I've been looking forward to 2016 since I found out I was pregnant. Don't get me wrong, I made the most of the rest of 2015, and it was one of the best years of my entire life-but 2016 was always the bright light of the future.
The year I would get to hold my little boy, get to look into his eyes, and learn and grow with him.
I can't believe it is actually here. 2016.
I have big hopes for this year. More than anything though, I hope for lots of happy, peaceful moments with my boys. My resolution this year is to be more present-to take more time to enjoy the little moments by eliminating unnecessary distractions, and savoring the details of my life that bring me the most joy.
I'm pretty sure it's going to be my best year yet.
This December has been crazy. Between moving, working, and growing a human we've been stressed to our limits. There has been no time to just relax, making this the most stressful and busy December of my life. I've had to work harder than any year before to slow down, and seek moments of quiet peace in order to feel the Christmas spirit. However, as I've done this I've seen more and more that the things of this season do not matter-all that matters are the spirit and the reason for it-our savior Jesus Christ.
"Take time to relax, be at peace, and see this little child in your mind. Do not be too concerned or overwhelmed with what is coming in His life or in yours. Instead, take a peaceful moment to contemplate perhaps the most serene moment in the history of the world-when all of heaven rejoiced with the message 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men' (Luke 2:14)"
-Elder D. Todd Christofferson
As I've tried to simplify my view of the Savior-focusing only on this miraculous moment in his life, I've been able to simplify my view on the rest of the season-focusing more on what really matters. For that reason, it has been a beautiful Christmas season-and it's not over yet!
Nate and I were lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving this year in beautiful Bend, Oregon. Thanksgiving in Bendy will always be special to me. Back in 2013 Nate took me for our first Thanksgiving together. While there I fell in love with the rest of his family, saw a business card for a jewelry company fall out of his wallet, and realized that I wanted to brush my teeth with him every night. For different reasons, each of those things makes me incredibly happy to remember.
This year was no exception. Despite being 29 weeks pregnant, and in the middle of packing/moving back in Utah (more on that later) we decided to go for awhile and spent 9 days there. It was wonderful! We went to movies, relaxed, played games, watched the snow fall, cuddled nieces and nephews, ate delicious food, and enjoyed our time surrounded by family. I am always thankful that I married into such a wonderful family-but this Thanksgiving I felt extra thankful to get to call them mine. Those Raus are something special, and I feel pretty honored to share their name.
Oh yea, Nate snagged the best Black Friday deal of the year-$100 off a purchase at Columbia. After a markdown, and this coupon Nate got a $300 coat for $40 bucks! I couldn't be more proud1
Between the first trimester exhaustion, working full time, and all the baby excitement I definitely didn't blog much this summer. However, I wanted to just take a little space here to write about a couple of my favorite things we were able to do this summer-our last summer as a family of two.
Fathers Day
Celebrating Fathers Day was awesome this year. In the morning I got pretty sick and instead of making breakfast for Nate, I stayed in bed eating toast and praying I'd feel better. Luckily prayers are answered and soon enough I was feeling great-and we finally got to honor our fathers, tell our siblings about the baby, and celebrate Nate's new role as a dad.
4th of July
We celebrated the 4th of July this year by checking out the hot air balloons, camping out (in our house-pregnant camping does not sound appealing), cruising University Ave to check out everyone camped out for the parade, BBQ-ing with my family, and rocking out to Journey. Independence Day in Provo is always the best, and I'm so glad we were able to have such a fun one.
California
I took a quick, unexpected trip to California at the end of July to go to my grandma's funeral. Because of work Nate had to stay home, however it was so good for me to be able to go there and spend time with my family. I'll always remember how nice it was to be gathered with so many of my cousins, laughing over stories about our grandparents. I learned so much about my grandma this summer-and so much about my pops. Reading their love letters though-that was definitely a highlight.
