Halloween and Missions

We just got back from Highland.  We went up tonight for Halloween (to dress Blakely up as a little Tinker Bell) and Meagan and Cody got their mission calls.  I was getting so anxious for them both.  We waited an hour before opening them and I had a hard time.  There was a big group of people and a bunch on Skype.  Cody got his call to the Philippines and reports in January.  Meagan got her call to Brazil and is reporting in March.  So pumped for the both of them.  It will be so great to have more missionaries out and to hear about their experiences.  I dressed up at work and tonight as Buzz Lightyear.  It was an easy costume because it was just a hoodie.  Blakely had a rough night last night and I hung out with her in the morning.  Once I wake up I actually enjoy it because I read my book while I am up with her.  Other than that I just had class and work.  This will be a Halloween to remember because of being there for two mission calls.  Now I want to go play with my beautiful baby.  Do I talk about her enough?  I don't think so.

Computer Programming, Not For Me

I decided to write in my blog a little early.  I decided to do this because I plan on going on a Target trip with Katie and Blakely and I don't want to forget writing because I am on fire.  And check out this sweet layout.  Katie did it for me.  Well I got to get trained more at the eye clinic.  It is way fun to do the screening and more of the procedure type of things.  But there is a ton to learn.  But I am learning so much and I know that it will give me a head start in Optometry school.  I also took pictures of the inside of a patient's eyes for the first time today and it was awesome.  I am super grateful that I was able to find a way to work in this eye clinic.  After that I came home and took Blakely for a couple hours (2.5 according to Katie, but I would like to round it up so it makes me sound better).  That was fun to just spend time with my baby and love on her.  I went to go work on some computer apps programs.  Our teacher gave us two huge assignment these weeks and they are taking forever. Coding is lame because it could be all correct except one little character and boom you have to start over or figure it out.  I was there for almost 3 hours (maybe 2.5 hours again) and I didn't get that far.  I am so happy that this is my last semester.  After that I had more classes and then I plan on going to Target.  Maybe if I am lucky I will get a treat, or maybe I will get to read, or play Pokemon, or change diapers.  Probably change a diaper.  Life is great and I love the challenges that are thrown our way because it helps us as a family to grow and learn.

One More Frappe To Go

No worries.  By Frappe I mean the delicious ones at the Cocoa bean.  Katie and I had this little dialogue tonight.  Andrew: I have a chocolate problem.  Katie: I have a coke problem.  Andrew:  We have problems.  Well to me it is super funny so if you don't laugh then you have serious problems.  Well Blakely slept well last night! Wahoooo.  Work was fun.  It wasn't as crazy as usual Mondays are so it was a bit nicer.  Classes were not as bad today as well.  In between class and work Katie's mom came over to help with Blakely while Katie went to get a hair cut.  During that little time Blakely managed to spit up ( a ton!) twice on her grandma.  But she did feel better after.  After classes Katie made me dinner, it was really good.  Then we went to go shopping for food because we had none at all.  We saw like 6 people we knew during that trip. After that I went to get us (but mainly me) a treat.  Now we are just playing with the baby.  She is amazing and Katie looks so good with that hair cut. Like a can't stop looking at her new hair due with her new outfits on.  What a babe!

So Worth It

Well it is late again. Imagine that.  Another long night with Blakely.  I think us going up to Boise threw all of our routines and patters off.  This made some of the nights up with my family a little more difficult. We started the morning with basically getting ready to go.  It takes a lot longer to pack up with a baby and all of the baby things.  My dad was able to cut my hair and I can totally tell that it was done by him haha.  My Mom went out and got us some lunch while we got things together.  When my Dad and all of my siblings left for church they said good bye to us and each one kissed Blakely on the head. The one that got to me was Austin.  He kissed her on the head once and then looked at me and said can I have three more kisses.  My family didn't know this but that made me tear up.  Knowing that my family loves our baby girl so much and that she brings so much joy to them makes me so happy.  It reminded me that even though this can be a hard learning process and that there are some long nights, it is totally worth it.  The drive was pretty good.  I enjoy driving.  We got Mandi her glasses and she gave Blakely a hat.  We came home to a cold apartment ( dumb heater keeps on flaking on us). We are just getting settled back to our home.  We missed our home.

