Peyton Robert Biehl - January 2012

In the blogging world, I have earned an F! We’ve been so busy that taking time to upload photos and writing has been put on the back burner but hopefully, I can give a little update to the whirlwind that has become our life.

So in the recent months Matt and I are back in the full swing of life – but does it ever truly stop? We had a month “off” of classes that was spent with me working and presenting at various trainings for the job and Matthew was busy seeing his clients.

Right now we’re both in classes, actively participating as executive board members of our Graduate school’s Student Government Association, running around with our internships and jobs. Matthew recently picked up a second job to help us prepare for the biggest event of all – Our baby!

We found out about a week or two ago that we will be having a boy and we couldn’t be more thrilled about it! We are anxious to have our little Peyton Robert join us in January but there’s so much to do before then that we’re quite okay waiting a little longer to meet him.

Since I’ve been slacking, I’m posting some pictures of the belly through the weeks and photos from the 20-week ultrasound. Sorry for the quality, I’ve misplaced the camera cord and can’t seem to remember where I’ve placed it… Oh the joys of pregnancy!

Our little Peyton Robert Biehl

Peyton gave us a high five during his photo session, sadly we captured it as he was changing it up and it looks more like he's practicing for the days we go on drive in South Florida (yep, he's related to Hildy!)

A strong heartbeat

Amazing to see the bone structure already there with his ribs, eyes, and arm

Okay, it's looks a little creepy but here we see those big Biehl eyes facing us - he wanted us to see him smile early on.

He has Daddy's strong shoulders already!

Oh Boy! Right in the middle of the pelvis bone.

Week 20

Week 18

Week 18

Week 16

Week 14

Week 14

Week 5

Week 5

Must be something in the water...

Matt and I are so excited to share that we are expecting!

Our little miracle is expected to arrive in mid-January and though life is hectic - we couldn't be more excited to see our family grow! We already have so much love for our little baby and can't wait for the day we get to meet :)

Here's a photo of the baby at 9 weeks - very small but we'll get some new ones in a few weeks.

So I’ve procrastinated without really meaning too. Shortly after my mom’s trip in April we visited Matthew’s family in Indiana. It was a week-long visit that allowed us to spend time with his parents, grandparents, Sara and Katie, and our dear friends the Peyton’s.

One of our highlights was finally meeting McKinley (the Peyton’s little one) and it was very much worth the wait. After spending the day with McKinley downtown we went on a double date to broad ripple and enjoyed some time at Crackers – the comedy club. For the most part, we spent our time relaxing around and it was a nice break from the morbidly warm weather in South Florida. Matt’s only disappointment was that the whole family couldn’t be together and we really missed seeing Daniel, Laura and the boys.

Luckily we did get to spend time with Matt’s grandparents who we had sorely been missing. We had planned to take a trip to French Lick but with the flooding in the southern part of the state… alas we were unable to. It was quite a dramatic build up for a silly adventure. We literally had been watching the news and weather like hawks all week. A couple days before we got a call the Grandma had a serious fall and would not be able to make (missionaries had stopped by the house and after Grandma chatted with them, she noticed something by the front porch that wasn’t right – she went to take care of it and slipped bruising her face and scraping her hands and wrist). We were really worried but they insisted we still come by to spend the day. Katie and Ross also came by and While everyone took their afternoon nap, Katie and I chose to hunt for mushrooms in the yard… we found three different kinds… sadly none were the expensive, edible species we were looking for L We did and they told us they still wanted to make the trip to French Lick the next day. Matt, Sara, and I spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s and woke up the next morning early, ready to go. On the way Grandpa gave us a little money and started us all off with a lottery ticket for luck. As we were driving, we started to see evidence of the flooding we’d heard about. The further south we went, the worse it got. At one point we were driving on a two-lane road and saw water creeping up on the sides so that it felt like we were driving to the Florida Keys. We were within 5 miles of French Lick when the swiftly moving, brown flood waters rising to the tree tops that covered an entire High School’s football field, community park, and a few homes was a risk we just couldn’t take (even in Grandpa’s new car). It was so bad we didn’t even stop to take pictures – sorry! On our drive back the two-lane road I told you about had been half covered (the way we had come!) and we were just lucky enough to make it out before it covered up… though the water was already inching on the escape route. We had a couple of detours from the flooding but safely made it back to Martinsville.

While down there, we took a campus tour of IU and it was awesome! I loved the collegiate feel and the fact that I saw deer running from the steps of the student union right through main campus – it was very picturesque and we had a wonderful tour guide. I met up with a fellow member of my Master’s program cohort, Donyelle, who is taking the courses online and worked at IU. She showed us around campus and we saw the wicked sweet Reshalls, student life, and ate some delicious food! Matt reaffirmed that he made the right choice by going to USU over IU since the size of the campus was a bit overwhelming (and the fact that he met me at USU).

Overall, we’re struggling to make it through this summer – The heat here is painful! It’s in the high 90’s with humidity and feels even more painful than my dry Utah summers. It’s an adjustment. We’ve also been working through our summer course load and it’s been the most difficult course load yet! On the bright side, Matt’s already seeing clients and enjoying the practice. One more month and we’re hoping for a small break before we get swamped with work... oh the joys of grad school!

The winning bulletin board of the month in the halls

The Student memorial union

Enjoying Florida!

In March, Matt and I had the opportunity to attend a Yellowcard concert here in Florida. It was very crowded and EXTREMELY warm. Despite being told we were “past the concert going age” by some new bands sampling music outside the venue – I think we did pretty well!

The next week, we went to an event on our campus that hosted Common. He gave a guest lecture and then gave us an opportunity to meet him.

But the highlight of this spring so far has to be my mom’s stay! Mutti came down to visit for a week and we enjoyed some time at the beach, on the intercoastal waterway, and spending some time with Monsi.

It had been over 20 years since Mutti last saw her sister Ilse. While she was in town, we went to Monsi’s and spend the day chatting and munching. It was wonderful seeing my mother get to reconnect with her sister after so much time and for both of them to find that despite the years and distance – they are still so similar and close.

We had fun at the beach where my mom shared her tradition of making bracelets out of shells and natural materials found on the beach. On our few trips to the beach, we found seeds called “Ojos de Samuro.” These seeds are thought to bring good luck to those who find it.

We took my mom to tour Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Riding the water taxi, eating at Shooter’s on the coast, and finding some authentic empanadas and cachapas in Miami helped my mom feel a little more comfortable leaving Utah after so much time. As we drove around downtown, my mom reminisced sharing stories of life in Venezuela and the memories this trip brought back.

It was such a special memory to have made with my mom – I hope that the next step will be making these memories with Francisco and Brigitte.

This last weekend, Matt and I took a boat ride out to the ocean to explore snorkeling. Though we didn’t fare so well against the choppy waves, difficulty breathing, and sea sickness Matt experienced – we were very proud to have taken a step to experience something we’ve never done. The good news was that we did jump into the water and tried exploring. But we found the glass-bottom boat a better way to observe the sea creatures.

Wrapping up all of these great experiences was the end of Matt’s first semester as a grad student. I’m very proud to announce that Matt got all A’s and will be working in a clinic with clients within a months time! We also have an exciting trip to Indiana coming up in a couple days that is much needed. We’re hoping for a fun trip to French Lick with Matt’s grandmother and grandfather along with some time catching up with our family friends the Peyton’s. I hope that in a couple of weeks we’ll have some pictures and updates to share!