Announcing:

Elise Noelle Pugh

December 29th 2010

12:06am

 18 inches

6 pounds 5 ounces

Mother and Baby are doing well!  Pictures and more info to come soon!

{2 Years}

It's been 2 whole years since this wonderful day and I can't wait for the many more that we have yet to celebrate!  I love you so much and I can't wait to see what the next year of our marriage will bring!

Happy Anniversary Zack!

BYU vs. UTEP

Last night Zack and I had the chance to go to the BYU vs. UTEP  basketball game! Thanks to the fact that it is Christmas break on campus, we were able to go early and get really REALLY great seats! 

Here we are at the Marriott Center!  We sat on the 4th row, center court!

The game started out a little scary....at one point I think it was 11 to 1 and we were getting a little worried on how this game was going to turn out!  But the cougs had our backs and we were able to pull off a GREAT victory! 

We pulled out a victory with a score of 89-68!  The cougars hadn't played a home game in over a month- so this was a good way to welcome them back home :)

Thanks for a fun night Cougars!

 

Nursery Sneak Peak!

I've been slowly working on getting Elise's nursery all put together and we are about 90% finished with the job at this point.  There are a few things that still need fixing....like a drawer that broke in her dresser, and some storage boxes that I need to find another room for, but all in all, I think baby girl is safe to come home anytime! 

And here is the missing drawer I was referring to!  We were able to get our nursery furnished for a grand total of $45- big thanks to older siblings giving us free stuff and ksl.com.  So, I can't be too upset that the screws in the drawer came lose!  It will be fixed soon- nothing a little wood glue can't fix.  The pink chair in the room actually belonged to my Grandma Galbraith!  Don't you just love the color she chose to upholster it with??  I sure do!  Now all we need is the baby, right?!

I'm planning on getting some curtains made for her as well as a quilt (its being made as we speak!) to hang on the wall to add a little more splash of color!  I'll show you updated photos when it is complete!

An Ode...

(Yes, this is my uncovered baby bump!  Don't worry, this is the most you'll EVER see of it!)

to my belly button!  One thing I was dreading (for no reason other than how vain I am) was the day that my belly button would pop out the opposite direction.  Here I am at 39 and 3/7th of the way and the belly button remains in tact!  I am so proud of it, and I think we have made it through the storm!  

But really, I am so grateful for my body.  Yes I am a girl so of course I have my "list" of things that that I would change or get rid of if I could, but my body has been so amazing this pregnancy.  I have been SO very lucky to have had a very easy, and uncomplicated pregnancy.  When I found out I was pregnant I didn't even get sick until weeks 13,14 and even then I think those were brought on by the cruise.  I was rarely sick, I was able to still go to work and feel fine, I don't even have any stretch marks (thank you long torso!).  I didn't ever have any weird or strange cravings and everything has been smooth!  I have many pregnant friends who sadly have not been as fortunate, and I don't share this to rub it in, I really just wanted to say thank you!  I don't know why I have been so lucky, but I grateful that I have been. I know girls who are sick 90% of their pregnancy and I take my hat off to you!  I don't know how you do it, or how you would ever want to be pregnant again.  Right now (pre-kids) Zack and I say that we still want about 5 kids(some of you may be laughing at us, which is fine)...with such an easy pregnancy that is looking more like a possibility!  Thanks body!  You have been wonderful!  Now, lets get this baby out :)

Christmas Festivities

On Monday night, my family got together to celebrate Christmas since many of them will be out of town.  We had a great time together doing all of the usual traditions and meals. 

Here is the beautiful table that my mom set.  She always goes all out for the holidays and makes everything look and feel extra special. 

My mom has had these Christmas plates for-I don't know how long!  But it wouldn't be Christmas without them!  We also used my Grandma's silverware, another special touch!  Our Christmas Eve dinner always consists of a honey baked ham, twice baked potatoes, salad, rolls, and a yummy dessert. We were not disappointed this year either. It was great!

After dinner, we all exchanged some gifts.  The grandkids all got a small gift from grandma and grandpa and the rest of us exchanged our sibling presents to each other!  Todd had Zack and I and we got a gift card to Olive Garden-yum! We are very excited about it!  Thanks Todd!

Here is perhaps one of the LAST photos you will see of our family only being the TWO of us!  As you can see in the picture little Elise is fully grown and is hopefully ready to come and greet us!  I feel like a ticking time bomb these days- I never know where I'll be or what I'll be doing when I go into labor or when my water might break!  We are MORE than excited for her to be here.  We really think at this point she will come on Christmas day because, well, because that would be our luck!! 

I hope all of your holidays are going well and that you are enjoying time with friends and family!

