Tagged by Tiff

I can't live without....

My wonderful husband Ryan

Church

Family

Friends

See's Chocolate (or any other chocolate I can get my hands on at the time!)

My red high heels 

Fun music to dance to

Ice cream

Swimming

Cinnamon scented candles (I love spicy smelling things)

Crafts

Yoga

Spell check (I can't spell to save my life!!!)

Cafe Rio 

The biggest looser (this show makes me cry)

Dance

The color red

I tag Allison, Chelsea, Melissa and anyone else who would like to play. Write things that people might not know about you. 

Happy Birthday Grandma!

This pretty lady is my grandma Colleen. 

Grandma Colleen is my father's mother. Today is her 71st birthday. This is a picture of her at our family party last night. I have been very fortunate to live in the same town as her most of my life. Because of this we saw a lot of each other. She has come to every play, choir performance, dance recital and any other event I have ever done! She has taught me many things throughout my life. One thing that she taught me that I have used so much and love to do is how to crochet. Below are pictures of a few things I've made. Thank you Grandma for all your love and support. Happy birthday!

These are scarves I made and sold December 2005, I made $200! I used the money to buy Ryan a GPS for Christmas.

This was a gift for baby Kaden made October 2007.

This is a gift for baby Broderick made July 2008.

25 weeks and 1 day

Well it's been asked for and I try to give the people what they want...........

Another belly shot!

September 14, 2008

A close-up of my shoes. My sister Brennan bought these for me while she was in china. 

I LOVE THEM!

Things are going really well with the pregnancy! Little baby boy is moving around like crazy. His newest thing is moving when I am trying to sleep. I move from one side to the other to try and make myself more comfortable. As soon as I move he thinks it is time to play and starts swimming around. When I say moving I mean moving so much that it wakes me up completely and sometimes I can't go back to sleep for hours. It's a good thing I love him or I would be really upset. I love feeling him move around, especially when I am not sleeping! He is also now responding to Ryan. In the beginning I would say to Ryan  "The baby is kicking come feel!" As soon as Ryan would his hand on my stomach he would stop moving. I felt SO bad for Ryan! Now even if he is not moving at the time Ryan will put his hands on my stomach and start talking to him and he will move for him. He loves his Daddy! Ryan and I are getting really excited!!! We just started are childbirth classes and are really enjoying them! We are also doing a lot of reading on are own trying to prepare ourselves as much as possible. 

How am I feeling? I feel great! My body sometimes just wants to give out on me. I can only do so much before my back and stomach hurt so much that I can hardly walk. I have been doing to much lately and I have been paying the price. It is hard because we are trying to get stuff done with the house and I really want it to get done so I push to much! I am really going to try not to do that anymore. I am still swimming and doing yoga. Both these activities make me feel great! Also I visit my Chiropractor often. Thanks Dad, your a lifesaver!

How is Ryan doing? He is doing really well! Work is going well, no more scary accidents! In his "free time" he has been working on the house and taking classes at work. He is always amazing me with what he does at the house. He is a trained plumber so I expect him to do a really good job at that. What really amazes me is how well he picks up new skills. He is always teaching himself how to do other things on the house and does a really great job! He is the most handy guy to have around! 

Utah Vacation

August 26th- September 1st

We had a wonderful time in Utah! These were a few of our favorite things.......

Mom, David, Mission Reunion, Sub Zero, "The Game," Corn, The weather, Wind Turbines!

Mom 

Ryan's mom Gail lives in Spanish Fork, UT (a very cute town). She was very nice to let us stay with her! The best part of the trip was just relaxing and talking. It was fun for me to get to know more about Ryan and what he was like as a child. Ryan's mom and I made salsa, and I learned how to make zuchini bread. ZUCHINI bread, I know it might sound weird or gross, but it is REALLY good! Thanks for everything Mom. We love you!

David, Brittany,Ryan, and Mom

David 

Ryan and David were mission companions and roommates. While Ryan and I lived in Utah I got to know David really well. We had a great time hanging out. We love our David!

David and Ryan

Mission Reunion 

Ryan LOVES Brother and Sister Holdaway (Ryan's old mission president and his wife). It was great to see them! Unfortunately most of the guys Ryan served with didn't come. We did get to see Justin and his wife... and of course David.

David, Sister Holdaway and Ryan

Sub Zero 

Our favorite ice cream place in the whole world! This is a really cool ice cream place, they use liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream right in front of you! 