Best Shopping Trip Ever

Well we are still up here in Mer Town.  Last night was nice because my Mom made me go to bed to get some rest and it was nice to get some decent sleep.  This morning we got ready because the kids were getting their pictures done and they wanted to get some with Blakely.  She is such a pretty baby.  That was fun until Austin said he needed someone to take him to the bathroom.  I volunteered and once we got in the bathroom he told me he needed to go number two and that he needed help.  I should not have volunteered.  Then we came back and visited the Kinneys.  Always nice to see them and catch up. After that we got to go eat at cheese cake factory.  That place is so good.  I am trying to type fast because grandpa has crying Blakely. After that I got Katie to shop with my Mom.  Saved tons of money and got her tons of good clothes.  After that we went to visit Lori and grandma Z.  Not so fun because Blakely spit up all over early and this time got milk all over.  And now we are here hopefully going to have a more relaxing night.  Love my baby and she is so worth it.

Black and Purple

I really do love the fall time in the Boise area.  The air is so crisp that it is equivalent to the taste of coke with crushed ice in a cup with a straw.  Well today was a productive day after hanging out with Blakely  during the night.  I took our car in to get serviced.  After that came back and played with the family.  After that my Dad took me to the dealership to get the car and I went to visit Dr. Moorhouse.  He needed to fill out my SCO stuff and he hurried and signed it off and wanted to visit.  He talked about my family and want is really important in life.  He also talked about how much he loved his time at graduate school.  I am excited to be poor, tired, but having my loving family all the way.  They gave me the TB test shot and we came back.  We hung out and I tried to put Austin down for a nap.  Dumb kid can be impossible.  We went to Mason's football game and it was fun to watch him.  The best part was when they snapped the ball too high for him to catch to punt it.  Mason picked it up and instead of trying to punt it he picked it up and ran it.  He ended up getting a first down.  Well we are back at the house just enjoying eachothers company.  In the mean time Katie is the spit up target for Blakely.  Well tomorrow will be a busy interesting day..

Boise Sweet Boise

First off, I need to give a shout out to Katie for keeping my blogging up by writing for me while I was driving.  Glad that she could do that but she sort of abused the power.  O well.  I guess I owe her some goodies.  Well I got to get up with Blakely really early this morning and she was wide awake because she slept in the car too long.  Luckily my Mom was willing to help out.  So after 2.5 hours of hanging out my Mom took over and let me sleep.  We just had a relaxing day here with the family.  We went on a walk to the park where Austin decided he wanted to bring a armful of leaves home and he made Katie do the same.  My siblings have all wanted to cuddle with her and same with my mom and dad.  It is super cute the way that they treat her.  Mason gets the MVP award though.  For some reason, and it totally caught me off guard, he is super good with her.  She loves to cuddle with him too.  It has been a relaxing day which is great because yesterday and last night were a little rough.  We are super excited for a great weekend and busy day tomorrow.  Family is great.

Guest post by the smartest, most amazing person ever.

Hey, Andrew's blog. This is a guest blogger, his wonderful wife, Katie. As per his assignment, he needs to write daily. He is currently driving and as his supporter (I even signed a contract), I will help him out tonight. Plus I will do it because he is going to buy me a huge bouquet of roses. And a route 44 coke. Not joking.

We are making the trek up to Boise to see Andrew's family. Blakely's grandparents have missed her so we are going to go let them get their baby fix. We have plans to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, watch our little bro Mason play varsity football against Borah, maybe go to the Boise temple open house, and frankly just relax. We haven't been to meridian or eagle since the beginning of May, so we are a bit excited. We will have to show off our Blakely to the Kinneys and maybe convince Ryker of his future love for our daughter. He is about 7 months old so I think it will go well. Seriously though I want her in their family, they are the best and our favs.

Well I'm pretty sure I fulfilled the ten sentence requirement and will return to starring at my beautiful daughter as she peacefully sleeps in her carseat. She smiled at me two days ago for the first time and it took my breath away. Can't wait for those roses and endless supply of coke.