Our Everyday
Although the holidays were fun, and the trip to California so important, my favorite thing about this summer was just our everyday life. Nate started a new internship that has been such a blessing to us. We worked all day, and spent our evenings going on walks, BBQ-ing, watching our TV shows, going to $5 movies, at my doctor's appointments and talking about our baby. On the weekends we would sleep in, go to the farmers market, go on dates, and teach primary. It may not sound like anything too exciting-but these little moments spent just the two of us-these are the moments that mean the most to me, the ones I want to remember most about the time when we were just a little family of two.
Friday September 11th, at 19 weeks we finally got to see our little baby again. I'll always remember how nervous/excited/anxious we felt as we waited for the ultrasound. There were so many emotions-but mostly I just couldn't wait to see our baby. And, it did not disappoint.
A beautiful head, wonderful toes, strong arms and legs, a beating heart, and a little something else that quickly made us say "It's a BOY!"
A Boy. A healthy, strong, growing BOY!
It immediately felt so right-of course he is a boy! He is my little boy.
We celebrated by buying blue candy, and an "It's a Boy" balloon. We then headed out for "boy food" (delicious BBQ), and went home to watch a "boy movie" (the Avengers). Although I sometimes feel like I have no idea what to do with a little boy, growing up surrounded by so many girls, I could not be more excited to be the mama of this boy.
Dear Baby Boy,
You are growing so strong, and I couldn't be more proud of you. From the beginning I've told you not to worry about a thing, that I would take care of everything and all you needed to do was grow. Thanks for keeping your end of the deal. I can't wait to get to hold your strong hand in mine.
Baby Rau is due February 4th, and Nate and I couldn't be happier. We already feel so blessed to be parents to this sweet, growing babe.
........................
Dear Baby,
Dad and I are so excited that the world knows about you now. Obviously no one is as excited as we are, but when you get here you are going to be greeted by a lot of people who already love you. The three of us are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives, and nothing makes me smile like listening to others talk about how excited they are to meet you too! However, we can definitely wait for now-so you keep on growing strong and we'll keep busy getting ready for you.
My husband is a pretty adventurous guy-it's one of the things I like most about him. While we were dating he told me that at the top of his bucket list was swimming with sharks. I smiled, and secretly thought that it would never happen.
I was definitely wrong.
When we decided we were heading to Hawaii Nate immediately started talking about swimming with sharks. At first I was pretty nervous about the idea-I didn't want him to get eaten by a shark! However, once I learned you were in cage, and that everyone does it (I know, I succumbed to the peer pressure!) I decided that maybe it would be alright to swim with sharks. He was pretty convincing too because I decided to give it a try too! By the time we were in Hawaii, buying tickets, I was pretty excited!
We left Waikiki by 5:45 am, and by 6:30 we were on our way. Once we got out to the spot, we could see the sharks coming up to the boat. At that moment, leaning over the boat to get a good look at the sharks, I realized that I was about to get in the water with them. It hit me then that all that stood between me and a flesh eating monster was a small cage and a little plexiglass. I was officially nervous.
Once we were in the water though, there was no energy to be nervous. The water was rough, but we had a wonderful time diving down to get a closer view of those sharks. There were probably at least 10 of them, each about 8-12 feet long. We had a blast! It was one of the most adventurous things we've ever done together, and I must admit, one of the most fun things we've ever done together too!
I'm so glad we got to check this off the bucket list! Now, if only I could convince Nate that diving with Great White's isn't as cool as people make it sound....
So glad that we could do this with Edward and Natalie.
Back in January I found an insanely good deal on flights from Salt Lake to Honolulu. I got home from work that day and told Nate that I seriously, really, 100% honestly thought that we should go.
After all, why not? We have no kids, we're not in school, the price was right, and it just plain felt good. So that night we booked tickets, and a time share (thanks to my generous father in law) and before we knew it we were going to Hawaii.
It was the most spontaneous thing we've ever done.
It was also one of the very best things we've done.
The trip ended up being a much needed break, more than we could have anticipated when we decided to go. It was exactly what we needed to get a break, gain perspective, and honestly just have fun. Words can't do this vacation justice-so I'll stop using them, and instead let the pictures do the talking.
How could it not be a wonderful vacation when we're together. I still get giddy at the fact that I get to go on my best adventures with my best friend.
PS More posts to come-including one about shark diving!
