The Bagley Family

It's a boy

2010-12-01T14:19:00.006-07:00

Just in case you haven't heard...
We are having a boy! Here are some ultrasound pics...
Check them out!

This little guy seems to have the Bagley sense of humor all ready...he will be a perfect addition!

We're having a baby!

2010-10-19T12:48:00.002-06:00

We are happy to announce we are expecting a baby this coming April. I am 15 weeks pregnant and doing great. After a solid 3 months of morning sickness I am feeling much better and getting excited for our new arrival. We will have our first ultrasound around Thanksgiving and will find out the gender then. Until then I posted a widget on the side of our blog to see where we are at in the pregnancy.
We are excited for our upcoming addition. Abby is going to be the best big sister!

Pumpkin Patch!

2010-10-19T12:01:00.000-06:00

Last week our playgroup decided to take a trip to the pumpkin patch here in Springville. Let's just say it was a big hit. They had a petting zoo, a hay pyramid, a corn pit and a toddler hay maze.

We decided to let them wear their Halloween costumes early, so here is a sneak peak at Abby's. Can you guess what she is?

Exactly! Baby Jaguar from her favorite cartoon Diego. Which by the way, if you don't know already, is Dora the Explorers cousin. He is an animal explorer. There is a big hint on what Kevin ans I are going to be...

The best part about this costume? Kevin's mom made it for him when he was 2. Amazing that it is in such good shape after all those years! As you can see, she is practicing being a baby jaguar. After all, according to Abby, "Jaguars can climb bery high."

Abby loved seeing the baby animals, especially the baby kangaroo. Yes, they had a kangaroo at the petting zoo. Abby loved to feed the animals the corn she collected from the corn pit. The animals liked it and so did her little friends. She loves to play with her friends.

And best of all...she picked her own pumpkin! We had so much fun!

Abby at age 2

2010-07-11T20:57:00.000-06:00

My sweet Abigail is 2. She is growing so fast!
What a sweet little girl!

Abby's 2nd Birthday!

2010-07-11T20:38:00.000-06:00

Well as promised here are some pics of Abby's birthday.
To begin, I went a little overboard on the invites. I would think by now it should almost be expected.
I really had fun with them and wanted to keep my 2-year-old audience in mind.

The animals are little puppets and the barn is a pocket they can keep them in.

The actual part was on Saturday afternoon and it was a huge success! We had a fishing pond that consisted of little fishing rods and magnetic fish. the kids had a blast! They loved it when Abby tipped one of the buckets over so she could drink the water...it is her party right?

I also had filled up our swimming pool with ballons to make a ballon pit for the kids to play in. These pictures really don't give it justice...Kevin and Cecilia blew up over 75 ballons for the pool. It was filled to the brim and then the kids just bounced them all out and they flew all over the yard. They had so much fun!

Then there was the cake. I really had a lot of fun planning that. Everything but the barnyard animals were edible...even the rocks. I got some inspiration for it online and the kids really liked picking out their own animal cupcake. Overall there was a lot of playing, cake and presents. What else could a 2-year-old ask for?

Bowwas...Let's go!

2010-06-10T21:32:00.000-06:00

The last week or so, Abby has been saying "bowwas! bowwas!" We have been at a loss for what that meant. She would say it over and over and then get frustrated that we didn't know what that meant. But today I figured it out. While we were loading up in the car for errands, I told Abby we were going and she replied "Bowwas, let's go!" Then It came to me, what she actually meant was "Vamanos, Let's go" a common phrase on her favorite cartoon of the month, Dora the Explorer. Just so you know
Bowwas = Vamanos = Let's Go

Oh, I just love my bi-lingual nearly 2-year-old.

Running and then there is RUNNING!

2010-05-21T20:53:00.000-06:00

I feel the theme of the family is running. Not only running in the physical sense, but in the in all aspects of the word. We have been so busy with Abby, school, work,the business, yard work, church work, and whatever else that we just find ourselves running from one thing to another until we collapse in bed at night. Then I wake up at 4:30 to actually go running. Don't think I am complaining in the least. I love everything that we are doing and everything is just a blessing.

However, for those of you that really know me, you also know that I find happiness in being productive and busy. I am just so happy to have our sweet Abigail. I am happy that Kevin is working so hard at work and at school. We have a beautiful home and a fun yard to work on and I love my sisters in the Young Womens. I think sometimes all it takes is to list out the things that fill my time to realize that I am truly blessed.