Lesson of the Day: I Don't Like To Be Alone

Nothing like starting out with an early wake up call from Miss Blakely.  We decided (by we I mean her) hang out at 6 something in the morning.  Today was my first day getting trained as a screening tech at my work.  I absolutely loved learning how to work.  I was able to catch on quick because Danny would just leave me by myself to start screening the patients.  It was fun working with people and to actually perform tests on them.  My favorite is the Tomo machine, that is the one where a puff of air gets shot into your eyes.  It is so satisfying being on the other side, aiming, and shooting that puff of air in the eyes.  I learned a lot and soaked it all up.  I can't wait to learn more there.  After work I came home to help out and do work/school.  Katie decided to go up to her parents to get some laundry done. Right when they left I got really sad. I knew I would see them again but it hit me so hard that those two girls mean everything in the world to me.  I would be nothing with out them.  I went to classes and got some assignments done and came home but sadly my girls were not home yet.  Katie did surprise me with an ice cream but the best treat of all was to just have my girls home.  I know I can't be with them every second of the day but for some reason today when they left it just hit me so hard how much I do miss them when I am away just at class or at work.  I love my girls.

Full of Pride but Not Prideful

We had a good night of sleep.  Two nights in  a row! Keep it up Blakely!  Well I had work at the eye clinic this morning. Well it was a typical Monday.  Crazy busy with tons of patients.  After that I went to class but didn't focus too well.  Luckily Scott brought me lots of treats and he was looking at video game stuff the whole time. #NerdsForLife.  Check out my sweet twitter practice.  Anyways my last class was good.  I have decided that I actually like learning about human behavior and theories.  Pretty sure if I didn't to Optometry I would have liked to do advisement or psychology.  I love learning about what makes people tick.  I had to give a little group discussion and it went pretty well.  It was on stress and our group is focusing on getting Elementary school kids to wash their hands well.  After that I came home to Nana and Papa in our apartment.  Never thought I would find those two in our tiny apartment.  It was a great visit and Nana approves of our cute baby.  Which is good because she is very honest when ti comes to things like that.  Nana and Papa kept on saying how cute our place was and how we are a great family.  Papa went and bought us Cafe Rio which was so nice of him.  After that we went to a FHE at the Stevensons.  The Ames and Whalins were there (Katie's old roomates with their husbands) and it was a fun visit.  It was so nice that when people were asking about our life we could say that I am accepted to Optometry school and we will be moving out to the Memphis area.  That I graduate in December.  Katie graduated and had job offers.  We have a baby and know exactly where we are headed in life.  That is a ton of big things in one year.  I felt so proud to be able to tell them that is what our family is doing.  It is so great to know that we have come so far and have a great family.  I love my family.

My Night With The B-Rose

Well because Blakely kept Katie up the night before we agreed (like a good husband should) that last night if she wanted to be up, I would be up with her.  Well she slept for a good five hours . . . and then it began.  I got to feed her starting at 3:00 am.  After that I got to change her.  She decided that the time to explode with yummy goodies was during the changing of her diaper and it ended up delaying the process.  After that we got to hang out.  I had her lay down by me in the other room and every time I would close my eyes and sleep maybe ten minutes she would decide that she needed my attention whether it was getting her binky back or wanting to be held.  The funniest part is when it was time to give her to Katie in the morning she took her in the other room while I got some sleep.  It turns out Katie took her in the other room only for the both of them to fall asleep.  Thanks alot Blakley haha.  Well we got to go to church (just the first hour) and Katie's parents came to watch Blakely.  It was nice to get to church but it felt so wrong being away from our baby.  We both felt that Blakely should just be blessed in our ward so we talked to the Bishop and we will get her blessed thanksgiving weekend as of now.  After that my good mertown brother, Spencer, was able to pay us a visit on his way home from St. George.  He was nervous to hold her but it was good to see him.  Blakely also decided to give him a nice juicy/wet fart while sitting on his lap.  She is so thoughtful like that to always be thinking of others.  After that Katie decided that she wanted to go up to Bountiful.  The rest of the liston family got to meet Blakely and we had a great dinner.  We are now home just getting ready for the night and getting ready to start a brand new week.  Life is good and I am learning how to show off my twitter.

Cookie Pizza Yum!

