Gratitude

I just wanted to do a little post on how thankful I am for friendly and helpful people. A weekend of traveling could have been the worst experience of my life, but thanks to helpful people it was all right.
First of all my parents. They took the time to drive to Milwaukee and stay in a hotel on Friday night. We were able to hot-tub (Thanks Dad for watching Liam) and go swimming. It was wonderful. We also went to the zoo and my dad pushed Liam in the stroller basically all day. It was fabulous. Anyway, my parents were able to help me get my tickets in the airport and check my bags for me. Then my mom got a pass to come help me through security in the airport. Man, did i need that. I had my little 6 month old (almost) baby and my 4 1/2 year old niece (who I love, but she is a handful!!). Anyway, mom thanks for all the help. I probably would have freaked out.
Secondly, STRANGERS. We had so many people offering to help us. Several people carried our bags for us since I had my hands kind of full. Also people were just really kind and offered to help in whatever way they could. And Liam screamed for the first 15 minutes on our connecting flight, so thank you strangers for not killing us. They were all very understanding.
Third, my sister Tyler. She drove to Salt Lake to pick up her daughter. But she also picked me up and carted me around and ran my errands. Also she took KADY! Haha.

Anyway, this is just a shout out to all you helpful people. Thank you so much for all you do. And for making life easier on ME!

Here in Wisconsin, missing my husband.

So, I have been gone from home (wherever that may be, mostly i mean gone from my hubby) for over a week now. This is lame. I miss him so much! But, he is doing GREAT things in Tanzania. We have been emailing back and forth. We actually got to skype for like 3 minutes. You know what the first thing he said to me is? "Britt, i'm getting an i-phone." Haha. The reason is because he was skyping me from the i-phone and he thought it was pretty cool. Like we can afford that.. :)

While in Wisconsin I have:
-Played with my little man
-Hung out a few times with my high school best friend Katie Schultz. I have missed her!
-Played with my niece Kady. We have been working on her letters. My mom bought these alphabet stickers and I let Kady stick them on a page as soon as she can write it and tell me the letter. I think it's working pretty well.
-I picked out some fabric and a pattern to make a skirt, but haven't started it. My mom needs to measure me because my measurements are SO different from the last time I measured. I thought I had big hips BEFORE i had a baby.
- Went to a hotel in Milwaukee before we dropped off Kayla at the airport. We went swimming, and Liam went in the pool for the first time! He looked super cute in his little swim trunks.
Heres a picture with me and Liam

And here's a picture of just Liam.

-Missed Devin. It's actually really hard being away from him. Mostly because i can't talk to him all the time like I would like too. I can't wait to see him!
-I've watched Grey's Anatomy... I have just started season 6 and i'm sure i'll finish it this week..
-Started working on a "Quiet Book" for church for Liam (and future children).

So far in Africa Devin has been drilling, shopping, and missing me! (HAha).
He keeps telling me these stories that make me want to cry. They were at an orphanage drilling so they could have water. Devin brought a ton of fruit snacks to give to all the little kids. Anyway, he gave one little kid a pack of fruit snacks, and saw him give one fruit snack to all of his little friends. How amazing that those who have NOTHING are willing to give EVERYTHING they have. Devin gave the rest of the kids a bunch of fruit snacks later. He's so wonderful.
Then he told me another story. He said they hired a couple of people from Africa to help with the drilling. They told the guys they hired to go take a break for lunch. Devin said they left and came back really quickly (so they didn't really eat). He said his whole capstone team waited until they came back for their lunch so he felt AWFUL eating in front of them. Devin said he gave them half of his food because he felt so bad, and everyone else followed suit. I love my husband and his willingness to give and love others....
Anyway, their drill has been successful (I believe) and they are already moving to a new location to start drilling again! I'll have to have Devin post a lot about his different adventures, because we really haven't been able to communicate very well.

Oh yeah. My hair is now dark brown. :)
I'll do another post soon!

Life, Liam at 5 months

So I know I gave a tiny little update my last entry. But so many things have happened. Liam had his FIRST EASTER! We went to our ward in Provo for the last time and then went to the LeBaron’s to celebrate. Liam got some toys that he loves playing with. Devin and I got some pajamas. I will put some Easter pictures up later. It's just taking way too long here at the library...

Liam had his 5 month birthday! At 5 months Liam is

-rolling over (mostly tummy to back. He doesn’t like too much being on his tummy)

-Is getting up on his knees.. but once he does this, instead of crawling he shoves his head in the ground and tries scooting forward that way. It’s hilarious.

- Passes his toys between his hands

-Laughs, mostly when dad tries to “eat” him.

