Wedded bliss

Today is our 5th anniversary. Life has been very good to Mike and I! Marriage has been a joy! I stole this off of Anne-Marie's blog. (She had her anniversary this week as well!)

1. Where did you and your husband meet?

We met at an institute Family Home Evening activity (square dancing:) up at the University of Utah on July 28, 2003.

2. How long before you kissed?

It was Labor Day weekend - just over a month later.

3. Who kissed who first?

It was Mike.

4. How long from the time you met until you were engaged?

We got engaged on December 26, 2003. Mike says he had planned to propose on Christmas Day but the weather was not good and he wanted to propose outside on a snowmobile ride. (We were at the cabin. Incidentally, we were also at the cabin Labor Day weekend - see #3.)

5. How did he propose?

We went for a snowmobile ride while at my parents' cabin for Christmas. We rode around for a while (while it was snowing) at ended up at the top of Fish Creek (one of my favorite little rides). Mike suggested we take a picture so he set up the timer on the camera and took a picture. He asked if we could take another and then proposed for the camera!

6. Did he pick out the ring or did you?

We went ring shopping a few times and I found one that I really liked but I left it up to him. He ended up having a different jeweler make the ring that I had liked with a few little modifications. We had already set a date by the time he proposed, but I told him I couldn't start planning the wedding until I was officially engaged. Time was starting to run short so he got me a simple gold band and proposed with that until the "real thing" was ready.

7. Do you still like the ring?

I love it! I always wanted an anniversary band style ring and I got it.

8. Where was your wedding and reception?

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple and had our reception at my parents' church. It was beautiful!

9. How many bridesmaids did you have?

My sisters and sisters-in-law were my bridesmaids (Tami, Stephanie, Kaley, Bekah and Lara). That makes 5.

10. What color were your bridesmaid dresses?

Gold and cream - they all looked really nice!

11. What was your bouquet made of?

Roses, mums and calla lilies, I think. The roses were cream with a rosey red on the edges. My flowers were fabulous. My mom and neighbor did them all. There were a lot of really unique arrangements and they looked great.

12. Who gave you away?

Nobody. No giving away in the temple ceremony.

13. Did you cry during your wedding?

I really can't remember. I was so excited that I might not have, but I wouldn't be surprised if I got a little bit teary.

14. What style was your dress?

It was exactly what I wanted. My mom and I shopped all over and we were just about convinced that she'd have to make it, but we found it. I don't know what the "style" was, but it had a fitted beaded bodice. The skirt was not very full with a small train. It was very simple.

15. Was your wedding kiss sweet or sexy?

Sweet.

16. Who caught your bouquet?

I can't remember....

17. What flavor was your cake?

I think there were a few different flavors - maybe lemon and chocolate? I know that one of the layers was a big rise krispie treat (frosted so no one would know, of course) and that when we went to cut the cake, I realized I didn't know which layer to cut so I had to go and ask our wedding planner which layer was the rice krispie treat so that I didn't cut into it. I was slightly emabarrassed.

18. Did you smash the cake onto each other's faces or feed it to each other nicely?

We were nice.

20. What did you serve your guests to eat?

It is hard to know since I didn't get any:) There were breads with spreads, fruit, meat balls, desserts and other stuff. (I don't remember what the desserts were.)

21. What did your friends do to decorate your car?

We left both our cars at my parents' house, but Mike's friend, Quin, was able to track it down and do the typical stuff to both of them. I know that one of our cars sat decorated in an airport parking lot for over a week while we were on our Honeymoon.

22. What was your favorite wedding gift?

It's hard to pick one because we got some great stuff. We use our wok and our rice cooker a ton. My parents' bishop was a printer so he let me design my announcements and print them for me as a gift.

