Pregnancy Update

I am almost 8 months pregnant.. i know crazy how fast time goes. I feel like this pregnancy has flown by without many issues.. (SO THANKFUL) But it also feels like as i get bigger and closer to my due date its slowing to a stop! Carter is getting so big, i feel his hiccups almost everyday now! He moves so much and is getting SO powerful with his punches and kicks! He is such a chill baby in comparison to stories ive heard about my friends babies in the womb. If i put any pressure on my belly he usually moves away from it and settles somewhere else rather than getting antsy or mad at the random pushes from me!

Carter LOVES his daddy. Jus will lay close to my belly and talk to him and he goes crazy! he'll move so much ill have to call it a night because hes kicking my ribs and then a few seconds later hes punching my hip bone! it hurts so bad but i love it and wouldnt trade that feeling for anything in the world! Its so amazing to know he is a living being that can respond to stimuli from the outside such as touches from me or daddy or light from our phones. HE IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL BLESSING TO EVERYONE IN OUR LIFE!!! Both justins and my parents are counting the days until they meet him for the first time!!!

As much as I love my son, MY BODY HURTS!!! there are a few things that have gotten me through up until this point! a few of them are...

APPLES AND PEANUT BUTTER.. my biggest craving... and OMG if i go a day without my dear apples and peanut butter i feel like i might lose it! :)

My beloved body pillow.. its way nicer than this one in the picture, but for entertainment value i chose this because she looks like she is VERY rested.. haha! my one and only is black and soooo incredibly soft. If i get out of bed to use the restroom at night it never fails that when i come back jus is wrapped up in it! hahaha.. its safe to say he loves it just as much as i do!

Frozen yogurt.. my favorite place to get this is now USwirl.. i usually get a full cup of cake batter frozen yogurt with either berries or the a chocolate overload with reeces and kit kat chunks! It quenches the sweet tooth that helps contributes to my weight gain! haha

My best friend, the heating pad!!! Ive had pretty intense lower back pain since around 24 weeks so i use a heating pad more than once a day! Jus also learned some techniques in our birthing class that help to relieve the pain i have in my sciatic nerve! Im so thankful for modern technology!

My brother recently got married, and between traveling to moscow for U of I games, and portland for the wedding i have been SO exhausted! This picture is of me at 27 weeks at my brothers wedding!

AND THIS IS MY INCREDIBLE HUSBAND.. our good friend ashley has a beautiful baby girl that justin absolutely adores! This picture is of jus at a Vandals game holding kyah in her carseat and her diaper bag. HE LOOKS SOOO HUNKY! he is so excited to meet his son, and get to be a daddy! He makes me smile everyday knowing how incredible he is going to be as a husband and a daddy!!!

This pregnancy has hard times intertwined with AMAZING ones... it has been all smiles and roses and sunshine, but i wouldnt trade our experience for the world. I have made it through with the support from my wonderful husband and his never ending support, my incredible parents and mother in law, and my girl friends who have given me their extra baby clothes and advice!!!

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!!! 70 DAYS UNTIL DUE DATE.. 49 UNTIL FULL TERM!!!!

The adventures of the HOMEOWNERS!!!

THIS IS DEF A BUYERS MARKET!!!! I should start out by saying that.. and thanking our realtor/our parents for being such a huge help in the entire process!!

If i had to describe the experience we had buying our house, i could simply say it went relatively smooth in comparison to what i had imagined. Luckily we knew our realtor very well and he was so dedicated to our search. Justin was out of the country playing baseball through the entire process so having doug (our realtor) and my parents was what made the process so enjoyable.