The Meaning of Christmas

At church today, this story was shared.  I thought it was really sweet and was a good reminder that all the things we associate with Christmas and the decorations really do all point toward Christ.  Here is the story (it's pretty long- but good!!  Maybe read it at FHE?):

Last Monday night I had a strange visitor. This is how it happened...

I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door of the front room, and to my surprise, a special visitor stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his fingers over his lips so I would not cry out. "What are you doing?" I started to ask, but the words choked up in my throat as I saw that he had tears in his eyes. He then answered me with the simple statement of "Teach the children."

I was puzzled. What did he mean? He anticipated my question and with one quick movement, brought a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. As I stood there in my night shirt bewildered, the visitor said again, "Teach the children."

My perplexed expression still showed in the near darkness. "Teach them the old meaning of Christmas --- the meaning that Christmas nowadays has forgotten."

I started to say, "How can I?" when the visitor reached into the toy bag and pulled out a brilliant shiny star.  

 "Teach the children the star was the heavenly sign of promise long ago. God promised a Savior for the world and a sign of the fulfillment of his promise. The countless shining stars at night --- one for each man --- now show the burning hope of all mankind."

The visitor gently laid the star upon the fireplace mantle and drew forth from the bag a glittering red Christmas ornament.

 "Teach the children red is the first color of Christmas. It was first used by the faithful people to remind them of the blood which was shed for all people by the Savior. Christ gave his life and shed his blood that every man might have God's gift to all-eternal life. Red is deep, intense, vivid --- it is the greatest color of all. It is the symbol of the gift of God."

As the visitor was twisting and pulling another object out of his bag, I heard the kitchen clock begin to strike twelve. I wanted to say something but he went right on.

"Teach the children," he said, as the twisting and pulling suddenly dislodged a small Christmas tree from the depths of the toy bag. He placed it before the mantel and gently hung the red ornament.

Here was the second color of Christmas. "The pure color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round," he said. "This depicts the everlasting hope of mankind. Green is the youthful, hopeful, abundant color of nature. All the needles point heavenward --- symbolic of man's returning thoughts toward heaven. The great, green tree has been man's best friend. It has sheltered him, warmed him, made beauty for him, formed his furniture."

The visitor's eyes were beginning to twinkle now as he stood there. Suddenly I heard a soft tinkling sound. As it grew louder, it seemed like the sound of long ago.

"Teach the children, that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, so should it ring for man to return to the fold --- it means guidance and return. It further signifies that all are precious in the eyes of the Lord. Who is there among you if his son asks for bread would give him a stone?"

As the soft sharp sound of the bell faded into the night, the visitor drew forth a candle. He placed it on the mantle and the soft glow from its tiny flame cast an eerie glow about the darkened room. Odd shapes in the room slowly danced and weaved upon the walls.

"Teach the children," whispered the visitor, "that the candle shows man's thanks for the star of long ago; it's small light is the mirror of the star light." "At first candles were placed on the Christmas tree --- they were like many glowing stars shining against the dark green. Safety now has removed the candles from the tree and the colored lights have taken over in that remembrance."

The visitor now had turned the small Christmas tree lights on and picked up a gift from under the tree.

He pointed to the large bow ribbon and said, "A bow is placed on a present to remind us of the spirit of the brotherhood of man. We should remember that the bow is tied as man should be tied --- all of us together, with the bonds of good will toward each other. Good will forever is the message of the bow."

Now my mind began to wonder what else the visitor might have in his bag. Instead of reaching in his bag, he slung it over his shoulder and began to reach up on the Christmas tree. I thought he was hungry as he reached for a candy cane purposely placed high on the tree. He unfastened it and reached out toward me with it.

"Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the staff helps bring back the strayed sheep of the fold. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keepers."

The visitor then paused. He seemed to realize that he should be on his way. As he looked about the room a feeling of satisfaction shined on his face. He read wonderment in my eyes and I am sure he sensed my admiration for this night. He was his old self as he approached the front door. The twinkle in his eyes gave the visitor away. I knew he wasn't through yet. He reached into his bag and brought forth a large holly wreath. He placed it at the door and said,

"Please teach the children the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love; it never ceases, stops, or ends. It is one continuous round of affection." "The wreath does double duty. It is made of many things and in many colors. It should remind us of many things of Christmas." "Please teach the children."

I pondered and wondered and thrilled with delight as I sat and viewed all those symbols that night.  And my thoughts were of the visitor and all he made right.

To give and to help, to love and to serve, are the best things of life, all men can deserve. Jesus the Christ Child as small as an elf, is the very best symbol of Christmas itself.

 He's the sign of the gift of love and of life, the ending of evil, the ceasing of strife.The message to me on this pre-Christmas night has opened a treasure of deepest insight.

The one thing on earth we all ought to do, is the teaching of children the right and the true.       

Update!

This is more for me and my remembrance than anything, but you all are welcome to read!