Little Caesars can be decieving...

2010-04-27T11:30:00.000-06:00

Kevin is always really encouraging me to blog...I am striving to be better...
Here is an excerpt from one of my letters to Richard in the MTC:

Abby likes to play in the refrigerator/freezer. This morning, she had me open it up just so she could look around and decide what she wanted. She is not the best eater, so if she is interested in eating, I will pretty much give her what she wants. Anyway, she saw that I had one of those Little Caesar Pizza kits in our freezer...you know...those kits that kids sell for fundraisers? (ours was the cheesy bread...yum!)

Well anyway, she saw the little Caesar cartoon character on the side and was convinced that she wanted "that!" ..."Mom" she said, "I want That!". I knew the whole time that she really didn't want some frozen dough, cheese, and frozen buttery garlic sauce. However she insisted. Based on the package, that is what she wanted.

When I opened it up, she was a little confused. On the inside, it wasn't fun at all...in fact she ever tried to make herself interested in it, however in the end, she agreed with me, that there was no eatable cartoon character inside and she lost interest.

This is much like how Satan gets people. He puts very convincing cartoon characters on the outside of things, convincing us that we want that no matter what. Then, after some time of discovery, we realize it was all smoke and mirrors and all that was inside was frozen pizza dough.

Don't be fooled by the package, you still have the bake it for 30 minutes at 350!

Like mother, like daughter

2010-03-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Every morning, or at least nearly every morning, I get up around 5:30ish and go running. Since it still is freezing in utah, I always wear a warm running outfit, a hat and a ear warmer headband. The hat is to keep my head warm and the headband is to keep the headphones in my ears. (Earbuds never stay in while I am running, it is very annoying). Anyway, it is basically the same routine every morning.
Abby usually wakes up with me, but I put her back in bed with daddy while I run...I never thought she paid such close attention to me until I found her in the kitchen the other day.

This is what I found...

She found my headband and my MP3 player and was trying to stick the ear buds in her ears when I found her. This was beyond adorable and it really made me think about how much children learn by example.

She was able to recreate in her 1-year-old way exactly what she saw me doing.

What a wake up call!

Everything I say, everything I do, Abby sees.
I really want to make a better effort of reading my scriptures in front of her, praying with her and teaching her the good things in life...
Although, running is an awesome thing.

A great weekend...

2010-02-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

I love having a weekend where I feel that I actually got some rest and I got things done as well. These times are few and far between, but when they come they are a welcome respite.

Abby has been as cute as ever. She spent most of Saturday in Moroni with Grandma and Grandpa. She is beyond spoiled and just has a blast. As you can see, she is always well cared for...

Adorable right?

As for Kevin, he finished up his marketing class for his MBA. Usually finishing a class is really stressful because of projects and tests, but this class for some reason was pretty relaxed and the end was pretty anti-climatic. He finished up 3 hours earlier than usual, which was really nice.

I had a nice run with my Springville running group and spent the rest of the morning running errands. That left us with the rest of the day to do things we never have time for and just hang out.

Our Sunday has been extremely nice as well. Kevin woke up and made Eggs Benedict for me(one of his specialities). They were fabulous! We then headed to church and had a nice sacrament meeting other than Abby deciding to draw all over her hands and arms during the sacrament. This is a quick phone picture that I took in the mother's room as I was trying to clean her up. notice the green marker not only on her hands but on the side of her head as well. Lovely.

Green marker makes a great complement to a pink dress...

Anyway, after a relaxing morning and church, we followed it by hanging out and having a great dinner. Again, Kevin treated us to home-made tostadas. Just in case you cared, we had fresh strawberries and cream for dessert. Fabulous!

It really is the small and simple things that make life wonderful.

I have no spectacular story as to why my weekend was so great. I think it is because I took the time to enjoy it, and that is what made all the difference.

Fun on the Farm

2010-02-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

I have been longing to begin outdoor activities with Abby. She is so active and curious and she love the outdoors. Today was a beautiful day so we took advantage and went to the Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point.

Abby loved to see the chickens. They were very friendly to her and her fingers. It made me a little nervous, but she left with her fingers intact and very excited about chickens.
This peacock was absolutely beautiful and very curious. It came right up to the front and was interested in Abby's stroller. She must have spilled something in it a while ago, because several animals ended up licking at the side of her stroller.