The Game or not. 

While we were in Provo there was a BYU game so we decided to go. When we get to the game and it was sold out and the scalpers were selling tickets for $40 each. While we didn't make it inside we did get to sing the fight song while sitting on the grass outside the stadium. Now don't worry we are STILL Rebels. We just really enjoyed going to the BYU games while Ryan was attending the school, so we thought it would be fun to go again.

Corn 

Amazing; that is the word I would use to describe it. One night we just ate corn for dinner. One of the great things about Utah is the fresh produce. That and ittle road side stands, is there anything more quaint? Well, yes there is..... There is a little old man and he sells produce from his front porch. When we went he wasn't there so you just leave the money in a little box. Oh, the honesty system! This is a picture of the little old man's house. Sorry I didn't get any corn pictures.

The weather 

BEAUTIFUL! It was nice and cool. Every night we would open the doors and let the fresh air in. The last night/morning we were there there was a great rain/hail storm. I can't wait for the cool weather to get here! 

Wind Turbines 

Ryan's favorite! It was so neat to watch them working. Ryan LOVED them so we had to get a closer look. When we got out of our car to take a look, two police officers pulled over next to us. They thought we were having car trouble.

Ryan's Accident

Ryan was in a very bad accident at work on August 24th. His car was totaled and caught on fire! The amazing thing is that he came away without a scratch!!! His body was very sore of corse and his wrist was hurting pretty bad, but he is all better now. He was being watched out for, there is no doubt in my mind! I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father for keeping him safe!!! We feel so blessed! There were so many variables: that if he would have been two inches more to the left or if his car would have hit another way he would not be injured, he would be dead. He was taken to the hospital on a backboard via ambulance. Here is a picture of him in the hospital. Thank you Heavenly Father for your protection! 

Kaiaking Trip

August 19th 

A couple of months ago the guys from Ryan's work planned a kaiaking trip. I can say that when Ryan came home talking about a kaiaking trip I thought he would say that it was next week or something. I was so impressed that one, the trip would be in a couple of months, and two, it was so well organized. We kaiaked 11 miles below Hover Dam. It was so much fun! We hiked to different places and saw a few different hot springs. Everyone was worried about me the whole time. "Don't let the pregnant lady fall in the water!" "How are you?" "Are you sure you're ok?" I must say I was impressed with my little five month pregnant self. The only not so fun part was the wind. There were times that it was so windy that you were rowing, but not moving forward. And, if you stopped rowing you quickly moved backwards. I hope to do the trip again on a not so windy day!

Just the two of us

The water coming out of the rock was boiling hot. Our feet were burning!

Beautiful waterfall

Ryan and the waterfall

Resting on the beach

It's a......

BOY!

The Doctor says everything looks great! The baby is really healthy and he has all his parts and they are in the right places. I am currently 22 weeks but the baby is measuring at 24 weeks. I have been thinking the whole time that I was a little bit further along. I also think he is just going to be a big boy! It was really neat to see him moving around and swallowing. Both the Doctor and technician said he was very photogenic and cooperative, they were able to get the shots they needed really easily. I might as well answer the question I know I will be getting.... "Do you have a name?" We do have names in mind but we will not set a name for sure until he is born. We are very exited!!!

The Answer is NO!

So I have been getting two questions a lot so I thought I would answer to all......

Question #1 "What are you having?"

WE DON'T KNOW! We were supposed to go last week but they could not get us in. Then I was scheduled this week on the availability I had given for the previous week. They scheduled me for yesterday but Ryan and I had a kayaking trip planed with the guys from work. Next Monday we are going for sure. So I haven't holing out on you I don't know either!

Question #2 "Is your house done?" or "How is everything going with your house?"

NO, NO, NO and TERRIBLE! So here is the short version of the story. We hired a guy back in May to do some work on our house. He had been working really slow so Ryan had to light many fires under is bum. So Ryan had just gotten after him and he was working. Until.... he was put in jail! This is not a joke!!!! He does not even have a court day set he will probably be there for a while! So what do you do when the guy you have working on your house is thrown in jail? CRY! Yes, I  had my very own pity party but know it is time to move on. Lately I have been feeling like I want to nest. This is very common for a pregnant women.  I think this has all been a little harder for me because I don't have a nest. It is really hard to not know where we will be when we have the baby. Our plan was to rent out the house and live somewhere else and this would all be done before the baby came. Now we don't know. So for those of you who feel sorry for me and would like to help please make checks payable to the Brittany Needs a Nest Fund.....