Well Blakely decided that she did not want to sleep at all last night.  I feel bad for Katie staying up with her.  She deserves a vacation to Paris.  Well this morning I worked and I noticed that I feel very comfortable working with patients.  I thought about how I was when I first started and I have really gained confidence with educating people about eye care.  After that I came home and Katie's family came over.  While they were busy with the baby we got some chores done around the house.  I did a few while Katie did a ton.  She did like a hundred loads of laundry no joke.  I am glad that we did do laundry because when I changed Blakely today she decided to have a geyser attack and it got on my hands, her onesie and the blanket.  After that Megan and Aaron decided to come and visit.  She always says that she won't stay that long but they stayed all day.  Which is fine with me.  I got to watch the BYU game (we should have always won!) and visited with the sister and her bf.  We went out to dinner to brick oven and I did this sampler thing and they had Cookie pizza.  It was really good.  But it was awesome because we all ate way too much (except Katie, she is and will always be the smartest of us all . . . brownie points?).  Over all a busy day just organizing and cleaning. I am grateful for Katie and I hope that she takes all of our money and goes on a trip to paradise.

I Will Not Say The 'T' Word

I know that at this point in time you are trying to think of all the shady/scandalous words that begin with the letter T to think of what I could possibly be meaning.  If you have been paying attention to my past blogs you will notice that I said that I will try to avoid the word tired.  That is the T word and I have been trying to avoid all day.  But I hate to admit it but I am tired.  I worked an all day shift at the eye clinic today and it was pretty crazy today.  Tons and tons of glasses sold and tons and tons of glasses made.  But it was a great busy day.  But now I know how my parents and Katie's parents feel because Katie all day would text me pictures of Blakely.  She always looked so cute in them but it made me miss her so much.  After work the three of us went to eat and then to target.  Katie needed to get out and I don't blame her.  The good news is the land lord finally discovered that the apartment heat was broken so they fixed that and it is so nice to have heat.  For a treat we went and got pie because Katie loves pie.  A great friday but we are both so tired. I know Katie is really tired because she laughs out loud ... loud over silly things.  And she has been laughing a lot tonight.  Well it is the weekend so go have fun.

I Knew This Day Would Come ... Explosion In The Tub

Well today was a great day.  One reason for me being in such a great mood and about to leave to go get Katie some Coke from the store is because I got lots of sleep.  Starting out the day great.  Went and helped teach the BYU shadowing class.  I enjoy seeing how much students here enjoy the shadowing experiences that I help organize and manage.  Glad that other students are discovering their passion in a way that helped me find Optometry.  I decided that today Katie and I are going out to lunch.  We went to Guru's (one of my favorite places to eat because I truly discovered sweet potato fries there).  After that we went and registered to vote.  I am excited to vote for the first time in my life.   I will not share who I will vote for, but I would bet my baseball MITT that it will be the right choice.  I had class was the only sad part of my day.  But after that we took an outfit back to the mall of Blakelys but she had been in  her carseat so long that she just wanted to be out.  That made it so we didn't have time to find her a new outfit.  We played with her and I love how much my baby girl is alert.  We gave her a bath and when I do that I hold her bum to support her.  Right before we started I said that I had a feeling that this would be the time she pooped in the tub. While give her the bath all of a sudden I hear this loud rumble and quickly see a shot of brown water shooting out of my baby.  I knew this day would come but luckily we were done.  We skyped tonight with my parents and they sure love this baby girl.  That makes me so happy to know that she is so loved.  Today was a great day.

My Last Visit To The Building of Many Prayers

Well I guess my title sounds like I am not going to go back to church or the temple.  But the building I am talking about is the Testing center building.  I know what you are thinking, that that was the best joke you have ever heard.  Well today was the day I needed to take my O Chem Lab test.  I was pretty scared because the professor said this is one of the hardest tests at BYU and that it would be a very challenging test.  I studied as much as my unmotivated being could . . . so about 30 minutes.  I went into the test just feeling that I need to do my best because I don't need an A.  Really I just need a C or better.  It really was one of the hardest tests I have taken at BYU.  It took forever and the questions really made me think.  When I left I got it think in the 60s.  Which is a lot better than I thought I would have done.  It was that hard.  Luckily that should get me some sort of B in the class and I am so fine with that.  As I was leaving the testing center I realized that my other classes don't really do tests and if they do it is in the class room.  So that may have been my last time in that dreadful place.  Well I decided that I like to do Katie's honey-do list that she has made for me.  I have learned that I will actually do things that are asked of me if I have a physical list.  Well now I am off to help with Blakley and hopefully get her to relax. She is exhausted.

GO TO BED!!!