It started on a wednesday, where myself, doug, and my mother in law went out and looked at almost every available property in the boise/meridian/kuna area. That could have been the longest day EVER.. We looked at great houses out in Kuna but didnt want to have that travel time everyday. We saw houses that were bank owned and WOW did they need alot of work on both the yard and the house itself. I decided right from the start that we werent going to offer on any house that would be called a "fixer upper". I know being pregnant and eventually new parents that we wouldnt have the time or money that it takes to fix up that type of house the way i would want. With that decided doug still wanted me to see all my options so we viewed those properties but its safe to say we werent there for more than 5 minutes each. We saw two really cute houses in Kuna but like I said we were looking for something more central to both of our families. Our third property is now OUR HOUSE!!! the minute i walked in i knew one, my husband would LOVE it.. two, its a perfect house to raise a family in.. and third, IT WAS BASICALLY BRAND NEW!!! the owner was actually the original contractor who built the house. he bought it back from the bank and put all new carpet, paint, and appliances throughout the entire house and then resold it to us.

There are so many positives to where the house is located. Its in Charter Pointe neighborhood which has multiple playgrounds, walking paths, parks, a huge clubhouse with a pool and workout facility. We also have neighbors on one side of the house which makes our house very quiet! I love that its a little out of the city and the traffic is like old school cloverdale/eagle... we have pauls right down the street as well as a walgreens and maverick! NOT TO MENTION THERE IS DESERT SAGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HALF A MILE AWAY FROM OUR HOUSE AND INSIDE CHARTER POINTE.. i would love to walk carter to school everyday or even use my degree and walk to work with him!

Jus did a great job painting practically every room in the house because im insane about colors on the wall and making a house a home. He is such a patient and amazing husband. Im sure he wanted to scream at me and say THIS HOUSE WAS JUST REPAINTED but he held his tongue and knew how much it meant to me that we made it OURS together... this is the kitchen.. i cannot wait till little man is sitting in that high chair!

This is one of my favorite parts of the house.. A WALK IN CLOSET OF MY VERY OWN! of course i have to share a little of it with jus, but its mostly ALL of my clothes :) you know you have hit adulthood when you own a house with your OWN walk in closet!!! on the right side of the closet where you cant see there are shoe shelves that i also fill up very easily!

All in all the whole process went abnormally smooth. The only speedbumps we encountered were the seller getting a few things on the house fixed before the closing date, which he didnt and we had to trust him to finish it (which he did come and finish everything on the list). We also had to deal with jus being away in canada and signing papers and having them notarized and overnighted back.. IT WAS A HUGE HASSLE.. and then he came home the day before signing so all the work we did to get those papers was not needed! hahaha its soooooo us though..

Im so thankful to own my home in this economy and were actually saving money each month by owning our own home compared to the rent we were paying for a small townhouse. This is such a beautiful blessing to have our house to bring baby carter home to! He will know the love we have for him and i hope he feels it in our house!

A Year Full of Memories, Crammed Into 5 Months!!

All my life, Ive been the child who did things in life very backwards. The person who would rather have a small wedding, a small house, but so much love that it would make the happiness continue through all the days of my life. In the past 5 months I have...

1.Graduated from college with a bachelors degree
2.Married my best friend and better half
3.Bought a new SUV
4.Found and bought a house in one month
5.AND FOUND OUT I AM GOING TO BE A MOMMY TO A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE BOY

now most people have stages in life they complete before attempting to take on the next, but thats never been my style... EVER!

I guess I should start from the beginning...

This has to be one of my best memories to date. I had worked so hard to graduate from college, and over a 4.5 year time span and 20 credit semesters i finally achieved my goal. My final GPA was a 3.45 which means i missed honors by .5 of a point.. BUMMER.. but to be walking across that stage with my parents and aunts, uncles, and cousins it meant the world to me. It was the first thing in my life i had worked at for over 4 years and ACCOMPLISHED.. oh and i was 8 weeks pregnant here too! haha

Then came justin leaving.. he left early may for canada to play baseball. One thing i can say is that yes, distance may make the heart grow fonder.. BUT IT SHOULDNT HAVE TO HAPPEN THE FIRST YEAR OF A MARRIAGE! haha we have had our fair share of the ups and downs while jus has been gone, mostly good.. but i will be honest and say he does look mighty fine in baseball pants.