23. What was the worst wedding gift you got?

I can't think of anything. If there was something we didn't need, we returned it:)

24. Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We went to Tahiti! It was AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL. It was funny the way it worked out. We planned to do Mexico or Florida and were shopping around online one night when Mike's roommate said, "You should go to Tahiti. My parents really like it there!" We just laughed but looked it up and then laughed harder when we saw the prices (way out of our price range). We realized we'd need some help with the planning so we went to a travel agent to discuss some options. She gave us some suggestions and ideas and then at the end of our conversation she said something like, "You might want to consider Tahiti. I have a package here that might work for you." We laughed some more when we realized that her package might be viable. A couple days later, I saw a booklet at Costco for their travel packages. I picked one up to thumb through and, lo and behold, there was Tahiti again. We ended up using Costco Travel and went to a fabulous resort on the island of Moorea. We highly recommend it!

25. Looking back, is there anything you would have changed about your wedding?

Hmmm...It was a great day. It would've been nice if my brother had been there. (He was on his mission.) I realized at the last minute that we hadn't planned for the cutting of the cake and the first dance so we threw something together and it was fine, but a couple mixups. The first few minutes of our reception, people were playing with the lights and that kind of bugged me. I thought that the March weather would not be great, but it was a nice day - no leaves on the trees, but a nice day. Really, it was a fabulous day and any "changes" would be very insignificant.

Briton's Story

Here is a bit of a birth story:

Briton's birth story would not be complete without a small snapshot of the preceding couple weeks.

• We (Abby, me, Briton in utero) arrived in MI on January 10.
• He couldn't be born before January 31 because I really didn't want him to come "home" to a hotel and at least by then we'd have closed on our house.
• But, he also couldn't be born before February 6 because we wanted decent insurance.
• He really should be born before February 10 though so that my mom would be in town, but when that didn't happen...
• We requested that he wait a few more days until Abby and I were over our colds.

I think that the poor kid got sick of all of this and went on strike. Something like, "Fine, you win. I'll just hang out in here until I'm forced out." That wasn't too bad of a way to go, but the day or two before the designated day, Mike was sick so we almost had to put him off again, but happily, we didn't!

After that the story is not too long or complicated...

On February 18, we went in to the hospital at 7 am to be induced. It was really quite simple. I was in my room by 7:05 and my nurse was waiting for me there getting everything ready. She put me on the monitors and realized that there was already some pre-contraction stuff going on. She says that I was definitely ready to have this baby. By 8 am, the Pitocin had been started and I was progressing. At around 9:20, my water broke on its own and I got an epidural within the next half hour. All along, the nurse was telling us that she predicted this baby to be born before 1 pm. That really surprised me since I was in labor with Abby from 5 am until 6 pm. At around 11 or 11:30 I noticed that I was feeling some mild pain with the contractions. The mildness (stress the word "mild") felt just fine, so I didn't say anything for a while. I learned a lesson there. I got a little "boost" to the epidural at around noon, but that wasn't in time so it never caught up. I think there was very little of the numbing stuff left (there was probably more than I think - wimp!) for the rest of the time. There were several times over the next half hour that I entertained the thought that he might just need to stay in for a while and that everyone else could just figure out a way to get him out. (It really, really hurt, but I survived.) I pushed from 12:07 until he was born at 12:33, and, yes, he is worth it!

Briton is doing very well. He was born at 8 lbs. 6 oz. and when we took him in for a weight check yesterday, he had put on 11 oz. in 7 days to bring him to 8 lbs. 12 oz. He is quite the growing boy and we all (Abby included) think he is great!

All these pictures were taken when B. was 18 days old.

I got tagged on Facebook

My 3 favorite people (minus Hope):

Three names I go by:
1. Marinda
2. Mom (what Abby usually calls me)
3. Minda (what Abby calls me on special occasions)

Three Jobs I have had in my life (try to share your most interesting ones!):
1. A janitor at BYU
2. A "whatever they asked me to do that day, but usually Accounts Payable" at my uncle's garden center
3. Sales clerk at Express

Three Places I have lived:
1. Del Rio, TX
2. Osorno, Chile
3. DeWitt, MI

Three Favorite drinks:
1. OJ (it's cheap here - I drink gallons)
2. Sprite
3. Water, no ice