- Yells and screams with delight or when trying to get your attention.. This happened when we moved to Lovell mostly. Devin’s boss Travis Nichols invited us over for dinner our first Sunday here. Then his wife and him took us on a ride around Lovell just to show us where everything was. Anyway, they had their twin boys (I think they are 5 or 6) and their little girl (who is 3) in the back of the car. They were screaming and making so much noise, that Liam decided he needed to be loud. He started yelling. It was hilarious because he’d never done that before. Well, ever since then he’s been doing that. We love it.

- Gets mad when he can’t reach his toys.

-Starting to sit up on his own. We still have to watch him though, because he will tip sideways after a while.

-Flaps his arms when he gets excited.

-Is wearing 6-9 month clothes. (He can still fit into some 3-6 month ones, but most are too small). I’m not sure how much he weighs, but I’m assuming somewhere around 17 lbs. BIG BOY!

-Eats rice cereal, loves carrots and squash. Hates green beans or peas.

-Loves watching Baby Noah.

-Eats every 3 hours.

-Hates formula….we will have to work on this.

-Is very easy to get to smile. And when he smiles, he almost always sticks out his tongue (notice this in lots of pictures). Here are some pictures of Liam:

I turned 22! Devin was so sweet on my birthday. I didn’t have to change any diapers, Devin put Liam down for his naps, he cleaned the house and unpacked everything. It was fabulous. I also got Donkey Kong for the Wii. Needless to say, that is how we’ve been spending our free time together! Devin also got me a cricut cartridge, and a cricut. (Well, the cricut was partly from Devin’s parents for graduation!). Devin’s parents got me a beautiful ring to wear that won’t scratch Liam all the time, one I can wear around the house.) They also got me a few kitchen things and bathroom towel set. My parents got me a plane ticket to Wisconsin and some cash to buy a bed! Yahoo!

Mothers Day: WONDERFUL. Devin was even more wonderful on Mothers day. He was so thoughtful. He bought me fruit snacks, playing cards, stuff to make mint oreo milkshakes, tomato seeds, and took care of Liam most of the day. I thought this was hilarious-Devin bought me a card from the only small grocery store in town and I will have to post pictures of it later. It said congrats on your new baby boy, and he crossed it out and put Mothers Day! I LOVE him.

I love being a mom to the sweetest boy in the world. He is the happiest little guy and I love spending time with him. It’s so fun watching him grow!

Anyway, we were also able to skype with Jessica (Devin’s sister who is on a mission in Mississippi). She looks great!! And she is coming home in October, I’m so excited!

Lovell: Things in Lovell have been GREAT! I explained how nice everyone is in my last post. But I have been able to go out with some of the ladies from the ward. I went with Camee Nichols to watch all the prom kids! Apparently every year all of the juniors and seniors at prom are announced and then they announce royalty. (There are only like 20 couples total..haha). Anyway, it was a lot of fun. It made me really excited for when my Liam (and future kids) grow up. Hopefully I have a girl and she will let me make her prom dress (and that will be a good excuse for my mom to visit me wherever I am so she can help make it!). I also went out to dinner with 5 other ladies on Saturday night. It was fun to get to know some people here and make a few friends. Devin’s job has been going really well! He loves it. Here's some pictures from the park in Lovell:

Anyway, the next couple of days will consist of: cleaning, doing laundry, packing for our trips, getting all of Devin’s stuff ready for Africa! Be excited for some awesome posts when Devin comes home. Knowing him though, he’ll probably forget to take pictures!!!

Oh life without internet..

Here i am at the LIBRARY in Lovell, WY. The middle of nowhere. Don't worry, i'm enjoying it. Except, I don't have internet.. And the soonest someone can come out to this tiny little town to give us internet is JUNE. Some things that have happened lately are..Devin graduated, we moved to Wyoming, Liam is 5 months old today, i'm going to Wisconsin next week, Devin is going to AFRICA next week (yes, i'm going to miss him TONS..i don't know if I can even talk to him for 2 weeks..ugh). I turned 22, and my first mothers day is coming up (last year doesn't count because I was barely pregnant). so I will have to update at a later date since i'm running short on time.
Let me just quickly tell you a little bit about our move. We got to Lovell after 9 hours of car-time. We arrived at our little apartment with little things. Well, the lady we rent from gave us a list of church phone numbers, utilities, internet and all other numbers. she also said she had a bed that we could use, called some people from our ward who brought us couches, a table, and chairs. Then that evening her daughter brought us dinner. These friendly people definitely made the move a lot less scary. You'd think after moving so many times in my life it would be no big deal, but it was tough. Anyway, we also went to church Sunday and met a ton of new, very friendly people. It's not going to be so bad. Anyway, Ill update later with pictures and lots of fun stories. Mostly of Liam (since that is basically my life!)
Oh yeah, and I just found out my best friend Richelle is having a BABY BOY! Him and Liam are going to be best friends!!