Abby LOVED the horses! The greatest part was that these horses loved the kids. This horse came right up to her and let her pet it;s mane. She was adorable.

I think I may get this one framed.

This most exciting part of Farm Country. They give you a ticket to ride the ponies! We tried to ride the ponies almost a
year ago and it was a disaster. She was so small and she just screamed. I really was a little nervous at how she would react, but as soon as I said "let's ride the ponies" she bolted off and tried to find a way under the ropes. She did so well. As you can see, she basically rode by herself. I just had my hand at her back while we went around to make sure she didn't randomly want to get off.

What a great shot!

New Blog layout

2010-02-07T21:23:00.001-07:00

Are you impressed? Well it has taken me a while, but I finally settled on a look that I like. I have also posted links to our other blogs and my business.
So things to check out:
1. My running blog
I created this to help me stay motivated for my marathon I am training for in June. Its pretty cool. I have some tracking widgets that will track my miles ran and some other neat features. I would love some tips, advice, encouragement or suggestions for good running music.

2. Kevins Econ blog/rantings
One day Kevin was just going into some of his deep political/theoretical discussions and I encouraged him to start a blog about it. Less than a week or so later, he was getting insightful comments form academics. So anyway, hopefully he will keep this up and engage in the academic discussions.

3. Eastwind Creations
I had to put a plug in for the business. Maybe you know someone getting married? If not, just puruse my work and keep me in mind for awesome Chritmas cards next year.
the business is actually doing quite well and I have a trade show coming up this weekend.
Things are definatly rolling during Abby's nap time.

And finally, a photo to make this post complete.
Abby in her "snuggie" at Christmas. Cute.

We are Wii'ing

2010-01-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

That's right. Wii'ing. I would like to thank Becky and Matt for that one. We have gone from no TV to having a full gaming console and an HDTV. Huge adjustment for me, but so far we just use it for Wii'ing and I am okay with that. ( In case you don't know, I am very anti-TV and video games)

Impulsive? Yes.
Unnecessary? Yep.
Fun? Very.

Kevin says this will be his form of exercise. I have in fact seen him work up a sweat, so he may be telling the truth.

Me on the other hand, well I will stick to running.

What's most important.

2010-01-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

I have really been thinking about the important stuff lately. I have had several experiences over the last month or so that prompted me to take some introspection and decide what is really important. Here are three things that I came up with:

1. Fostering a loving family
2. Faith in God
3.Personal Growth

I could expound on these things, but I don't claim to be a novelist. When I get caught up in the stresses of the here and now I can take peace in thinking and focusing on these things.

I have found it to be a wonderful exercise to decide the three most important things in your life and focus on giving your everything to those ideals. This falls along the lines of "live simply and love much".

I read a great quote today during our Family Home Evening and I wanted to share. Elder Jeffery R. Holland said:

"Dismiss the destructive, and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future and the bright future of your family, your friends, and your neighbors. God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go."

I think that is a good piece of advice.

The holidays

2010-01-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

I would really like to know what you are thinking right now...

I am sure it ranges from "I am glad I don't have to clean that up!" ...to... "should I be concerned?"

But whatever you may be thinking, I chose this photo to represent the Bagley Family holidays of 2009. It depicts the aftermath of Abby and M&Ms meeting together after opening Christmas presents. She calls them "num me nums". Adorable.

We had a low key Christmas and New Years at our new home. Just us.

It was fabulous. There were toys, chocolate, family and rest. There really is something to be said for relaxation and rest with one's family. I found it to be very rejuvenating.

We had time to watch movies, make snowmen and write out our family's new year's resolutions... and we are off to a running start. They range from reading the scriptures daily to running a marathon (guess who's goal that is;). We also threw in a trip to Disneyland this summer.

In short we are grateful for our mid-winter respite and are excited for the opportunities that a new year will bring.

We hope you and your family will have a wonderful new year!

Happy October!

2009-10-06T21:44:00.000-06:00

When I was outside with Abby today I had a moment where I stopped to feel the cool breeze. Then I looked around to see the trees in the awkward stage between green and a vibrant fall hue and I found a little peace.