Three TV Shows that I watch on a regular basis or when it's in season:
1. American Idol (but I'm not into this season...yet)
2. The Office (but I get irritated...)
3. PBSkids (no complaints yet)

Three places I have been (other than where you currently live):
1. Scofield, UT (my favorite place for a cabin)
2. Yellowstone (my favorite camping destination)
3. Some scattered int'l Air Force Bases that made for some pretty cool teenage family vacations

People that e-mail me regularly:
1. Mike
2. Mine and Mike's parents
3. Ebay, Amazon, Motley Fool, etc., etc. (maybe they are not people?)

Three of my favorite foods:
1. Whatever I have tried at this Midwest Italian chain, Bravo! - Mmmm, it is so good
2. Tacos or taco salad
3. Panda Express sounds really good right now

Three Things I am looking forward to:
1. Briton's blessing in a couple weeks when our parents will be out
2. Summer visits to the "beach" on the Great Lakes
3. A fabulous 3 week trip to Utah this summer - Yellowstone, sister's wedding, family, friends, showing off my baby:)

Three places I would like to travel to:
1. England and Wales (Mike's mission) and the rest of Great Britain
2. New England in the fall
3. Another cruise

On a different note, this is my baby. I think he is scrumptious!

2 Reasons I am grateful for the organization of the church

1. We have an instant family when we do crazy things like move across the country, start a new job, buy a new house and have a new baby in a 6 week time frame.

That means that we can go from knowing no one in an entire state to having countless meals and babysitters available when the new baby comes.

That also means that when we wanted to paint our house and do some minor projects during the week we owned the house but hadn't had our furniture and stuff delivered (i.e. we didn't have a vacuum, hammer, screwdriver or anything else), we had people we could borrow from and they were OK with it!

That also means that when your kids don't have their grandparents close by, they have lots of people that are willing to fill in as grandmas and grandpas. A slightly related experience: Tonight, I asked Abby to run with me to the home of a fabulous couple in our branch that have always been so kind and loving to Abby so that we could return some dishes. They live less than a mile away, but Abby insisted on packing a purse before we could leave. This is what that turned into. That bag was full. And that was just to take in the car. (She told me that with the teddy bear it was too heavy so I got to carry the purse.)

(If you don't find this picture funny, that is OK. I laugh every time I look at it because I was there while she was packing the purse for the long journey down the street so it amuses me at least...)

2. We have opportunities to serve.

Nearly every day I talk to Mike on the phone while he is at work. Nearly every day he asks me, "What do we have going tonight?" In Murray, we were so busy. There was always something going on. Here, I think I have gotten pretty comfortable saying, "Uh, nothing." We don't have callings. We don't have much going on with friends and family. (We don't have any family around, unfortunately.)

Today we got a sacrament meeting speaking assignments and Mike got a calling. No more sliding under the radar, I suppose:) I have been especially struck by the thought that service in the church makes us happy. We truly love it!

I love this scripture:

Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah...

Serving in the church allows us to participate in that great work of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world!

****

Another thought: This past week, my step-grandpa passed away. He was a very kind, generous and quiet man. His health has not been good for quite some time. We told Abby that Grandpa Tom had died and gone to live with Jesus. She responded, "In the temple." How sweet of her to know that the temple is Jesus' house.

Warning: Shameless bragging about my kids

Boy, do I think I have cute kids.

Briton is doing great. ("Terrific" is the word used by the pediatrician. That is new for us. The first two didn't have the best start.)

We love having him around. And, um, the past two nights I have had to wake him up to eat at 3 am. Call me crazy (for waking him up). Or call him crazy (for sleeping through a perfectly good meal). I am not wanting to jinx myself because two of the first three nights he was home were not fun. He just wouldn't sleep so I am not going to underestimate his ability to pull an all-nighter again.

Briton has gotten a lot of attention the past week, but I sure can't forget about Abby. She is pretty fantastic. She amazes Mike and me with things she says.


