A post about a girl, wanting to know what to expect about expecting.

First off, no we are not pregnant! Secondly, I am in need of as much input as possible! Brian and I are coming up on our 1 year of marriage, and talk of babies has snuck its way into a few conversations lately.  We aren't sure when we want to start having babies, but its definitely in the future somewhere. Reason being, I for one am VERY uneducated on the subject of being pregnant, and being a mother. I want to be as educated as possible!  Those of you who know me, know that I always said I didn't want kids for a VERY long time, if ever.  Every time I would go to church and see everyone's kids out of control and screaming, made me want kids less.  Going to a restaurant and being next to the table with the crying, braty kids, made me want kids less.  Being at the grocery store or mall and seeing a mom or dad chasing their kids around trying to control them and not succeeding, made me want kids less. The only children I seem to have noticed are the crazy, out of control ones.  All these things made me not want children. 

To my surprise, something changed in me over the last few months or so.  I started to get a little a lot baby hungry.  Why did this happen to me you ask? Well on my facebook I have had dozens of friends get preggers, or having babies.  Why did this change my feeling of having my own kids? Well all of their posts were so happy and full of joy! They posted dozens and dozens of pictures of how beautiful and sweet their babies are (trust me, they are ALL so beautiful and adorable).  They posted all the exciting movements of their baby bellies and how they could feel so many things from the precious baby growing inside them.  After seeing these kinds of post for a few consecutive months, it started to make me want all of those things for myself! I finally saw all the great and positive things/rewards of being a mother, and not all the craziness I saw everywhere I went.  I realized I had been focusing on all the wrong things.  My view when I see babies and kids out in public have completely changed.  I only see how beautiful and fun they are! Not the other stuff I had only been noticing before. (Yes, I know kids will always have their moments! ha ha)  

With all that said, I know I want to be a mother. I know it is my right, and my heavenly duty to be a mother.  I would love to start having my own babies, and sooner rather than later.  I know that being pregnant isn't easy and a lot comes with it, a lot that I do not know! I want to be educated, I just don't know where to start! I want to learn everything! If there are books that you recommend,  I want to know about them! If there are articles you have read and recommend, I want to now about them! If you have personal experience/thoughts, I want to know about them! I want to know your thoughts, opinions, and experiences on natural birth (no epidurals or pain meds, etc)  verses a hospital medicated birth (meaning pain killers, epidurals, that sort of thing).  I know deciding which kind of birth I want to have is all based on my own personal preference, but I want to be educated on both so I can make the best decision for me when the time comes.  It is so important to me that I know all that I can about being pregnant and expecting a baby. When I say I don't know anything about it, I literally mean I know NOTHING about it! And that scares me! I don't want to go into it blind! What can you mothers, and expecting mothers out there give me for advise? I honestly want to hear what you all have to say! 

Where any of you worried about your financial situation when it came to having your first child?  Obviously you want to be as stable as you can, but what are your thoughts/feelings about that topic?  I know my husband is worried about it, and I want to be able to get him some advise as well! What kind of insurance do you have to get when having a baby (see, I know nothing!)? Do you have to get it before you start or can you get it after you find out your expecting? I'm so overwhelmed about how naive and uneducated I am! I just have so many questions! I'm sorry this is kind of all over the place, but I just have to make sure I get it all in here! 

Please share anything you can/want with me! Tell your friends, sisters, moms, even the men to share what they know! Seriously, I want as much education as I can! Thank you in advance for all that you share! I know this isn't a traditional blog post, but I need the help! It means so much to me to know everything I can, and I appreciate all the help and support from all of you!

Missing my missionary brother!

I just wanted to write a little post about my baby brother who has been in the MTC for a little over a month now! I miss that boy like crazy, but I am SO grateful for modern day technology so I can get emails and pictures from him every week! 
Ryan got called to serve in the Toronto, Canada mission! Which he will also be speaking the Korean language! Korean in Canada?? Weirdly cool right? Well Ry entered the MTC July 10, 2013. The day after he entered, mom got a call from his mission president. He called to inform mom and dad that Ry's mission got changed! He is now going to Vancouver, Canada still Korean speaking. How cool is that?? I have never heard of anyone getting there mission changed while being in the MTC before!  He said that they just didn't need any more Korean elders in Toronto so they all got switched! I am really excited for him! I think he will like Vancouver so much better. 