THEN COMES THE GOOD MEMORIES FROM THIS SUMMER.. jus was unfortunately hurt and came home for a month. it sucked because i knew his heart wasnt home, it was with his team playing ball, but we enjoyed getting a chance to be together and make memories. One friday jus, myself, and my parents all packed up and went up to mccall for a weekend. it was really relaxing and fun to get driz our puppy into the water. the weekend went too fast.. LIKE IT ALWAYS DOES WHEN YOURE HAVING FUN.. but well have to go again sometime soon.

This is our first house! Its bittersweet for me, i mean of course i adore it and the location, but i cannot lie and say making the purchase without justin really broke my heart. If youve ever had to buy a house, you will know how detailed it is, and truly how time consuming the entire process can get. I have been very fortunate that this experience has been postive. I found the listing on one of the first days i started our search, and went to see it within 24 hours. After walking around the home I knew instantly that this was something both myself and justin would love. We put an offer on it on a thursday night and by friday morning we had signed the contract saying it was ours. talk about a fast process. the seller has been SO helpful and so willing to do the things ive asked of him. The bittersweet part comes to play when i sit and think about all the things a newly married couple gets to do together. One of the biggest first memories is buying a house and going through that process together. I knew had to act on this deal quickly or we would lose our chance, but it didnt make it any easier having to go at it alone. Justin is also in canada most of the time so it makes even communication on the phone a challenge due to international phone bill costs. He did get to see our house before we put the offer in and he agreed it was perfect for us. All in all im very glad I was able to find this for my family, i just wish we could have done it together and shared the satisfaction in knowing WE did it together.


This year has been a whirlwind.. but i would change it for anything. I have the best parents and inlaws anyone could ever ask for, a husband who is amazing, a puppy who i adore so much, a HOUSE closing on august 26th, its about to be football season which means tailgates and amazing food, A job with amazing children and my best friend Kyrie, and a little boy i love so much it hurts.. CARTER OWEN MACE. (which by the way ladies an update with little man.. HE IS GETTING SO BIG! he weights about a pound now and i feel him moving and grooving all the time!!! over halfway done which means about 18 more weeks to go!)


My quote lately has been..

"If God leads you to it, He'll get you through it.."

HAVING FAITH IN EVERYTHING AND KNOWING I CAN MAKE IT UNTIL SEPTEMBER AND OUR HOUSE CLOSES AND MY HUSBANDS HOME.. EVEN IF ITS A LITTLE MISERABLE AND STRESSFUL RIGHT NOW!

Our Prince Charming: Carter Owen Mace

My Husband and I found out today we are expecting our first baby BOY!!! We couldn't wait until the normal 20 week ultrasound that our OB gives, so we chose to go to Fetal Fotos for an early gender scan! We walked in and it was very peaceful in the office. The staff was so sweet to us from the word go.. (we had both my parents there to witness the u/s) which can be a lot when your crammed into a room trying to get pictures of a baby! Lisa our u/s tech was so caring and took her time to really explain what everything was that we were looking at. First she wanted to get a really good profile of our baby for us. Of course Jus and I wanted to know the sex right away, but she took her time which we actually valued because we enjoyed the u/s more!

This is the profile shot she was able to take of our baby! He was so squirmy and moved so much! it was incredible to see because the last time we saw our lil jelly bean he was 7 weeks along and didnt move at all! As she worked to get his hearbeat I saw a peak at his lil parts and i knew INSTANTLY he was a boy! I kept quiet though because i didnt want to get daddies hopes up and be wrong! I let Lisa ask Jus and my parents if they were ready to know what we were having! Of course they all were like YES! TELL US! and she asked me if i knew and i said ohhh yea, i saw the boy parts a little earlier! She laughed and agreed and said, "THIS IS ALL BOY FOR SURE!" at that point jus was laughing with excitement because ever since he was old enough to contemplate babies of his own he's always wanted to have a son to play baseball with and im so thankful we could create that for him!