Here are a few:

Mike arranged for Abby to be babysat a couple times this week by branch members so that Briton and I could get used to each other and so that I could take naps. At the house of a 21-month-old boy yesterday, she was riding a little trike and put an orange cone on her head. When the little boy said, "Hat!", Abby corrected him with "Helmet!"

This morning Abby was reading a book and I heard her say, "Book up down". I then watched her turn the book right side up. (In Kindergarten, we called that "concepts about print". Abby would've passed.)

We've only been here a month and a half and Abby will tell us the names of the grocery stores, point out the library and recognizes the street the church is on.

This is a wall in our house that has pictures of us as well as all of Abby's grandparents and great-grandparents. She can name them all (even the ones who she never met) and can tell you what state many of them live in!
Here's one more Abby-ism (a favorite of ours). Last night Abby was playing with her stickers. She came up to Mike and I and said, "Sticker go?" (That means "Where did the sticker go?") She started picking (really digging into) her nose and I got concerned. Then she said, "Sticker hiding." She told us a few times that the sticker was hiding before she was able to successfully dig it out. We laughed.

Incidentally, if you notice any missing "ooooooooo"s in this post, disregard. That key is sticking and it's kind of driving me nuts. (I think I caught most of them...)

A few more pictures of our house

The kitchen:I really like this wall in the kitchen/dining room. (It replaced an orange faux painted wall.) I am currently looking for the perfect picture to hang on it.
The living room:
Briton's room:
The plan is to put a shelf across the back wall at the level the color changes (and to put sheets in the crib:).

I might want your advice, but I am not sure

So Mike and I like the way we chose to spell our baby's name for various reasons. (That is why we chose it the way we did.)

This is the problem. A couple people have asked how to pronounce his name. That is totally OK. We knew when we chose to spell it with one "t" that some people would think it is pronounced like the ski resort (Brighton) instead of like the country (Britain). The correct pronunciation is the short vowel. It could be written as Briton, Britton, Britain. You get the picture. I know that spelling his name with two "t"s would eliminate confusion, but we like our way better.

This is my question, "Is my child going to go throughout his life being called by the wrong name?" When you first read his name, did you think Brighton or Britain (i.e. long vowel or short vowel)? I don't think that we'll change it but I am curious to know if you think that we have doomed him.

Incidentally, a person from Great Britain is a "Briton" so technically we aren't on the wrong track.

Are you sick of me posting daily? Life in the hospital and even recovery life at home lend itself to frequent postings I suppose:)

My baby has slept ALL day

He was awake for almost 2 hours from about 5-7 tonight (a record since he was born), but other than that: sleep, sleep, sleep. He and I are going to spend a cozy night at the hospital while dad and big sister sleep at home, then they'll come and get us in the morning.

We tried to do some family pictures tonight. I am sure that you can imagine how many we took to get a favorite...too bad I forgot to take Briton's binkie out for that one.

But here you can see his face!

We sure do adore his big sister:)

Welcome to the world!

Introducing:
Briton Michael Wessman
born 2-18-09 at 12:33 pm
8 lbs. 6 oz. 20" (so much bigger than his sisters)
We think that he is fabulously cute!

**posted from our "birthing room" 3 hours and 15 minutes after giving birth

Indulge me...

I think I'll post some pictures of what we've been doing around the house. There aren't many people around here I can show it to so I'll show it to you.

Big girl bedroom

Here is Abby's room:

When we closed, it looked like this.

We changed the color of the accent walls to match her bedspread and unpacked.
This is basically what we ended up with. I think it turned out pretty cute.


The baby's room is really cute, and all the furniture and painting is done, but I'll post pictures later when some of the finishing touches are up (wall stuff and, heaven forbid, a mattress in the crib).

The play room and front room

Here is the bonus room:We painted it "Peach Tickle". I love the color! (It is definitely not peach-y, but yellow. It's a great color for a play room - that doubles as a guest room.)



