My little sweet pea

Posted by Blair Bagley at 7:12 PM 5 comments

We had a blast on Halloween! Kevin and I dressed up as farmers and Abby was a little sweet pea. Our ensemble looked great, but unfortunately we were so busy that we didn't get any pictures all together. I took this picture a few days before when I was making a Halloween card. Oh well...at least I have some pictures. Anyway...
We began trick-or-treating at Kevin's work. His whole office dressed up and had the employee's kids come in a trick-or-treat from desk to desk. It was really fun to see how hard core some of his co-workers are. We then went to our church's trunk-or-treat where everyone decorates their trunk of their car and the kids go from trunk to trunk to get candy.We didn't have time to decorate our trunk, but it turned out alright. Apparently the kids only cared if we had candy and we had that covered. We then had a Halloween party at our house with a bunch of our friends. It turned out to be a lot of fun other than my root beer disaster. I tried to do a cauldron of dry ice root beer but I decided to add the dry ice to the root beer after I poured it into the bowl. Bad decision...the root beer quickly overflowed all over the kitchen and all I could do was yell," kevin Kevin, KEVIN!" It was all very funny in the end, but now I know how to do it right next year. I am already thinking about our party next year, I think it will be a fun tradition.

Abby's fit of laughter

Posted by Blair Bagley at 8:20 PM 5 comments

Today while dishing up dinner, Abby found something extremely funny. We're not sure what it was, or why it struck her as so hilarious, but nonetheless she started laughing up a storm. After about 2-3 minutes of laughing we decided it would be worthwhile to get the camera and record some of her laugh attack for posterity. So here they are in all their glory.

Abigail Iris Bagley!

Posted by Blair Bagley at 1:25 PM 3 comments

Abigail Iris Bagley was born on July 9, 2008. She was 7lbs. 12oz. and 19in. We are so excited to have her in our family!

The Beauty of French Cuisine

Posted by Kevin at 9:44 PM 1 comments

Blair and I happened across a French bakery this past Saturday, and decided to stop in for a snack. It was fantastic. I had forgotten how much I love European pastries. We had some freshly baked spinach quiche and a pastry called nápolean; which was basically a smooth yet crunchy shell (it was rolled into a tube) filled with a whipped chocolate mousse and then both ends of the shell were dipped in a delectable European chocolate. It was wonderful. I have decided that is where I want to get my bread from now on... although it was a little more pricey then I would like, it was well worth it. It made me want to bake up some madeleines and fry up some crêpes. Pretty soon we'll have to have a crêpe night with some nutella.

For those of you who are reading this and are still in the vicinity of Provo, the bakery is located just off of State St. at about 2000 N.

I think I am ready to pop...

Posted by Blair Bagley at 10:10 AM 2 comments

So the past week or so I have been trying to talk my body into labor. It hasn't worked yet, but I am not giving up. I have a feeling I will be doing this the next 4 weeks until my doctor ends up inducing me. I am really excited to have the baby... mostly for the baby part but partly for the fact that the large beach ball attached to my stomach will be gone. I have accepted the fact that there is no way we will be completely "ready" for the baby, so I say let her come!

I think this would be my ideal...

Posted by Blair Bagley at 3:09 PM 2 comments

I love this video! If I had a choice I would have a pool and a dog just like this. Sometimes I would like to just be like the dog...

The Job Search

Posted by Kevin at 11:28 AM 3 comments

So the time has come for me to start looking for permanent employment. I don't think I ever realized how time consuming this can be, but it is actually a little exciting trying to find a job that will work well for me. Currently the plan is to work for a year or so in a job that will subsidize graduate school. The dilemma is finding the right job for me. I'm finding that a lot of the jobs out there in my field are for financial analysts... well, I don't want to be an accountant, so that narrows the field somewhat. Currently I have applied for several positions that look interesting, but it is too soon to hear back from any of them yet. When I do, all of you who read this blog will be the second to know (Blair will be the first). The other problem is where do I want to move to? I know of several places that I have been that I loved while I was there. I really enjoyed Denver, Phoenix, Portland, and Raleigh (NC). I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Posted by Blair Bagley at 3:40 PM 1 comments

So it’s March. When I was in 1st grade, my teacher Mrs. S had a laminated calendar that we would circle around every morning to talk about that day of the week. I distinctly remember sitting criss-cross applesauce on a vibrantly colored carpet and learning that March "comes in like a lion and out like a lamb". It might have been the velcroed animal cut-outs that we were allowed to attach to the calendar, but I instantly thought that this was the best month of the year. What other months are associated with lions and lambs?
As a part of the Bagley family’s attempt to be more positive and optimistic, I think I am going to adopt back my old nostalgia for the month of March. This may result in a laminated calendar.