He is all boy... which doesnt surprise me since his papa is so manly! :) I was in aw of how beautiful our children were going to be if they looked anything like Jus when he was a little boy.. he had golden blonde hair and a smile that could melt his mama's heart! I just know he is going to pass that heartmelter mentality onto our baby boy! <3 After she was able to 100% tell us were having a boy she kind of rested the u/s device on my belly which made him not move as much, and we were able to get an amazing shot of our baby stretching!

We were also able to count his little toes which is amazing to me because he is only about 5 inches from head to bummy right now so those toes have to be VERY TINY.. but they were so defined and all 5 were there on the foot we could see :) I am starting to grow everyday and i love it so much! I havent been able to feel the baby very much.. (if i am even feeling him at all) I actually just guess im feeling him but i never know if its gas.. haha I found out today i have an anterior placenta which means it sits in between the baby and me.. it might make feeling his kicks hard and i might have to wait longer to feel them regularly! that is a bummer but we have a home doppler and that makes it so much easier when you get worried in between doctor visits! :)

This is my 15+4 Week Belly!

All in all my life is so beautiful right now! I couldnt ask for a more supportive husband or family! my parents have been through this pregnancy right by my side and without them i dont know what i would have done this summer with jus gone for baseball for some time. I am so excited to have the baby shower and decorate the nursery! Its going to be a battle though because jus is SET on baseball and i am SO artsy i want to do something vintage and fun! haha but a dad and his boy is something that i marvle at.. he makes me a better person, and for that, this baby is going to be so loved and taken care of! It seems like yesterday i had a sorta pink line on that pregnancy test, and now to know we created a baby BOY together, it blows my mind! At times in a person life, you reflect on the joys around you.. my joys are so simple but so meaningful and the very same time. I have a husband who i adore, and who treats me so beautiful every single day. I have a mom and dad who would do anything to see me happy and healthy.  A brother and sister in law who make me smile just thinking about them. A brother in law who cares about his family more than he does himself. A mother in law that most arent lucky enough to enjoy. Amazing and loyal friends who have stood by me and jus through this whole marriage and pregnancy. And last but CERTAINLY not least... A son, a beautiful, growing, SON!!!!!! <3 Im thankful for what i have and whats to come!

MY AMAZING PARENTS... HOW DID I GET SO BLESSED!!!

The Magical Growing Belly ♥

The Day We Found Out We Were Expecting.. So Tiny Still But Daddy Loves Baby!!!

In the past few months my belly has been magically growing! IMAGINE THAT! haha I have always had a very small and petite waist and tummy but within the first 3 months it has grown tremendously! I LOVE SEEING MY BELLY GROW EVERYDAY! i know alot of it is bloating and gas inside my belly but even having a belly at all makes this pregnancy more real!

right at 7 weeks

about 9 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks



11 weeks



 I am counting down the days until i feel lil peanut kick and move.. 8 more weeks until we know whether youre a boy or a girl.. THEN THE SHOPPING BEGINS! you'll be moving and grooving well before daddy gets home.. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH ALREADY!!

Drizzy.. THE PUPPY!

THE FIRST DAY WE HAD HER!!!

before Jus and I moved into the townhouse we decided that we wanted to expand our family and add a new member! I have had a dog of my own previously which I no longer own (my aunt fell in love and cyrus became a member of their family) and it made me nervous to think i was entering the puppy stage of things again! I was SO worried our new addition would tear up the carpets and furniture or worse eat my clothing or shoes.. not to mention the potty training aspect! Jus has had a dog as well but his all ended up running away (ANOTHER ISSUE I WAS WORRIED ABOUT!) haha when we decided on drizzy we knew we were in for some sleepless nights! We picked her up from her first family at 8 weeks of age and instantly i fell in love! she is a cuddler from the word go, and really wants to be close to anyone as much as possible! she is a bulldog/lab mix which is really unheard of but its a GREAT mix if you ask me! she has the smarts of the lab and the cuteness of the bulldog! The fear that i had about potty training and the messes i foresaw werent really an issue at all! she had a few accidents in the beginning but when we brought her over to my parents house and introduced her to my parents older dog she picked up on the potty training right away! She hasnt had an accident in over 3 months which is a BLESSING!!!!



jus with driz the second day we had her!



