussing options with me, he decided to have me tested for it, which could have taken 6-8 hours. I promptly said no. I knew what it was, I wanted something to treat it, and I wanted to get out of the hospital. My husband had a rehearsal to be to and I didn't want to miss his performance that evening. After giving me a disgusting drink, we left the hospital. A short while later, my system was cleared and I was feeling better. (The doctor called me later that week making sure I was still alive. :)

The performance had finally arrived. I couldn't find a babysitter but didn't mind taking my little one to the show. I was more worried about the people around me if he started crying. My seat was dead center. I hung out with my husband back stage as he got dressed for the show. Baby had a bottle after which I rocked him to sleep in my arms. I wished my husband good luck and made my way to the middle of the crowd. I'm sure I saw people's eyes saying "Oh great, a baby's sitting next to us."

But guess what? Baby slept through the whole show! Even the loud sounds of "Circle of Life" and the brilliant theme song of Darth Vader. The classic Disney songs kept him sound asleep on my shoulder. He missed the superheros - Spider-Man, Superman, Captain America, Batman - and the clone army, Princess Leia, Boba Fett, and Chewbacca. And sadly, he missed the Cat in the Hat's signing and rhymes and his hilarious battle with Dracula. It was such an amazing concert! After the show, three ladies told me that my son did a great job. They had so much adoration for my little eleven day old. They couldn't believe that I would bring such a tiny baby to the performance, but after I explained that his daddy was the Cat in the Hat, they agreed that he couldn't have missed it.

Afterwards, the kids at the show, all dressed up in their costumes, got to go out to the lobby and meet all the famous characters. My husband was loved by children and adults alike. Several people commented on the precious baby in his arms. He was a proud daddy! :)

 

 

Even though Baby slept through his first show, we will always remember our little Baby Link with his Cat in the Hat daddy!

the winds of change

It all began on October 14, 2013 when the doctor said, "I can strip your membranes."

"Huh?"

"It's not inducing. It's just hinting to the baby that it's about that time."

Sure enough, seven hours later I was in labor and four hours after that we were admitted to the hospital. With the amazing work of modern medicine (epidural) and the awesome help of wonderful people (my husband, my nurse, my doctor), we met our beautiful baby boy at 5:02 on the morning on October 15.

We will never forget the wonderful day our first baby joined our family. We went through rough nights and long days for the first few weeks but have learned much and grown in love. He became a happy baby who caught the attention of everyone around him. The months of November and December flew by as we watched our little man grow. 

But of course our lives continued to roll on. Halloween as Link, Zelda, and baby Link was a treat. We are thankful for family and a delicious Thanksgiving feast. I climbed my way to a milestone birthday. Christmas came and went with fun memories as a threesome. 

We continued on to a new year with more in store. My plan was to be a stay-at-home mom but when the opportunity of a job came up, I took it. Working with elementary kids and being done the end of May made taking the job an easy decision. 

In February, my husband made the trip to Chicago for graduate school auditions for the second year in a row. Both of us were nervous (me more than him), both of us worked hard for this (him more than me), and both of us hoped that this would be the year. He came home from Chicago with good feelings, high hopes, and lots of contacts.

Listening to a voice mail on February 23, 2014...

"I was going to call you tomorrow but realized I am going to be in meetings all day."

(Growing smile on my husband's face)

"I would like to invite you to join our MFA Acting program here at Florida Atlantic University in the fall."

(Excitingly jumping up and down grinning from ear to ear)

The feeling of relief and success washed over us both! Finally we had plans and could move forward. But that was only the beginning...

"We'd love to have you at Central Florida University."

"Indiana University is the place for you."

Plus six more offers! We were overwhelmed at the options. How do you make the choice of where to continue your education? Well, you visit the campuses, starting with IU then making your way to FAU and finishing with CFU. And don't forget to stop at Walt Disney World on the way.

During our trip it was clear that there was only one grad school for us.

Indiana University... HERE WE COME!

dear blog, i thought about you...