Just kidding.

Now for some better news. My sister Brennan is coming home tomorrow! She has been living in China for the past year working at The Venetian as a Gondolier. We have missed her and can't wait to see her!

BOY or GIRL?

Next week Ryan and I go in for our first ultrasound. I have some people that say I am having a boy and others say girl. I thought it would be fun to hear everyones guesses. My little brother Alan wants me to have a girl for Ivy but thinks I am having a boy. I thought that was interesting.

People ask what I am craving/can't stand to help their guess. Well sorry I am not craving  anything in particular. I really feel pretty normal. 

So make your guess.... BOY or GIRL

Catching up!

Make sure you look at all the new posts. I had so many things I hadn't posted. I am trying to use this as a family journal so I decided to post anyway. Better late then never. Enjoy!

Pregnancy

Well I have had many requests so I am finally caving......

 Heres a belly picture!!!

July 27, 2008

 18 weeks and one day

Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes. I am doing well. I guess I will back track a little to give you the full story. It took us longer then we wanted to get pregnant. I was really starting to worry!!!! I was a mess, poor Ryan. He would alway tell me that it would all work out and not to worry. Did I mention he was telling this to Brittany Ann Petersen the QUEEN of worrying! Well as soon as I REALLY stopped  (I pretended many times) it happened. So we were having a baby, that means no more worrying right? Yeah right, it was just the beginning.  I had some blood problems and thought I might have a miscarriage, I was so afraid! I was teaching dance at the time but had to quite because of the problems I was having. Thanks to the power of prayer and Priesthood blessings the baby is fine. We waited to tell family and friends for awhile. I couldn't handle my own worrying let alone having others worry. 

So for those of you who don't know Ryan and I are currently living with Ryan's parents. So I was trying to think of a creative way to tell Ryan's Dad and Diana. In the front room when you first walk to their house they have pictures of all there children. On top of Ryan's photo we put two snap shots. One of Ryan holding the pregnancy test and the other of the close up of the word PREGNANT (we did a digital test) I also made a little sign that said "we're having a baby." Well we put this up Sunday afternoon thinking they would see it when they woke up from their Sunday naps. This was not so! They did not see it until Wednesday afternoon... and I think it was our niece Lauren who really saw it first.

Baby and I are doing well! The baby is moving and kicking me all the time. Lots of people have been asking me how my back is doing because of my scoliosis. I do have back pain but I have been able to manage it pretty well with Chiropractic (Thank you Dad, I am a lucky girl to have such a talented Dad!) and yoga. I am also really enjoying swimming!

Ryan and I feel so blessed to be having a child and look forward to being parents! Thank you for all your love and support!!!!

The Fourth of July

The fourth was so much fun! Well at least it was for me. Ryan had to work. My parents stayed at their time share here in town. I spent the day with my family at the resort enjoying the festivities, Food, Fun and Games!

Face painting.... well Ivy had shoulder painting done. She did not like to have her face touched

Don't worry Alan is ok just a really cool looking "scar" 

Alan and Andrew in line for the cannonball contest

Bethany after her cannonball

I won the adult women's cannonball contest. Here is a pic of me and my prize..... No not that guy, the shirt and bag

Here is a pic of Karen and the chocolate cheese cake I made for her birthday.

That night I ate dinner with David and Karen, we went to my cousins and did fireworks, then back to David and Karen's to eat cake. It was a great day.

 Happy Birthday Karen! Thank you for being a wonderful friend!!!

Happy Birthday America...... Happy Birthday Karen!

P.S. Karen is already planning my baby shower. It will be held on November 15th. I need addresses for invitations. I know it is still a few months away but if Karen can be so ahead of the game so can I.... or I will try.

Nieces

This is Ivy's swimsuit pose

Aunt Brittany braided  Ivy's hair for the first time. She's a gangsta!

This is Miss Mya Marie Avila

This is Mya on the day she was born June 30th 2008.

 She was 6 pounds 10 ounces and 19 inches long.

Mya is our eleventh niece. Ryan and I also have ten nephews and one on the way.

Our New Babies!