Lately our family theme has been: "Whatever can go wrong, will. So expect it." We are still in the tedious process of buying a house that has been going on for about 5 months. We have been living with family for the last 4 months about 100 miles away from anything. This has taken an emotional and and financial toll on our family and I have struggled.

Today, as Abby and I were running around, I had a moment of serenity. Sometimes it takes the beauty of nature to speak and let me know how blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter and then the feelings come that things will work out. Sometimes, we need to just take time to stop, look around and realize how much the Lord loves us.

Too much going on...

2009-07-30T18:41:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's been an absolutely insane couple of months. To recap:

I got a list of 6 Classes to complete as Pre-Req's for my MBA program (2 need to be done by Sept.)
We put an offer on a condo in May - set to close in June
Our Lender almost died in a car accident
Our Realtor started getting really sick
Our initial closing date keeps getting set back (all in all about a month)
The underwriter catches a problem with the condo that would preclude us from getting funding.
The sellers inform us that they knew about it when we placed the offer - but were hoping no one would catch it.
We rescind the offer on the condo and start looking again - back to square one.
Abby has her birthday - not at the location we'd planned.
We move out of our place into my parents in Moroni (an additional hour from work).
We find a place that we like but it is very small.
We can't place an offer on the new place untill the owners of the condo sign to release us from the previous sales contract - that takes a few weeks.
My birthday comes around.
Condo owners finally sign - we place offer on new place.

Hopefully that explains why we haven't been very good recently about blogging.

Other than all of that we're actually doing pretty well. Abby is as cute as ever - not only is she running everywhere, but she is talking now too. She says things like bubbles, ball, dadda, mamma, cheese (although this is more of a hiss), book, hi, etc. She also does the signs for dog, up, etc.

She has also recently discovered her belly button. She is quite intrigued by it and seems to think that everyone else is/should be as well. So whenever she meets someone new she says "hi", waves, pulls up her shirt, sticks her finger in her belly button and smirks. As soon as we can capture a picture of it we'll be sure to post it.

Thanks to everyone for all the love and support through all of this - we love all of you.

--Kevin

Abby walking!

2009-04-21T21:04:00.000-06:00

Yes that's right, Abby can walk at 9 months! Her official "first steps" we are going to say are on April 20th...here is the proof...enjoy!
(These were with an OLD cell phone, so excuse the poor video quality)

Easter!

2009-04-21T20:41:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter with our sweet little Abigail. We took special Easter pictures the week before which was a lot of fun.She had an adorable green plaid skirt that I thought was perfect for her first Easter.

Easter weekend we had the traditional Easter egg hunt in a very untraditional way. We spread plastic eggs all over the living room and showed Abby where they were. I then showed her that the eggs needed to go into the basket...and that's all it took. She started to crawl all over the living room, picking up an egg...putting it into her mouth and then turning around to find her dad dilligently following her with a basket and then she plopped it into the basket. She proceeded to do this until all the eggs were in the basket. I was very impressed!

It was really a fabulous weekend!

Family Updates

2009-04-15T20:29:00.001-06:00

Well it certainly has been a few weeks since we last posted. Things have been very busy, I took the GMAT a couple of weeks ago and scored a 650 out of 800. I'm pretty pleased. But we still have to wait another month or so until we find out about admission. I guess I'm just going to have to learn some patience.

I also started my own blog at the request of Blair. She was tired of my soap-box rants and wanted me to find another outlet for my random nerdiness. So, I did. If you do decide to visit it, remember, it is likely to be a little nerdy, but that should be expected from someone like me.

Abby is cruising all over everywhere. If she didn't enjoy the security of balancing herself on the side of the couch or the wall so much I'm fairly confident that she'd be walking everywhere she went. We played in the backyard yesterday and she held a couple of my fingers while we walked all around. She pulled me around the yard as if she wanted to show me this great place to play that I had never seen before. Actually she has been wanting to play outside quite a bit lately. Unfortunately for her it's been raining (and even snowed today) which puts somewhat of a damper (ahem) on her playing.

That's it for now, we'll post more when we find out about grad school etc.

-Kevin

Sunday in the Park with Abby

2009-03-09T20:57:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday was a beautiful day, so we decided to go to the park after church. It was a blast! This was Abby's first time ever playing at the park. We went on the swings first. She was somewhat used to this since we have an infant swing at home...but that does not swing high.