Jus is such a good papa to drizzle and our families love her so much! she is a love bug and in the last few weeks i got to see her interact with a baby! SHE DID AMAZING! i was worried if she would be able to handle herself considering she is a puppy still, but i was so surprised how well she did! We still are leary of how she will handle a crying unhappy baby though! hahah but who likes crying anyways! ;) she is now 6 months and still getting herself into trouble a little lately but when i listen to the babies heartbeat she is always right next to me and completely interested in whats going on! i have a feeling she will claim the new baby as hers and will protect him or her as she does me and her daddy!

one weird thing about drizzy: SHE LOVES SLEEPING ON CUSHIONS AND THE BACK OF COUCHES.. its a strange quark of hers.. but its our puppy for ya!

all in all were so very blessed to have her in our lives!!!

The Story Of Our Lives!



jus at age 10 (far right)


 Ive known my soulmate since the age of 12. We passed in and out of each others lives until over a year ago when God brought us together again. Justin and I met at catholic church when i was 12 and he was 14. We met again my sophomore year of high school during fitness class when Justin would ask if i ever needed a ride to school... (OF COURSE I SAID YES HE WAS A POPULAR HUNKY SENIOR) after a few weeks of bumming rides off of Jus and a few kisses later we parted ways and until almost 4 years later. Again, my Sophomore year of college i got a random text asking if i was in Boise. As always, i didnt respond because i had a boyfriend and wasnt interesting in finding out who this mystery text was from. Of course, it was Justin who has gotten my number off of facebook and was relentless when it came to being in contact! About a year later I was single but entering into a new relationship with a guy from the Boise area. Justin was up in Moscow for a weekend and asked if he could stop by my apartment with some friends. After all this hard work he had put in i decided to let him stop by.. (I WAS ALSO CURIOUS AS TO IF HE WAS STILL AS HUNKY AS I REMEMBER) well.. HE WAS HUNKIER THAN HE WAS BEFORE. Justin had filled out and was no longer the 6'5 150 pound boy that i remember from years past. We instantly hit it off but i was stuck in a new relationship that had just started. I gave that a shot as Justin had a girlfriend too but we couldnt stay away from each other. Eventually God's plan took over and both our relationships ended at the same time. I called to let him know i was now available and his very next words were, "SO YOURE MY GIRLFRIEND RIGHT?" haha i couldnt help but laugh on the phone! WHO DID HE THINK HE WAS?? I loved the confidence and that he KNEW he wanted to date me! within a week or two i was flying to California to see him during his pro ball season and we had sparks fly! I left Cali with a new pro baseball player boyfriend, but with that job title it also made me leary of where our relationship would go. Over that summer we saw each other 4-5 times and each time our relationship grew with love and trust. I loved traveling to Visalia California to see the one man that made me smile without needing to say anything at all.

Once Jus came home in September and we were closer together it was clear to both of us that this was something special. He would travel up to Moscow every weekend with my parents to tailgate and celebrate vandals home games! (OF COURSE IT WAS TO SEE ME TOO!) haha

I finished my bachelor degree in the middle of December and moved home and thats when Jus and i lived together for the first time! haha i remember the day i got home and i was unpacking my clothes Jus kept kissing me and kept saying, "It still feels like youre going to leave like you did to go back to school!" it was amazing to be around my best friend EVERY single minute! We had talked about getting engaged but agreed that the ring would be too expensive to have for this christmas and thats the last we talked about it! On Christmas eve night we open our presents as a tradition on my side of the family. We had just about finished opening all the presents that were under the tree when Jus looks at me and says, "There is one more present for you in your room!" I ran into my room like a 5 year old on Christmas morning and opened a giant box to find a piece of paper in it. Instantly im not going to lie i was a bit bummed... i was thinkin jewlery or SOMETHING! I folded the paper open and read it. I instantly started crying, the words on the page meant more to me than any jewlery every could. At the end of the letter he had written me it said, "Come out into the living room and ill show you how much you mean to me!" so i braced myself for what could be out in that living room. I took a deep breath and opened my bedroom door. When i turned the corner I saw my entire family now in the living room! Justins parents had showed up as well as his brother. He was pasing and when he saw me he smiled. He turned towards me and grabbed my hands and got down on ONE KNEE! he simply said, "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" and of COURSE i said yes! It was exactly the way i had always pictured that moment to turn out, and he was the only one i wanted to share it with!