If only I really said that to little Blakely.  So I decided to write in my blog a little early tonight because I am going to take care of Blakely tonight while Katie gets some things done.  So last night was a little rough because Blakely decided that she wanted to sleep, but only in one of our arms.  Any time we put her down she would start being fussy.  I was able to be up with her at 4:45 (that is right Katie, I am being a good husband and just agreeing with you) and hanging out.  It would have been totally fine but I had a meeting at the eye clinic at 6:30 am so by the time I got her down I had only 45 minutes before I  needed to wake up.  So today I am a little tired but I learned a great lesson in a video for one of my classes. It was about getting rid of excuses we make for ourselves One of the excuses was but I am tired.  I have found that I say that a lot.  But he said that if you just get rid of that thought than you are not egging your own body to be extra tired.  So I am trying out that theory by acting like there is no reason I should be tired and so far it is working.  But we will see tomorrow.  Blakely has been better today though and adjusting to not being constantly held by her family.  I love that little girl so much.  I always tell people about her.  School is going great.  Getting all my final stuff done for Optometry school.  Getting excited about my future.  And I love my little family.

Dancing to Death Cab For Cutie

I got a call from my boss, Don, at the car rental.  I skipped this morning knowing that last night would be a late night and I was not in the mood to wake up at 5 in the morning.  I was afraid of listening to the voice mail but I finally did.  He actually said that it sounded like I had a lot going on in my life and to make last Friday my last day of work. So I am officially done with that place! So awesome.  Well I just had the eye clinic, which was super busy.  Then class after, which was fine.  I came home to a tired Katie.  Blakely just will not fall asleep today.  So I went and grabbed Blakely so that Katie could just lay down and have some time to herself.  While I was with Blakely, Katie told me that she likes to listen to Death Cab for Cutie.  So I went and put it on and started dancing with her.  She instantly calmed down.  I kept on dancing with her until she fell asleep.  So cute that these little things just calm her down.  I love hanging out with our Baby Girl.  She got her social security in the mail today.  She is officially a member of society.  She is growing up too fast, just these past couple of weeks she has changed so much.  Well off to play with Blakely and get her ready for bed.

Grandpa Timmy Birthday

This is it.  Day 7 of writing in my journal/blog.  That is a great accomplishment.  We decided to take this great day of rest and head up to Bountiful so that Blakely could spend the day with her Grandma and Grandpa Smith.  I am glad that my Mom got to hold her.  She loves babies so much and I could tell that she has been missing our little girl.  It is hard on them to be so far away.  But I guess they will have to get used to that, especially with us heading to Memphis.  We spent the day hanging out with family and I got to play with Austin more.  We went on a drive to check out the effects of fall on the tress.  We got out and took some pictures and I chased Austin around while he was checking to see if there was any bears around.  Somethings that is so cute is that when Austin holds Blakely or gets close to her he loves to sing to her.  He just does it on his own.  I went out with my Mom to pick my Dad up from the airport and wished him a happy birthday.  I am glad that not only did I remember it this year but I got to see him on his birthday.  Right when we got inside the first thing he did was go straight to Blakely.  He just wanted to hold her.  Grandpa Timmy is so good to her and just loves on her.  When he blew out his candles on his birthday cake he was holding Blakely.  We gave him our present, a picture of him and Blakely together and he said that he was going to put that out so everyone can see.  It was a great Sunday but I hardly got to see my baby because everyone wants to hold her.  She is loved.

Catch The Ducky

I love the weekends because I don't have to wake up  at 6:00 am. I started out the day by going to a test review for O Chem.  I will be so so happy when that class is over.  In fact I am just excited to be done with my undergrad.  After that we got told that my Megan was coming down to visit with Austin and Makenzie.  We had a great visit and Austin was so cute with Blakely.  He can't say her name right so he calls her Blakey.  During their visit I took Austin to help me drop off some clothes at the DI.  We had a great conversation (he really is a smart kid) and he kept on bringing up Blakely and asked what her favorite animal is.  He went ahead and told me his favorite animals are snakes and frogs.  When we got back we went on a walk to the duck pond. When we got there Austin was obsessed with the idea of catching a duck.  So I went ahead and tried to help him out.  We got some ducks to get pretty close to us but we never got one.  It was nice to have them down and to have them love on Blakely.  BYU lost but they has sweet jerseys and played well.  Then Katie and I went out to dinner and got some cute beanies for Blakely.  Katie had some coupons and our total came to 63 cents.  Not bad except for the fact that we almost couldn't pay with a card because it was under 1 dollar.  Funny stuff but we found a loop hole.  We are just hanging out tonight and tomorrow we are taking Blakely up for the first time to visit Grandma and Grandpa Smith.  They love her so much.

