2017 was the year of Randy and Maddy. It was OUR year full of travels and adventures, and really figuring out life with the two of us. In so many ways, 2017 was one of the best years. It was full of some hard things, but we figured a lot of things out and it became chock full of some of the greatest memories and moments I could have ever asked for.

2017 was full of leaps and risks and lots of faith. My testimony was strengthened in ways I never would have imagined.

Randy and I grew closer than I could have dreamed and our love has never been more sweet.

In 2018 I can only hope that we keep growing and learning. I know we will, because with little dude coming we have a lot to learn!

In 2018 I hope for kindness and patience, for faith and trust, for prayer and practice makes perfect. I hope for lazy weekend mornings and lots of family-of-three cuddles. I hope for hard work and accomplishments, more books read and recipes tried. I hope for less doubt and judgment and gossip and lots more love and faith.

I’m the most nostalgic person I know (ask Randy how tired he gets of “do you remember this….” conversations) and as I reflect on the years past and on the year ahead, I’m so excited. 2018 is going to be a life-changing one for us, hopefully in more than just the big obvious ways.

Let’s do it!

February – Celebrating Randy’s birthday and Valentine’s day, making important decisions, lots of praying and thinking and worrying.

March – Walks around the Jordan River trail, shopping, cooking new foods and spending time with friends. The first half of 2017 was hard for me, as we were making huge decisions and I was figuring out how to get my groove back. Randy was my rock the entire time.

April – A whirlwind week of Disneyland with my parents and sister, then straight to New York for a business trip. I HATED being away from Randy but New York was so cool! We also decided to start trying to have a BABY! Also – Randy made the DEAN’S LIST. Did I mention he went to school year round for all of 2017? And killed it?

May – A HUGE and amazing month, 2 weeks of which we spent in Japan! We had the best time ever and I can’t wait to go back. We also celebrated two years of marriage which was so wonderful. Our sweet niece was born while we were gone, and we got to see Randy’s mission and I got to meet his grandparents and cousin. Randy quit his job at the bank after 2 years which was hard, but was the right move!

June – Headed to Yellowstone and loved seeing baby animals and mountain sheep (which we had never seen before!) Our darling nephew was born and at the end of the month, came to Utah to spend the summer!

July – LOTS of niece and nephew time, Candace and Randy became best friends and we loved doing fun summer activities like picnics, cookouts, drive-in movies, and more. Also, our apartment FLOODED and it was the craziest saga in the world.

August – Concerts and switching jobs were some major memories of August! But the biggest was saying goodbye to our niece and nephew as they moved to California, and saying goodbye to Randy’s brother Sam as he went on his mission to Japan.

September – The best month of the whole year, we found out we were having a baby! On my birthday, no less. It was one for the books and some of the happiest days of my life. We also moved into a new apartment in South Jordan.

October – Doctor appointments, telling our families and friends about Baby Low, freelance work, and settling into our new place filled up our October.

November – Finding out we are having a baby BOY was the highlight of November! Lots of family time and hard work for Randy to get great grades also took up most of the month.

December – Family time, feeling little dude move around, working hard and being so happy.

2017 was hard in some ways, but in so many other ways it was the best year of my life. I feel so insanely blessed to have had such a beautiful year, and am even more excited for 2018 when we get to meet our little man. We are SO lucky and so happy, and thanks to all of you who made our 2017 picture perfect.

We had a family shower for our little dude a few days after Christmas, when all our family was still in town! It was SO much fun and my sisters and my mom knocked it out of the PARK! It was SO cute and little guy was SO spoiled. We had soup and veggies and fruit and treats, had a word search and baby animal naming game (with prizes of course) and got SO many amazing gifts for our little dude. It’s overwhelming to see how many people love our little guy.

A huge thank you to everyone who came, and to my awesome sisters and mom for putting on such a fantastic shower. I feel insanely lucky (and emotional and pregnant so I’m crying while I type this – haha)

We have had an absolutely WONDERFUL Christmas!

Christmas started for us a week ago (holy cow I’m behind on blogging!) Thursday we came to Kaysville to start spending time with family. We had the best time seeing our niece and nephew and getting all festive!

Friday we did some shopping and the rest of my family arrived, and Randy and I got to have an ultrasound with little dude! He was SO cute and even waved at us! Then we went to the Candlelight Christmas at This Is The Place Heritage Park, which was SO fun! We ate donuts and gingerbread cookies, saw a live nativity which was one of the highlights of the season for me, and danced like the pioneers would have, making wax candles and DIY garlands. It was SO fun to hear carolers singing Christmas songs and it really got us ready to celebrate the season. We got to write a letter to Santa and then burn it because they told us that’s how the pioneer parents told their children their letters would get to Santa! Randy even folded a paper crane (in about 30 seconds) and wrote his letter on it in Japanese! It was really fun! Christmas charades rounded out the evening and we stayed up WAY too late laughing.