So we had become engaged and now what! WE STARTED TO PLAN THE WEDDING! Jus had decided he was going to leave for another season of ball so that only left a fall or winter wedding for us! we decided on November 11, 2011! 11-11-11 &hearts; The wedding colors changed about a MILLION times in a two month time period but we had most of the beginning stages complete. We had rented a beautiful townhouse at the beginning of March and made lasting memories in our first "PLACE" together! Just after living in the townhouse for a month i felt a odd need to take a home pregnancy test! it was beyond me as to why because we never thought that would be in our future so soon! I took one on a saturday afternoon and it was negative! exactly like i had thought! we went out that night with our friends but there was something inside that said, "You can take a night off and be the DD!" so i hung out with my fiance and his friends but refused the shots that were handed out. The following day on monday i had the day off and Jus was at work. I was tidying the house and putting things away when i found the other at home pregnancy test. Of course when its laying there i decided to take it so we didnt have it taking up space. I took it and left it lying there for about 15 minutes because to be honest i forgot i had even taken it to begin with. When i walked back into the bathroom and saw a faint pink line in the positive section i actually stopped breathing! I thought, no way.. this isnt real! i waited until Jus got home and asked him if i was seeing things. he agreed that it looked postive and hugged me :) My HCG levels were screwy in the beginning which made the doctors a bit concerned that i might be experiencing a miscarriage. We waited two days to see if my levels doubled as they should... (THOSE WERE THE LONGEST TWO DAYS OF MY LIFE!) when the doctor called me on wednesday morning to say my levels went from 32 to 89 i could JUMP FOR JOY! WE WERE HAVING A BABY! being a first time mom and ever hearing the word miscarriage made me SO nervous that it could possibly happen! i fell in love with my future child instantly and it would be more than we could handle to lose it. &hearts; We went for our first ultrasound appointment 12 days before Jus left for ball and this is what we saw!



IT WAS A BABY!!! thats for sure... Jus had a smile from ear to ear when he saw his future peanut.. We saw the heartbeat and the tiny but very visible limbs.. it was something i will never forget and can only describe as life changing. I knew i had refused those free shots for a reason :) ever since this ultra sound its been more real to us future parents! we talk about boy or girl and names practically every single day and i cannot wait until i feel the flutters of my baby boy or girl kicking and moving inside. We had been planning on waiting to find out the sex until he or she made their grand enterance into this world. After making a much needed trip to babys r us with my madre i felt so overwhelmed with the amount of things a child needs. Jus and I then decided that we wanted to know, and be ready when the baby arrived! Im 11 Weeks 4 Days along, and have about 8 more weeks to go until we can know if we will call him carter or call her marleigh.. either way, that baby will be loved and cared for more than you can ever imagine! We were MARRIED on April 30, 2011 &hearts; It was a small ceremony at the catholic church we had met at when we were 12 years of age. It was absolutely beautiful and a day full of love! We plan on having a big fancy wedding inviting all of our friends and family after the baby arrives! a double celebration, of love and life! &hearts;

A LIFETIME OF LOVE.. THATS WHAT WE HAVE! I AM SO VERY BLESSED AND SO VERY LOVED BY MY HUSBAND AND FAMILY! &hearts; I WOULDNT TRADE MY LIFE FOR ANYTHING, AND KNOW ONE THING FOR SURE... OUR BABY BOY OR GIRL WILL BE THE LIGHT OF OUR LIFE!!!!!