Well after a very difficult and long labor Ryan and I are now proud parents of the new iphone 3G.  Ryan has been wanting the iphone ever since the first one came out. We had contracts with

T-mobile and we didn't want to pay the $400.00 it would take to brake our contract so he has been waiting a very long time. It worked out well because the new iphone is better and cheeper (which makes it better to me, I don't know much about all the fancy stuff). Our contract ended on the 10th of July and the new iphone came out on the 11th. Well it has been crazy to try and get these things! They are sold out at every AT&T store in Las Vegas. Trust me I've been there or called them multiple times. Each morning at 9:00 am I would call to see if they had a new shipment. I tried to be extra polite because I figure they are getting lots of grumpy calls from others wanting the phone. The other place I would look each night was online on the Apple website. Each night at 9:00 pm they would post if there would be any available to purchase the next day at the Mac stores. One day I saw that there would be some available so I made the trip to the Fashion Show Mall. When I got there they didn't have any. Yesterday I did my calling rounds as usual, still sold out. I decided to call the Mall even though on the website they said there were none available. Me " Hi I was calling to see if you had any of the new iphones in stock?" Mac Worker " NO." Me "OK thank..." Mac Worker " What ( he was talking to someone else) "oh, we do have some. We have the black 8g and the black 16g, no white." After thanking him and hanging up the phone. I ran (really I did) into the bedroom where Ryan was sleeping woke him up (my hast made him believe someone had died). We got to the store as fast as we could. By the time we got there the line was already formed. We got there at about 10:30 and were done at about 12:20. It took a while but we did it! So now we talk free to anyone who has AT&T. This is good because the people I used the most minutes talking to are AT&T customers (My Family & Karen). We love are new phones!

We also had something else cool happen yesterday. After we took Ryan clothes to the cleaners I wanted to stop by the JC Penny to do some window shopping. There wasn't much exciting so I was walking through the store pretty fast (to Ryan's dismay! He was playing with his new phone. The one time he was ok with me taking my sweet time.) We went to the baby section to look around. This was a favorite activity of mine even before we were expecting. Everything is cute when its small! Ryan noticed a sales rack everything was $1.97. Well it turned out there were about ten racks where everything was $ 1.97. We bought LOTS of stuff! We don't know what we are having yet so we bought girl and boy stuff. We will have both someday and if not we can give it away. We feel so blessed to find such a good deal!

My Wonderful Husband!

Ryan

I just wanted to take a time out to say thank you to my husband. He has been so wonderful during this pregnancy! I know I have not always been fun to be around..... crying at the drop of the hat..... to crazy happy...... to just mean. He has been so supportive, kind and patient! Thank you to the most wonderful husband in the world!!! Thank you for working so hard for our family! I love you!!!!

You know it is so easy to complain and nit pick, but how often do we take the time to find the good? I know that sometimes I get upset at the littlest and most meaningless things. Sometimes they might seam like a big deal at the time and maybe they are. But I look at them in the eternal scheme of things they really are so unimportant! What does matter is are loved ones and are relationship we have with them. My goal is to let the little things go. Also to thank others for the things they do instead of finding fault for the thing they don't do. The world would be a better place if we all said thank you a little more!

The Middle Wife

A funny story in "Celebration" of all us having babies!!!

The Middle Wife

By an anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.
She holds up a snapshot of an infant. "This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday."

"First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord."
She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

"Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. "She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

"My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this." (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

"And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!" (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

"Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there."

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another "Middle Wife" comes along.

Looking for work?

My friend's cousin is looking for someone to watch her children. She would like if the person would come to her house which is on Tanya and Flamingo. She has two children a boy who is five and a girl who is two. The hours are 7:30 am to 3:30 pm Monday- Friday and it pay $40 a day. If you have your own children that is ok (just not too many). She is looking for someone as soon as possible! If you or anyone you know are interested please e-mail me and I will forward it to the mother.... dancingqueenlv@yahoo.com

We're having a BABY!

Well there is not much else to say!

Here is a picture of the proud Papa.

So I guess I will give you a little more info... Our due date is our four year anniversary Dec. 28th.

We are so happy and can't wait! We got to hear the heart beat for the first time last Wednesday, it was so cool. So when you see me don't be thinking gosh Brittany is really getting fat. I'm not fat I'm PREGNANT! Thank you for all the love and support from everyone. P.S. I was trying to match Ryan's shirt, I think I did a good job.

Memorial Day

Summer Fun!

Food, fun and friends.......

We spent the day eating lots of pizza and smores and swimming!

Karen & Brittany

Hanging out in the hot tub.

The pool was too cold so we turned the hot tub to 90 degrees.