I went to the doctor today and here is the latest update:First of all, she is still head down and in the right position.  Good and strong heart beat.  He also said right now she weighs around 7-7.5 lbs and most likely won't get any bigger than that.  I think that will be the perfect size :)  I am dilated to a 2 and am 75% effaced.  Now, while this isn't wonderful- it is progress. I have improved since last week so progress is progress.  The doctor also stripped my membrane.  He said he wasn't able to get as much as he would have liked, but got about 75% of it stripped.  So, that may or may not help.  He said that since I am 4 days away from being 39 weeks, that we can talk about inducing me :)  Music to my ears!  He also said that he was going to try his best to make sure I get the tax cut by having her by the end of the year.  We made an appointment for next Tuesday, December 21st, and said that if I am to an 8 on what he said is the "bishops scale" we can set up a time to induce me!!  Right now I am to a 4 on the scale, so everyone cross your fingers that I move up to an 8 so I am a good candidate!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

As promised, here are some photos of the decor at the Pugh house this month.  I know, it isn't a whole lot but I've only just begun my collection, and we live in a small place!  I still love it though.  It makes me smile every time I walk in the door.

We don't have a chimney so our stockings are hung on the table with care :)  I love our tree!! We inherited it from my parents who had this artificial tree for years and never used it.  It is the perfect size for our place!

Someone was kind enough to give me a poinsetta plant this year as a gift and I love it!  If only I would remember to water it so it will stay alive!!  I made the noel blocks last year with some friends.

And last, my corner of what Christmas is really all about.  Here is my nativity and the star and best of all, the many names of our Savior Jesus Christ.  We have talked a lot this December about the true meaning of Christmas and trying to make sure that Christ is the real center of this holiday.  Zack and I were talking about this and he pointed out that many of our traditions like the candy cane, Christmas trees, and even a wreath all do have roots back to the Savior and we need to always remember that!  I love this time of year!  I hope all of you do too and are enjoying it with your families!

Sneak Peak

Here is a picture of me at 37 weeks.  Sorry, not much is happening around the Pugh house, so you get to deal with regular picture updates of me and my belly!  What is the sneak peak of?  Our Christmas decorations around the home.  Another blog post will be coming soon to showcase those.  But, I love having the tree up in our home!

Emily: I have been trying to get everything ready for our little girl to join us!  Every day I try to do a little more to get her nursery ready!  As far as work is concerned, I have been getting all of my classes and lesson plans ready for my substitute to take over in January.  I do not plan on going back to work after I have the baby.  I am assuming that baby girl will come sometime over Christmas break- so I am planning lessons for the first 2 weeks back in January for the substitute and my last official day of teaching will be January 14th.  

Zack:  He has been working very hard this semester!  It has been one of his toughest class loads he has ever taken and he is still doing very well.  I am so proud of him for making it through.  We will both be very excited when this is all over!  Today is the last day of classes for BYU and next week is finals week- wish him luck!

We are both looking forward to relaxing (for me the relaxing will be before the baby comes!) over the Christmas break and spending some time together as the 2 of us for the last time!  Most of our holiday plans are contingent upon when Elise decides to come!  We are so excited to have this little girl come!  Everyday Zack says to me "Can't she just be here?"  He is going to be the best Dad!  Thats it for now!

From the Mouth of a High School Student

One of the classes I teach is Financial Literacy.  I really enjoy the students in this class.  It is filled mostly with juniors in high school and I have a pretty great mix of kids.  The other day in class we watched the movie '30 Days'.  It is made by the same man who did 'Super Size Me'.  This time he lives on minimum wage for 30 days.  The kids seemed to really enjoy this video and it definitely opened their eyes.  After watching the movie, they were assigned to write a half page reflection on the video.  I asked if they would do anything differently, how they could have been better at saving money, etc.  While grading those papers today, I came across this little gem:

"Well, congratulations you proved some people are poor.  The minimum wage has been raised since then and for an obvious reason.  I am now filling space.  The rest of this is nothing.  If you read this sentence I will buy you a Dr. Pepper."

This student did go on to say a few more things that were actually relevant to the assignment, but I couldn't help but laugh so hard!  I'm not even mad he said that.  THIS IS WHY I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL. These kids are hilarious and keep me laughing everyday.

I underlined his Dr. Pepper sentence and added that I will need him to change that to a Sprite.  His paper is now on top of the grading pile.  I sure can't wait for class tomorrow :)

Quiet Book Reveal!

The quiet book is FINISHED!  I am so very pleased with how it turned out!  This was SUCH a fun project.  A big THANK YOU to all of those who participated in it with me, and for your hard work.  I hope you all enjoy the pages that were made.  I'm so impressed!  So, without further ado:

Here it is from the front cover!  They were all bound with different colors of bias tape! 