Dear Blog,

I know you are probably feeling neglected since I haven't shared the last few months of my life with you. You are probably thinking, "What did I do wrong?" Honestly Blog, it's not you - it's me. My life has been sideways and backways and frontways this summer. This is no excuse to avoid you. I want you to know that through it all I did not forget about you.

I thought about you when rehearsals for the Utah Festival Opera started the last day of May. It was the last day of my job at the elementary school. I went from being busy to bored while my husband went from being bored to busy. He was gone a lot, which left plenty of time for me to talk to you. But things kept coming up which stopped me for doing so. I started babysitting three adorable boys, just a few times a week for the summer. I celebrated four years of a wonderful marriage with my husband, (which I did talk to you about. You're welcome.) And I celebrated with my sister-in-law during several events - a shower, a bachelorette party, a temple session - which ended with her marring her best friend during record breaking heat. I thought about you while I was sweating.

Blog, I also thought about you when the 21st season of the Utah Festival Opera opened the second week in July. I saw all four shows within a week. I wanted to give you a review of the shows and let you know how incredible they all were. I looked forward to seeing the operas again and really enjoyed Othello. It was performed in Italian and had an enticing story line. The Fiddler on the Roof was fantastic, especially with Michael Ballam as Tevye. My husband played a Russian soldier and did great, even though he was only in the first act. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was my favorite of all the shows and I saw it three times. My husband played Naphtali, one of the brothers, and was so much fun to watch. They made the show a big song-and-dance production and everything about the show was incredible! My husband and I enjoyed the company of several family members who came to see the shows and are so grateful for the support. I'm sorry I didn't share this with you sooner Blog, or you could have come to see the shows too.

The craziest thing that happened this summer was packing up our apartment of four years and moving to Sandy, Utah. I thought about you Blog, during our move, as I went through so many emotions that I wanted to share. We started moving things down as early as June. Anytime we drove down to be with family, we would pack up the car with boxes. It was hard to watch our stuff go but it hadn't hit me yet that we were leaving our home. The first weekend of August we had a moving sale to get rid of a lot of stuff including most of our furniture. Blog, this was really fun for me. I loved bargaining with people and running the sale. Once it was over and the left overs were taken to the DI, we packed up everything and did the final cleaning touches. It was then I realized that my first home of four years was gone. I thought about you when the tears came, but we knew it was time to leave our home.

Blog, the most exciting thing of the past few months has been watching our little baby and me grow. I thought about you after several doctor appointments, especially the ones with ultrasounds. I thought about you when he first kicked and when he first pushed his knee out. But I mostly thought about you when I've had the wonderful impressions that life is such a miracle. It is so amazing to read about baby's development week after week. I still have hard time comprehending how much he grows while I just live my life normally. I know that my Father in Heaven is a huge part of this process and I am so grateful for the experience to carry our little guy inside me. We only have about four weeks left until we meet baby. Blog, I cannot wait to meet our little guy! And the best part about all of this is that I have a husband who truly supports and love me and baby. He will make a wonderful father and I look forward to seeing my man hold our little man for the first time.

I think about you now Blog as we are all settled into our new place. We are happy to be closer to family, have jobs that are keeping us afloat, and count down the time till our son is with us. We still have uncertainty for the future and I will be sure to do my best to include you in it.

Yours always,
Theatre Wife

P.S. Here are some pictures to help you visualize.

25 weeks at the Hike with Mike

Sweatin' at the Weddin'

Pres. Monson came to see Fiddler. Michael Ballam as Teyve.
My husband is the one in back that looks like Mario. :)

Yard Sale experts!

the do and don't of your four year anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our four year anniversary this past week. We wanted to go away and stay the night somewhere but with a baby on the way and my husband's crazy rehearsal schedule, we decided to make the celebrating simple and go big next year. And although we had an amazing day, there are some do's and don't's to the four year anniversary celebration.

Do start the celebrating early by going to see a great movie, especially since your husband was dying to see it. Hold his hand during the movie, make a few funny comments, and spend the drive home discussing the content of the movie, (like how Superman finally asked Jor-El why he didn't come with him to Earth and Jor-El vaguely answered the question).