Saturday we went and saw Jumanjii (which was funny!) and had pho for lunch (my favorite!) Then we played with our nieces and nephew, had delicious food, and spent time with Randy’s family. It was a really relaxed day just full of fun memories.

Sunday was Christmas Eve and we jetted off to church with Randy’s family, had a delicious ramen and gyoza party there, then went back to my parents house for a Christmas Eve dinner, then back to Randy’s to talk to Elder Low! He is doing SO well and it was wonderful to get to chat with him! He seems so happy in Japan, and we couldn’t be more proud of him!

Christmas Eve night was full of opening books (my family’s tradition) and getting everything ready for the big day!

Christmas Day of course was too much fun. We ran back and forth between our families houses and were spoiled absolutely rotten. From clothes for us and our little dude, to surprise bath bombs and tons of vinyl for Randy, we were so lucky. We really have the best families and it was so fun to give them things and show our love for them.

Fun fact, my dad got a lock picking set and everyone, including Candace, had to learn how to use it!

It was SO magical to have little kids with us on Christmas morning and got me and Randy so excited for next year when we have little man here!

The days after Christmas have been filled with more family and fun and we are so lucky, it’s been so perfect to have a break and refocus on things that really matter.

As we talked about Jesus Christ and His miraculous birth, I can’t help but think about His Heavenly Father and Mother and His earthly parents. All of them had so much love for Him, and for all of us. They were willing to give a child so He could grow up and save us. I think about how overprotective I feel about this little babe I haven’t met, and how fiercely I love him already, and it makes me sob.

There is so much good and so much love all around us. It’s easier to feel at Christmas, but it’s something I pray I can carry through every day of the next year.

Merry Christmas!

We have been having the best time gearing up for Christmas! Randy finished his finals on Thursday (he worked SO hard and I am SO proud of him!) so Friday we had to do some fun stuff!

After work we went to see Star Wars The Last Jedi and we LOVED it. So many people have been saying they don’t like it for one reason or another, but we thought it was really good! You have to let go of your expectations a little bit, but I really loved it and so did Randy.

Saturday morning we slept in a bit, then headed off to do some Christmas shopping! It was snowing a tiny bit and we listened to Christmas music which always makes me so excited for the holiday.

We saw Santa Claus at City Creek, but he wasn’t nearly as popular as all the Star Wars characters that were available for pictures! There were maybe 4 people in line to see Santa, and several dozen in line to see the Star Wars characters, which was a riot.

We met up with Bethany and Jarem at Trolley Square for some dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory – we got to eat in the train car which was really fun! After wandering around for a minute, we headed up to Temple Square and after getting stuck in some bad traffic, finally parked and got over to the MoTab Concert! It was SO cool to see so many people in line at the JSMB for the new Church Vending Machines, all wanting to donate money to serve others.

We got to the concert and it was one of my favorite ones I have ever been to. Sutton Foster was breathtaking and her songs were beautiful. I seriously teared up hearing her sing Sunshine On My Shoulders by John Denver (one of my family’s favorite road trip songs). Hugh Bonneville was also fantastic and SO cool to see in person, and of course Richard Elliot the organist played an AMAZING solo that got a standing ovation. The whole congregation sang Jingle Bells and it was SO fun to see everyone try to keep up with the conductor.

Baby boy was bouncing around like nuts when the singing was going on – I think it’s safe to say he’s his father’s son, and loves music.

We’re having the best time this holiday baking cookies, wrapping gifts, and I’m trying really hard not to get too caught up in things and just be excited about what we get to do and see. It’s been fun and we can’t wait for little man to join us next year!

Week 18:

Randy and I are THRILLED that we are having a baby boy!! SO many people thought it was a girl (75% of our Instagram poll) but once she told us it was a boy it just felt SO right. It feels obvious and we are so insanely thrilled. It’s just the right first step for our little family and we couldn’t be happier. We had a blast finding out and sharing with our families.

Symptoms: I have been gagging at EVERYTHING. It’s the weirdest thing! I don’t feel sick to my stomach, but Randy will have his hoodie strings in his mouth or something and it makes me gag! It’s SO weird. I’ve also had some random shin-split pain and things that may, or may not, be associated with the pregnancy.

Sleep: I’m less tired which is amazing! It’s so nice to have more energy! 

Baby is: The size of a box of an action figure! He’s supposedly going to be able to start hearing right around now so I’m trying to talk to him more, as strange as it feels! I also feel like I have felt him move a couple times, but they say starting this week or next week I should be able to start feeling him move for sure!

Gender: BABY BOY! Right now we are liking the names Graham, Winston, and Hudson.

Dad is: The very best! He is getting ready for finals and is still so sweet and always makes sure I have everything I need.

Mom is craving: Sour candies still (so weird) and PASTA.

Funny things this week: We had a blast at the Festival of Trees and couldn’t stop staring at every, single baby we saw!