Daddy's Work

It is amazing how much I refer to my self as a Daddy.  Today is my full day at the eye clinic.  I was excited because Katie had an eye appointment today and Blakely would be coming with her.   I was so excited to show her off to the office.  The office loved Blakely and she successfully distracted us all for an hour from work.  It was great and I am such a proud father.  I did get a strong feeling today that Katie and I should stay in Provo after I graduate and that I should keep working at the eye clinic.  I should be getting trained to do screenings in a few weeks and that way I can get more hours.  Plus I love working there and everything about Optometry.  Dr. Lewis worked on my eyes to fill out some information I needed for SCO.  He dilated my eyes and that is the first time I have had that done.  Oh boy was it so funny.  I could not see anything up close.  It was funny because he expected me to fill out some paper work right after.  Well life is good and I got a strong confirmation today that Optometry is truly the profession for me.  I just looked over at Blakely and she melts my heart.

I'm Official, SCO!

Happy 10/11/12 day.  Well there are some things to celebrate for today.  Today was the last day of my Organic Chemistry Lab.  I like Chemistry here at BYU as much as I like olives (totally anti climatic, I know that there are certain things that I do not like whatsoever but Katie and I couldn't think of anything at the moment.  Lame sauce).  I still have to take the test for the class, but hey, I don't have to go to 3 hour class blocks anymore.  Another great thing is that I paid my deposit for SCO.  That means there is officially a spot for me there at that school.  It feels good to know that all of my hard work here at BYU has gotten me to Optometry school.  Also a few weeks ago they called me and gave me a $20,000 scholarship for all 4 years.  I got awarded that just for being awesome. I would like to write more down but I am on Blakely duty and she just spit her binky out and she may wake up soon.  Life is great and I am excited to be done with school (for now) soon.

We Have Been Framed

So I started this day off with an early morning adventure.  Blakely was up and Katie was exhausted so I took her out and rocked her to sleep.  I was super tired and realized that I would be waking up in 45 minutes to get ready for work.  Instead I decided to call in sick because I knew I would be ruined for the day.  Boy am I super excited to not work that car job.  It felt so nice not waking up at six and still getting to work.  Bet my boss isn't too stoked but he is always stressing himself out.  So when I got home from class today I saw something that just melted my heart.  Katie was asleep in bed and Blakely was laying on her chest asleep.  Those are the moments that words can't describe how much joy it brings me. I love my girls.   Tonight Katie and I went to Hobby Lobby to buy some frames.  We got a frame for the picture that I (yes I was the one who wanted the picture developed) wanted and it looks so good. It makes me so happy to know that my family is growing.  It is amazing to know that I am a father.  And dang do we look so good in our picture.  Like we are super attractive and Blakely is the cutest baby in the world.  Katie just told me that Blakely is milk drunk.  Love that girl and she can get drunk as much as she wants.  Life is great, it really is.

I Felt Free

Well this morning I went to work.  I just got this feeling that I need to take it easy.  Working 35-40 hours a week, being a full time student, being a new father (which is the best thing in the world by the way), and trying to become a Pokemon master can be a lot on an individual like myself.  So I texted Katie and told her that I was thinking about putting in my two weeks notice for my car rental job.  It pays very well there but my boss kind of stresses all of us out there.  Out of the 3 jobs I have (ya I know 3 jobs is a lot) I don't look forward or get excited about this one at all.  I decided that it was time to throw in the towel.  It was a good reminder that it isn't about making tons of money, or working a ton.  It is about taking care of yourself and enjoying the journey.  And I want to enjoy the journey with my little family and have a balanced life.  It is amazing what lessons we learn.  I have learned alot about myself just in the past two days.  So I am super excited to leave that work and focus my efforts on more important things. . . like catching Pokemon (I had to say that Katie, I just couldn't help it).  Life is amazing and if you do it right, like enjoying the journey, then it is the most beautiful thing in the world.