My Cheez-it Obsession

Posted by Blair Bagley at 10:16 AM 3 comments

I think I may have a full-blown Cheez-it obsession. From the time I arrive at work until 10am I am constantly looking at the clock, waiting for that special time. At or around 10 am I begin my weekday ritual of the Cheez-its. I retrieve my box of luscious crackers form my desk and pile them onto a napkin or tissue discretely. I then begin my 10-15 minutes of enjoyment. I am disappointed when the last cracker is gone from my second helping, but I have the quiet assurance of knowing that these moments of pleasure will continue tomorrow. I have been told that if you eat excessive amounts of one food, your body will begin to show signs, such as eating an excessive amount of carrots. I have heard that if you eat too many carrots over a period of time, your skin will turn orange. I don’t know if this is true, however I have a feeling that our little baby will have an affinity for cheese and crackers at an early age.

The Crazy Holidays

Posted by Blair Bagley at 1:58 PM 4 comments

The past month has been very eventful for our family. As we anticipated and prepared for Christmas we also were prepping ourselves for a surgery. For months I have had problems with my gall bladder. Foreseeing that this could cause further complications in my pregnancy, my doctor strongly encouraged me to remove it before the baby grew any further.
Under the doctor’s advice, we scheduled surgery for the 21st of December.
This seemed like a convenient time for us because it would give me a nice long holiday to relax and heal. However the night before the surgery we got into a car crash. A man was pulling out from a parking lot, turning left into traffic and did not see our car in the inside lane. He broadsided the passenger side of our car, giving us a jolt.
Initially we thought everyone was fine, but after a few hours we discovered that I was bleeding. We went to the ER and learned that I had some internal hemorrhaging around my uterus. I was told that we had a 50% chance of a miscarriage and they could do nothing for me but wait to see if it stopped bleeding. I was then on ordered bed rest until I could see my OB the next week. Thankfully, Kevin’s family lives nearby and we were able to spend Christmas with family. We were very grateful for all the help and support we received during this time.
The day after Christmas we went to my OB. My doctor had a hard time finding the heartbeat because the baby was moving around so much. It was then a great feeling of relief came when we learned the baby would be just fine. We were told that there is a good chance that I could deliver early, but other than that things looked good.
After receiving the okay from my doctor, we went ahead and scheduled the surgery for January 11th.Things then became complicated further because we planned to move to Salt Lake City that weekend. We had a couple moving into our apartment that Monday, however, we had not found an apartment in Salt Lake. So when the time came, Kevin bounced back and forth from helping me recover from my surgery and moving our entire apartment into my Grandmother’s garage in Springville. Kevin’s family came to the rescue again by helping me recover and by helping Kevin move. We could not have done it without them.
In the midst of all of this, Kevin began a new semester of school. He really struggled to get a schedule that worked with our family’s schedule and fulfilled the requirements for graduating in August. On top of this, he learned that the money we expected to come in to help pay for tuition and books we no longer qualified for. This put us in a very difficult situation where all we could do is pray and put it in the Lord’s hands. Somehow, he found a schedule that worked and we figured out a way to pay for tuition and books on our own. This was a very simple yet profound miracle and we count it as one of the many blessing we have received amid all the chaos.
Its funny how things work out, but they always do. We are now settling into my 95 year-old grandmother’s home in Springville. She fell ill during this time and we decided that it would be best if we stayed with her until Kevin graduates in August. She has a large mother-in-law apartment set up in the basement of her home, which fits us comfortably. Kevin is close to school and I am commuting once again, but at this point, that is really a small price to pay. We really feel blessed and relieved to have this series of trials behind us.