 The first four pages: hair braiding, letter writing, matching colors/doing buttons/stop light & matching!

Apple tree- use snap them on and off!  Matching shapes/colors, get me dressed, telling time!

Here we have a pea pod (you un-zip it to find 3 little stuffed peas, so cute!), fish bowl, tie the bears bow, slide the car across the road.

The last pages- gumball machine where you count them all up, and a little note card that is all about the authors of this fabulous book!  Thanks everyone for such a job well done!

35 Weeks!

Only 5 more weeks to go- CrAzY!!

Baby Showers!

This past weekend I was very spoiled!  I had two showers in one day!  It was a lot of fun :)  One was a family shower, the other was with some of my girlfriends.  It was so fun to see all my friends and family that I don't see often and to visit with them.  Here are some photos from the day!

Here I am with my mom, sisters Nicole and Natalie, and their adorable little girls Ali and Emery.  My mom hosted the shower at her house and put it all together!  She did such a great job!

 Here is a picture of the 'spread'.  My mom had the shower be similar to a little girls tea party!  Of course there was pink everywhere, and we even got to eat on glass plates with little glass teacups.  She set out all of her antique dolls on the table too.  The food was delicious of course!

 All of the Pugh ladies were able to come as well!  It was fun to have just the girls from the Pugh side since we rarely see each other without their husbands and kids! They certainly spoiled our little girl and I was happy they could all come!

 Here I am with my Aunt Denise (who I am named after) and my cute grandpa Watkins at the young age of 94!  He was so excited to come to the shower :)  He told all his friends at his assisted living center that he was going to a shower that day!  I'm glad he was able to be there.  There were MANY more people that came, but for picture overload sake, I won't post them. But a big THANK YOU to everyone who was able to come.  We are so blessed to have this baby girl in our family and appreciate your friendship and generosity to us! 

After my family shower, some of my girlfriends (Shauna, Janae, and Lacy) threw me a shower.  Kristen was kind enough to host it at her home.  I got to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a while like old roommates and high school friends.  We had a great time just visiting and catching up. 

Instead of playing games, Shauna instructed everyone in how to make these darling appliqued' onesies! They all turned out so well and will definitely a more personal gift from all the girls.  I love how they turned out.  It was a great day and me and and Elise are some very spoiled and lucky ladies!  I feel much more prepared for her to join our family! 

Happy Zacky Day!

Happy Birthday to this guy!!  This is one of my favorite pictures of him.  This was taken in summer 2009 on the streets of Hong Kong somewhere.   Doesn't that meat look delicious?

Zack's birthday was on November 14th and we had a great time spreading the celebration out for a week.  

The festivities began on his birthday this past Sunday.  With his calling he had the pleasure of getting up early and go to 5 hours of meetings even BEFORE our 3 hour block of church started :)  After church, we headed up to Sandy to celebrate with his whole family.  We ate one of his favorites- chimichangas!  His parents and siblings spoiled him with some great gifts!  My parents and Zack's parent and me all pitched in and bought Zack the new iPod touch.  Unfortunately it was still en route from China, so he didn't get it on his actual birthday but he surely LOVES his present!  He's hardly been able to put it down since he got it.  Here he is opening the gift when it finally came in the mail!

He was definitely putting on some great faces for the camera.  Even though he is acting here, I swear he really was that excited to finally have his present here. 

Ah, sweet bliss!  It finally came :)  Zack, I sure do love you!!  We have the best times together and I am so happy to be married to my best friend, even if we do finish each others sentences!  I hope you had a fabulous 25th Birthday!!  I hope we have another 65 birthdays left in store to celebrate!

I miss you....

See how relaxed this woman looks?  I really miss sleeping on my stomach. We had a good time.  Wonderful dreams were had, relaxation occurred.  Until we meet again in January! 

What did you miss a lot while you were pregnant?

Anna's Little Pumpkin

Among other things this weekend, I was able to co-host a baby shower for my good friend Anna.  I met Anna when I moved into my ward about a year and a half ago.  She has been nothing but fun and friendly from the get go!  Anna is due Jan. 3rd so it has been fun to talk and compare pregnancy stories with each other and have a buddy to go through all of this with! 

We decided to throw her a "little pumpkin" shower since it is fall now.  We had a fun time preparing delicious food like Autumn soup, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, wassail, and gingerbread cookies cut into pumpkins and dipped in chocolate!  I think its safe to say we feasted well!  Here are some photos from the event! 

Here are all of the trimmings!

A lot of Anna's friends were able to be there! We had a good time visiting, sharing pregnancy stories, and making her some adorable hand appliqued onesies! 

Shauna, the guest of honor and her "pumpkin", and Mackenzie
Can't wait to meet your little one Anna!  Lets keep our fingers crossed that BOTH these little girls come in December for the tax break :)