She LOVED the swing. Kevin kept pushing her higher and higher...giggles and peels of laughter.

We had a lot of fun hanging Abby off of random toys.

She did pretty well just hanging on some herself too.

Abby on the Farm...

2009-03-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday on our weekly excursions with Johanna and Clark we went to the working farm at Thanksgiving Point. It was so much fun! We began looking at the sheep and then to the goats.

Apparently Abby does not like the goats at all. She began screaming with fear when a large brown one can up to her. I have never heard her scream like that! We quickly moved on to the birds. She loved watching the peacocks, chickens, and turkeys.( It must be because of her Grandpa!) We then saw the ponies and thought Clark and Abby would love to ride. As soon as I got close to the ponies to put her one, she started screaming. I have never heard her scream with such purpose! She did not want to be near the ponies at all, but I had the goats. to get a picture...

Clark on the other hand loved the ponies. He got on the saddle, sat up, grabbed on and smiled...Abby and I watched from a distance.

Overall, it was a fun activity for our weekly adventures.

Abby & Daddy

2009-03-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Fun, energetic, creative, sweet, thoughtful, loving, sincere, compassionate, relaxing, hard-working, smart...this is my husband and Abby's dad. We are so lucky and blessed to have him!

Valentines Day

2009-02-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

So we had a wonderful Valentines Day. Instead of going out and waiting for unreasonable amounts of time at a restaurant, Kevin and his buddies thought it would be good to just make an elegant dinner for their wives at home. So Marc, Mackay, and Kevin made Kathryn, Lindsay and Ia fabulous dinner for Valentines day. We had Martinelli's , Cesar salad, and shrimp cocktails for an appetizer and then we had Beef Wellington for the main course. It was wonderful! Here are some pictures:

A little note about the business...

2009-02-22T18:54:00.001-07:00

As most of you are aware I am the founder of a unique custom wedding invitation business called Eastwind Creations. Recently we participated in the Provo Bridal fair and had a lot of success. We are really excited for wedding season to get into full swing as we are developing our product line. I have two independent consultants that will be designing with me and we are really excited to see what will come this year. Some of you have wanted to see photos of our booth so here they are:

Iris Bagley

2009-01-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

We received a phone call yesterday that Kevin's grandmother Iris had passed away in her sleep. She seemed to have gone peacefully. I felt like I should write a little about how she touched my life in the short time I have known her.
From the first time I met her, I could tell that she had an amazing sense of humor. Not only was she able to keep up the jokes with Kevin's family, but she usually started it. She was kind and sincere and always "abounding in good works". Whenever we would go over, she was always working hard on stuffing little balls for children in need. Although she could not see and had difficulty walking, she rarely complained.
When we found out we were pregnant and began to think of names, Kevin immediately wanted to name one of our little girls after his grandmother Iris. When Abby was born, I saw those bright blue eyes and immediatly thought that our decision on Abigail Iris was a perfect fit. Now, when i look at my sweet daughters blue eyes, I will always think of her heritage that she will be representing. Of a fun, loving predecessor who was always thinking of others and was faithful until the end.

Our Monterey Trip

2009-01-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

We decided back in October that we would go and surprise my family for my Dads 50th this January. The same week my Dad was turning 50, my brother Nick was turning 21 and my brother Richard 18. The birthdays also fell over Martin Luther King weekend. Kevin and I thought it would be appropriate to go and have some quality time with family and the beach. Although the surprise was thwarted 2 weeks before by my attentive 6-year-old sister, we still had a wonderful time. My Nana from Washington state also came to celebrate and it turned out to be a wonderful weekend. It was so nice to get away from the snow, especially since the weekend we picked, the weather was beautiful. It was near 80 degrees the entire time we were there.
What a great sunset!
At the aquarium

They were so excited to be out of the car!

My little sweet pea

2008-11-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-29T20:20:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-08-01T13:25:00.000-06:00

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

2008-06-29T21:44:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-06-04T10:10:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-04-22T15:09:00.000-06:00

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

2008-03-25T11:28:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-03-14T15:40:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

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

2008-01-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

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.

The Bagley Family Blog- New for 2008!

2007-12-31T15:37:00.002-07:00

We are very excited to launch The Bagley Family Blog! We hope it will be a good source for baby updates, fun pictures, and random thoughts.

iRack Video

2007-12-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I enjoy this one.