There are a few finishing touches (of course) that I need to add. I am going to have Mike cut out some bead board picture frames, spray paint them white and then scatter them throughout the room with fun pictures of the kids and family. I got the idea from the Brimley's great pictures in their living room (hope you don't mind guys).

Here is a really undramatic transformation. This is the front living room. We just got rid of the purple, and put the piano and a sofa table in it. (I like purple, but not for this room.)

I'll put baby pictures of the kids over the piano. Somewhere on the "to buy" list is a love seat or maybe a couple nice chairs to put in this room, but right now...just a piano.

By the way, baby brother is tentatively "scheduled" to arrive on Wednesday.

Missing...

...baby

Baby brother has not arrived yet. Due to the "prompt" arrival of both of the girls, we are a bit surprised, but Mike and I both arrived late so I suppose we deserve it.

...grandma

After 10 days, my mom left yesterday. We will all miss her a lot. She was so helpful and we loved the company. Abby was terribly disappointed when she realized she drove 90 minutes to the airport only to find out that grandma was getting on the plane alone.

...snow

So, the snow is missing, but we aren't really missing it. This picture was taken on Sunday. On Saturday, there were at least 8 or 9 inches of snow throughout the yard and big mounds along the sides where the shovels dropped it off. Yesterday was 58. Today is supposed to be 50 and it is raining so the snow is all gone. (I am not naive enough to not expect it to return.)
...binkie

She hasn't used the binkie at the house at all and seems to be OK.

In fact, yesterday we were walking through Ikea and I had to explain to her why she couldn't go into their playroom (because she doesn't wear big girl panties). We had a very nice installment of the ongoing what big girls do versus what babies do conversation. She volunteered that baby brother would need a binkie and it didn't seem to bother her that she doesn't have one.

She told me this morning that her binkies were at the hotel. I didn't lie to her, but I also didn't tell her where they really are.

There is a small problem though. According to my mom, who slept in the same room as Abby at the hotel, each morning at around 5 or 6 she'd wake up, find the binkie and go back to sleep. She is still waking up at that unsightly hour, but forgetting the fall back to sleep part. My mom was really nice and let Abby go into the room she was in and crawl in bed with her while Mike and I slept oblivious downstairs.

Grandma is gone, so Abby came down to our room "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" at 4:56 am. Mike let her climb in with him and as soon as she was asleep, he took her back upstairs. I can't complain at all because she slept until almost 9. I think she'll return to her great sleeping habits soon.

(I cannot complain. Abby is a fabulous sleeper even when she is waking up at 5 or 6.)

Conversation

Mike: Abby, what should we name your baby brother?

Abby: Uh, baby.

Mike: OK, well then, what should we call him?

Abby: The phone. (I assume this means we should call him on the phone.)

Mike: What is his phone number?

Abby: Phone book. (Do those actually still get used? Oh, wait, I still use the phone book - so 80s.)

Mike: So what name should we look for in the phone book?

Abby: Baby.

Hmmm...isn't this where we started?

FYI--I really want this baby to come soon. I want my mom to meet him! He isn't here yet. We'll see!

As if by magic

A few things have appeared here in DeWitt:

Talented painters
including my mom (who I've decided has single-handedly made it possible to move into this house)
A gorgeous "purple" (not exactly, but close) wall...along with some yellow, taupe, brown and soon to be green walls (and a mystery kitchen wall color - a mystery I would love to solve soon)
My car (Oh, how I love my car!)

A few things have disappeared:

Like this orange wall...(along with some others, but we actually kept the green bathroom walls)
and the for sale sign in front of the house that is now ours:)
Binkie (or dee-dee or bankie, whatever you like to call it), but not totally...the first couple days we were working at the house, binkie was accidentally left at the hotel and Abby took her naps pretty well so we might try a binkie-free house, but I haven't told her that yet because when baby brother arrives we might find it difficult to stick to it--we'll see--so far she has done pretty well--she is still getting it when she sleeps at the hotel
What has not appeared?
Baby brother, but soon, I am sure