Don't go see the movie at 10:00 o'clock the night before causing you to finally fall sleep at 1:00 AM, then waking up early the next morning because you have to go the bathroom...cause you're pregnant.

Do eat out for every meal, especially if you love food as much as we do. Head to Kneaders for breakfast and eat their delicious all-you-can-eat cinnamon french toast with strawberries. Head up Logan Canyon for dinner to Garden City where there's a little burger joint with famous raspberry shakes and an overlook of Bear Lake. Love every bite of the raspberry shake and yummy cheeseburger, feed the seagulls your extra fries, enjoy the conversation, and look over at your husband and think to yourself, "I love this guy. I am so happy he is my best friend."

Don't go eat at KFC for lunch. It'll be a good laugh and okay food but you will have a tough time deciding what to order and have a discussion with the cashier about how you don't want a drink but instead want another side because you were expecting two sides in the first place...it was frustrating. You will then spend your meal in the company of several elderly people and a semi clean building. At least you are with the love of your life who helps you find a way to laugh about the whole thing.

Do enjoy a beautiful drive up and down Logan Canyon. Spend the time together talking about your baby, your lives together, the future, and memories from the last four years.

Don't almost hit a deer on the way home. The deer will clear the road before you pass him, but it will give you a little scare. Also, don't be mad if your husband passes gas in the car. Let him be considerate and say he's sorry before he does, and then roll down the windows to help get rid of the smells. You'll laugh about it because you've been married for four years and are totally comfortable with each other's bodily functions...totally...

Do give each other gifts. Take your husband shopping for some new shirts because he mentioned he wanted some green ones. Enjoy seeing him in different outfits and telling him how great he looks. Love the gift he gives you which is a Willow Doll with a husband and wife, both have a hand on the wife's pregnant stomach. Love the fact that he's given you one every year and how this one is so perfect because you are excited to be starting a family together.

Don't wear yourselves out by walking around four different stores, especially because you are tired from staying up late. But because you're feet are hurting so bad, but...

Do take a break, sit on the couch, and play Mario Party 9 on the Wii. Almost get your butts kicked by the computers until the very end when the tables are turned and you end up winning first and second.

And of course,
Don't forget to tell your husband you love him and you have enjoyed the last four years and look forward to eternity.
Don't forget to tell your husband that you are excited to start a family with him and that he will make the perfect daddy for your little ones.
Don't forget to write down everything so you can remember what a wonderful day you had with the love of your life.
Don't forget to end the day with the ultimate expression of love, letting him know that you are his forever.

Last but not least,
Do let you husband cut off the skin tag in your armpit, which he's been asking to do for the last four years. That's true love right there.

Enjoy your four year anniversary!

oh boy, oh boy

Well, hopefully this is old news to most of you but ... 

It's a boy!

We went to the doctor about a week and a half ago for the famous midway ultrasound. Going in I was pretty sure it was a boy. And he wasn't shy at all to let us know that he is a boy. Although, he didn't want us to show us his head, so we'll have to go back in for another ultrasound. Silly baby. :)

Besides seeing his ... friend ... I was amazed at how much of him we could see. We saw his heart beating; we saw his bladder and kidneys; we saw his spine and thigh bone; we saw two legs and two arms; we even caught a tiny look at his nose and lips. But this was by far my favorite picture of the day - his tiny little footprint in the sand. 

Isn't it adorable?! There's a life inside me!

At only 19 weeks, he's already developed so much and he's still growing. He's wiggling and hiccuping and starting to work his organs. He's an amazing little guy! 

We love our little guy and can't wait to meet him.

Four and a half more months!

as we call it - gradumacation!

He's done it! 

My husband has graduated!

I told him to look all excited and this is what I got. 

I guess the fist pump says everything it took in four years to graduate from college. :)

My husband graduated from Utah State University two weeks ago. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Theatre Education with a minor in Spanish Education. It was a really fun day for us and I'm so proud of him.