I'm No Superman

Hey.  It has been some what of a rough day.  I guess the main reason is not enough sleep and trying to do too many things in one day.  I guess my weakness is trying to do everything on my on.  That is how I grew up though.  But every now and then things catch up to me and I feel just tired.  I hate to admit this but I need to ask for help more often.  I need to ask help from my wife Katie.  Sometimes I forget that we are supposed to be equal and instead I want to do everything.  I need to rely on others more often and especially others.  I don't feel like I have to many things on my plate but like I stated earlier sometimes everything hits me at once.  I need to remember that I am not super man and I need help.  I can't do everything on my own.  What I need is to relax and to rest.  More than anything I need to remember to think about myself every now and then and to not forget that in order to take care of others I need to take care of myself.

Just some ramblings and frustrations about myself and nothing more.

Prophets & Pokemon

Sounds like a cool band name.  Man alive I wrote in my journal/blog every day this week but one.  I did miss last nights due to a good cause ... at least in my opinion.  So this weekend was General Conference.  Some main things that I got out of conference is that just going to church is not good enough.  We have to step it up as members of the church.  We have to show our faith by action. We have to serve.  We have to teach our own families values of the gospel.  I also enjoyed the talks on family history and testimony building.  Two things that I really need to work on.  I also enjoyed Elder Holland's talk.  He talked about how the apostles of the lord ( back when he lived) were and how they grew their faith in christ.  Conference is always so nice.  We watched Saturday's session in Highland with Katie's family.   Then Landon came down for a visit and we met him at the mall where we bought Blakely another outfit.  Ya we spoil her so what.  Also it was awesome to hear the change in missionary age.  I did not see that one coming.   Exciting times.  I went to priesthood with Landon and Alex and it was fun to get back together with them guys.  We got dessert after.  My name is Andrew, and I have a chocolate problem.  I big reason Landon spent the night last night was so we could get the new Pokemon game.  Ya we still play that game so what.  We went to Wal Mart and there was surprisingly a line to get the game.   Not a huge line but there was a line.  I felt so proud to be amongst those sweet spirits.  It was really funny but all of the people in the line where like us, around the same age, and just expecting to show up and get it without anyone knowing.  It was awesome.  Especially when the cashier guy told me how great the breast milk storage bags were that I was buying.  Landon and I were able to play the new game and nerd it up.  Great weekend to relax and love on my baby.  I am grateful to have a loving wife who will always love me for who I am and would not change a thing about me . . . well at least that is what she says!

Is This What You Call A Family?

It hit me hard today that I have a little family.  Today was a big day for little Blakely.  Katie has been planning this day since ... probably when she was a baby hungry teenager.  We went and got Blakely's new born pictures taken.  I admit that I am not the biggest fan of pictures.  I am perfect at about everything I do except smiling for big pictures.  Luckily we went to a great place called Foto Fly (I am not getting paid to say that) and they did such a great job.  We were not planning on buying any prints on the spot but when I saw our first ever family picture I almost cried ( Katie does not know that so hopefully she really doesn't read these blog entries).  It hit me so hard that this is real, that I am a father, that my family has started.  Such a great feeling. I just remember driving home after seeing all of the great pictures we got on a cd, how much love I have for my wife and baby girl.  I am excited for a awesome weekend and I am proud that I haven't missed a day of writing for a while.  I will have to remind myself soon about getting into Optometry school.  Well it is half time of the BYU game and I sure hope we beat them Aggies.  Here is my family:

Sometimes I Get Jealous

Well our little Blakely was able to get weighed and measured and she grew a whole half an inch and gained a whole ounce.  That is my girl.  Growing like a weed.  Well Blakely is now officially one week old.  Kind of seems like a blur that it has already been a week.  But at the same time it seems like we have always had her in our life.  So the other day Blakely was being fussy and Katie held her up so high that her chin was right in front of her face.  Blakely decided to latch on her chin and start sucking away.  It was seriously super funny and Katie and I could not stop laughing.  Katie took her off her chin and there was a huge red mark where she was.  Katie and I got a kick out of it but she was not to happy that it wasn't the real deal.  After their first show Katie discovered that it was a little trick that they shared.  It was still funny but I was jealous that I didn't have a trick like that.  I tried to offer her my chin but she didn't like it due to me being a man ( a manly man indeed) and having hair on my chin.  No one likes a hair chin in their mouth (hopefully not!).  I just was jealous about this bond but today I held Blakely close to my face when she was being fussy and while I was giving her kisses she found the tip of my nose.  Wah lah!  I was a part of the cool group. And no worries she did not get close to the nostrils at all, that would be sick.  But now I am not as jealous of Katie (except for that Mommy baby relationship non sense).  It has been a blast seeing her grow after one week and our Blakely Rose is truly amazing.