In all of Ry's emails he seems very happy and loving every minute of being a missionary! His Korean is coming along and he has made a lot of new missionary friends. He is liking and getting along with his companion. He is also really happy right now because his best friend Junie entered the MTC last week and he got to see her! Here is a little bit of what he said in his email this week.

"Hi everyone!

This has probably been one of the best weeks yet! I will start of with the coolest part. At our Tuesday devotional we got to hear from Elder Richard G. Scott! It was so awesome! There was a rumor that it was going to be an apostle but we didn't get to find out who it was until they walked in. He talked about prayer, and we need to seek His will and not our own when we pray. He also said God has called us to succeed not to fail. He also told us if we don't get our answer right away that we need to actively seek for it and not just wait for our answer. At the end of his talk he told us the reason why he was so emotional was because he knew that the Lord had allowed his wife to be present at the devotional, it was so sweet. Then he ended with giving everyone who was learning a language an apostolic blessing of the gift of tongues. It was so cool! It was the best talk we have had yet. You could tell he really cares about us. He also said that every time the Apostles meet in the temple they pray for us."

He is doing so good and I am so happy for him! Although I miss him so much, I know he is where he needs to be and that he is happy to be there! I can't wait until we get to go pick him up! I'm counting down the days!

Before we dropped him off at the MTC.

Ry found his friend McCall in the MTC.

Such a goof ball!

Ry and his companion with other missionaries.

Even in the MTC he his still a ladies man!

Girls just love him!

Ry with more girls!

I don't know why but I just love this pic! Such a Ryan photo.

Ry with McCall again.

Another Ryan face.

Ryan and his companion. (sorry don't know his name)

Such a handsome young man! He got his good looks from me! ;)

Fun with Mom and Dad Shriver

Well we have done it! We jumped on the blog bandwagon! Do we know how to have a blog? Nope, not at all. Are our lives interesting enough to keep a blog going? Sometimes! I like to think we are hilarious, but I don't know about anyone else! ;)

Well on August 1st, Brian's parents arrived in Utah from Alaska.  Not only did his parents come, but they brought the family dog Dhubi! Yes, it does sound exactly like the drug! Mom claims she didn't know what a "doobie" was when she named the dog, but sometimes I think she isn't that innocent! ;) Ha ha jk Mom! It has been a very fun, exciting, busy couple of weeks and are really sad for them to leave on the 15th, which happens to be tomorrow :( We are so sad to see them leave! With them living in Alaska, it makes it really hard to see them whenever we want! The last time we saw them was when Brian and I got married almost a year ago. We just wish they would pack up and move to Utah and be with all of us kids! Especially now that they are going to be first time grandparents! No, Brian and I are not having a baby sorry, but Ian and Katelyn are and we are so happy and excited for them! They just found out on Monday that they are having a baby boy! I am so excited to have a nephew and be an aunt (finally)! They are due in January and luckily we will get to see mom and dad again when the baby arrives! Yay!

Anyway, since mom and dad have been here, we have been having a lot of fun as the Shriver family! Getting all the boys together and mom and dad in one room is quite the site and very entertaining! They all just feed off of each other and are quite the characters! Its fun being apart of the Shriver clan! Just a couple things we have done, we went to Park City and rode the alpine slide, the alpine coaster, and the zipline. It was a lot more fun than I expected! The coaster was by far the best though!  We also did a lot of shopping and went to the Real Salt Lake game! It has been nice having the whole family together for a while! It doesn't happen as often as we would like it to though! Here is a few pictures of what has been going on the last couple of weeks!

Dad, Ian, Kevin, and Brian on the chair lift up to ride the zip line!

                 Ian and his sexy man-pries ;)

                           Riding on the coaster!

Brian and I on the chairlift.

First time at Scheels!

Mom and Brian at the RSL game! I love this pic!

Dad and Kevin at the RSL game!

Ian and Katelyn being cute and cuddly at the RSL game!

Me and the love of my life Brian at the RSL game.

This is Dhubi dog!