The day started up on the Quad where all the graduates met to line up for the processional. I met up with some family along the processional route to wait for the star of the show to pass by us. The processional was lead by the our country's flag and drummers. Once I found my husband in the crowd, he blew me a kiss. :)

The University ceremony was held in the Spectrum and luckily we sat on the same side as my husband. We found him quickly among the sea of grads. The keynote speaker was the President of  Nike, Charles Denson, who is also an Aggie. It was a wonderful ceremony.

We followed this with a fantastic lunch. And I mean fantastic! We went to Gaucho Grill, a Brazilian restaurant, who brought us a full array of delicious meats and served us with yummy foods. They even brought my husband the Aggie special, a blue fruity drink. I'm pretty sure we all walked away with full bellies.

The highlight of the day was the Caine College of the Arts ceremony. It started off with the USU Scotsman Pipe and Drum Corps, followed by all the college graduates and several faculty members. Since Theatre Arts starts with a T, my husband was third to last...but we found him. The valedictorian is a good friend of ours and she did an incredible job, especially since her speech was misplaced and she was improvising. The Teacher of the Year is a guitar professor and decided that he would feel more comfortable playing and singing rather than speaking. Splendid idea! He sang the Graduation Blues, a song he wrote, which had the entire audience laughing. My husband's name was read loud and clear as he proudly walked across the stage, receiving hugs from both his department head and the college Dean, Craig Jessop.

And of course, once the tassels were turned, the party music came on and streamers were flying. Celebrate good times! And you can't graduate from Utah State without finishing off with some Famous Aggie Ice Cream. :)

I am so grateful for wonderful family and friends who support my husband and me in our journey through life. We will miss Utah State terribly but we are on to bigger and better things. (Like seeing Iron Man 3 in 3D because that's the only thing my husband wanted to do to celebrate his graduation.)

that little thing called life

A lot has happened in the last three months and all I can say for is:

That's life.

Whether good or bad, it's just life. Things happen. 

Blessings and trials come our way and we learn and grow.

So let's start at the beginning.

THE TRIP

We went to Chicago the first week of February so my husband could audition for grad schools. It's this big shindig called URTA. (Long story short, all the schools accepting show up in one place for auditions instead of us going from school to school to school to audition. Smart idea.) My husband received callbacks and six interviews. He saw a total of 14 schools and felt confident with a couple of them. We spent two days auditioning and three days seeing the Windy City. It was a great trip.

The Silver Bean was my favorite thing we saw.

THE JOY

The day we got back from Chicago was a pretty memorable day for us. It was the day we found out that I was pregnant. Yep, we're expecting! I'm currently 13 weeks and feeling good. We went to the doctor three weeks ago and got our first ultrasound. It felt so good to hear, "There's a little one in there." Pretty much melted my heart. My husband got to see the screen and both he and the doctor commented on how baby was so wiggly and jumpy. He's definitely my husband's baby...performing in the spotlight. 

We're due Oct. 14th.

THE SAD NEWS

The baby is really exciting news for us and we've been really happy to tell our family and friends. However, we've had some sad news to share with them as well. My husband made a trip at the end of February to visit Penn State and Columbia for further auditions. We also went to Las Vegas the first weekend in March to tour UNLV. He received great comments and felt comfortable with several schools. He received an offer from a school in London but it wasn't the program he's looking for. And he received an offer from Savannah College of Art and Design but they offered very little to no financial help. As the weeks went on, we kept receiving "thank you, but no thank you" from school after school. It wasn't until after University of Houston that we finally accepted our fate - we will not be attending grad school in the fall. 

This is how we feel about it.

THE NEXT STEP

But since we've accepted our fate, we've come to realize it's a blessing in disguise. With our first baby on the way, it will be really nice to have my husband around to share in the adventure with. So what's next for us? Well, we will be Logan until at least mid-August because my husband has signed on for another summer with the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre Company. (He's a brother in Joseph and ensemble in Fiddler on the Roof and the opera The Flying Dutchman.) Then we'll make a move to the Salt Lake valley where my husband will have more professional acting opportunities. 

My acting man in Twentieth Century.

THE LOVE

Although things haven't gone according to plan for us these last few months, we are grateful to have gone through it together. 

Forever and for always.