First Time Katie Is In Bed Before Me

This is true.  Since the beginning of our wonderful marriage I have always been the first one in bed.  However, I am happy to report that Katie is already for bed and in bed.  I don't blame her though.  Even though being a mother is the most amazing thing ever, she is exhausted.  It is a full time job.  And I am happy to report that I just got back from a mission of changing Blakely's diaper.  Katie makes it look way to easy.  Today I had sort of a catch up day.  I graded a ton of papers, which is good because it brings in money.  I also started working on some assignments.  Not the most exciting day but not everyday can be exciting.  I have been thinking a lot about my future and my career and I am truly excited to become a Doctor.  I love the idea of helping others, especially to see. I am so grateful to have a wonderful wife to help guide me to my dream job. I am tired and am getting pumped for an exciting weakend.

Hey Andrew, You Look Tired

So I did not realize how much people love the fact that I am a daddy.  Yesterday in one of my lecture classes one of my group members asked if Blakely was born yet.  I said yes and she was like "well you need to tell the whole class."  That has never been my style but she said if I didn't announce it she would.  Then the professor asked if anyone had good news and everyone in my group pointed at me.  So I told the big class about Blakely.  I do love to brag about how beautiful she is.  Then this morning at the office meeting I look down at the form of items of business and one of the items on the agenda was to congratulate me on having a baby (well Katie had her, and she was pro at it too!) .  Then tonight in my Optometry class, Dr Lewis was the guest lecture and he saw me.  He stopped his lecture and said Andrew, you look tired.  He followed by asking the class why I looked tired.  He then went ahead and told the class that I became a Dad last week.  People cannot stop reminding me of this change in my life but the one person that will never stop reminding me is Blakely.  I am such a proud Dad.  It is so easy to be a proud Dad when I have a beautiful daughter named Blakely.  Oh and her Mom looks dang (girl you lookin fine) good today.  Life is beautiful when you are doing what is right.

My First Picture Post & Reminiscing

Look at this beautiful baby girl.  I just can not get enough of her.  I love her so much.  Any ways back to my serious of great memories from the birth of Blakely Rose.  So during the long night of Katie having contractions I was really focused on her.  I was very anxious and could not believe that in a few hours my life was going to change forever.  The doctors kept on coming in and checking on Katie to see how far she was dilated.  I thought that it was going to take forever for the pushing moment to come.  They came in one time and were like oh wow you are now at a 6.  I was thinking to myself we still got 4 more cm to go.  Thirty minutes later they came back in and said "Oh wow I can feel her head.  Looks like it is time to push."  The doctor turned to me and said you wanna help hold one of her legs so she can have some good pushes.  I jumped up to help, anxious and excited.  Then I felt really woozy and light headed.  I went to the bathroom to see what was going on and I saw that my pupils were dilated.  I came out and everyone told me I looked sick.  I was sentenced to lay on the couch and watch the delivery.  I was bummed and had no idea why I was feeling like that.  The birthing process was not grossing me out.  Then it hit me.  I did not take care of myself.  I had no liquids in hours and was all worked up.  I was dehydrated and almost passed out haha.  Luckily Katie, (while in labor) used her super motherly skills to send a nurse out to get me a drink.  After drinking some I felt loads better. (yes I used the word loads). Then the pushing part came.  It was amazing.  I remember seeing her head and wondering that for this to work out it truly was a miracle.  Katie kept pushing then all of a sudden her head came out.  I jumped up and fell to my knees crying.  I was so so so happy to see my baby girl. I had been waiting for her (seems like forever).  I looked at Katie while crying and told her that I love her.  At that moment I have never felt so much love in my life for two of the most amazing people in my life, Katie and Blakely.  They mean the world to me and I will never forget that night in the hospital when our little angel was sent to us.