It was perfect!
Ivy & Ryan braving the cold pool.

Melissa, David, Ivy and Brittany.

We gave Ivy a mohawk and a curly Q.


Ivy loves the water!

She was splashing everyone. Aunt Brittany took Ivy all the way under the water and she didn't even cry! She is very brave for a little girl who isn't even five months old!

Here is Ivy with her new butterfly headband that Aunt Brittany made her. For those of you who don't know Ivy is my sister Ashley's baby.

So you think you can dance

Ok so maybe you will think I'm crazy but I am sooooo excited for........
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE
This is one of my all time favorite shows!
I just can't tell you how much I love this show! My absolute favorite choreographer on the show is Mia Micheals. Mia does beautiful Contemporary/Modern pieces. A really big dream of mine would be to work with Mia. So if you decide to watch the show look out for Mia. There are two other things I really love to do while watching the show..... One, I love to impersonate the host Kat, she has a fantastic accent. Two, I like to judge the contestants. Now I am NOT an amazing dancer but do I know what is good technique and what is not. The dancer in me must judge! I am not the only one. Every year I usually go to clogging camp at BYU. So you think you can dance is airing during camp so about ten of us "campers" watch it together. By the way we talk you would think we were the official judges of the show. We have a BLAST! I will miss camp this year because of my family Reunion. I am so sad I will miss all my fellow dancers. To all the So you think you can dance fans..... here's to a good season!

Vegas Vacation

Last week was a blast, we got to play tourists. My parents have a time share so for my sister Ashley's 21st birthday they got a suite. This suite was beautiful! Three bedrooms, three baths a living room, dining room and full kitchen. The resort also so had wonderful amenities. I loved the pools. My little brothers' (Alan & Andrew) favorite is the game room. They have every game system and lots of games. There are also board games, table soccer, pool table and movies to rent. I enjoyed the table soccer, even though Ashley stabbed me in the stomach while playing. Ashley, my Mom and I did visit the workout room. We were inspired after watching the season finale of The Biggest Loser, one of my all time favorite shows! We really had a great time!!! Even though we were still in town it felt like we were miles away.
That was not all we did on are vacation. We also saw TWO shows on the strip. Well I saw two and Ryan saw one, he had to work. We got free tickets from a lady in my parents ward. Thursday, as part of Ashley's birthday celebration we saw STOMP OUT LOUD! This was a fantastic show! For those of you who don't know about this show I will tell you a little about it... They use everyday items keys, trashcans, lighters, brooms and all sorts of other things to make music. It was absolutely amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone. The second show was Mamma Mia. This was my second time seeing this show. This is a fun show using the music of ABBA. What a fun week!

Fun at the fair

Last weekend we went to The Clark County Fair. I LOVE the fair! I look forward to it all year. This year I danced in the fair, this is something I haven't done in years. For those of you who don't know I have been assisting my old dance teacher. It is a way for me to try and get back into clogging. Although we were missing most of are dance team (due to traffic) it went well.

Ryan's favorite part of the fair is the food. Here we are with his turkey leg.

Kitchen

We won!

We won! Mix 94.1 and Home Depot had a competition "The ugliest kitchen". So I took pics. of our kitchen or the lack there of. You can see the pics. So I was the first person to enter and I thought I was going to be the only one. Fifteen minutes before the competition ended this guy showed up and his kitchen was really ugly! He won 1st place the prize a $350.00 Home Depot gift card. Because I was the only other person who entered they gave me 2nd place a $100.00 gift card and 3rd place a $50.00 gift card, Not bad! Special thanks has to be made to Diana. She is the one that told me about the competition.

For those of you who don't know Ryan and I bought my Grandfather's house last Oct. and have been repairing it. Ryan is amazing, he has done most of the work by himself. This is a complete understatement he has put hours and hours of work into it blood, sweat and no tears because he it tough! I'm the only one who puts in the tears. We have had some help from others and I would like to say thank you to Ryan's Parents, My Parents, David Hinden, David Gardner, Alan and Andrew(My brothers), Dustin and Braden(Our Nephews) . Thank you, Thank you!!!!!

Photo Fun

I have no idea what I'm doing

Welcome to my blog! I have finally made one. I have no idea what I am doing so if anyone can help me PLEASE do!!! Trisha this means you. I have been kind of a "blog stalker". I loved looking at other blogs but didn't have one of my own. So here it is! P.S. I also made a Facebook today.... so check it out.