Heart to heart...

Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect, comprising about 1 in every 100 births in the United States. Our little guy has been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect known as Pulmonary Atresia. The pulmonary valve is closed, blocking outflow of blood from the heart to the lungs. This also causes the right ventricle to become smaller, stiffer, and leak blood the opposite way.At our 20 week ultrasound, the ultrasound tech told us she didn't quite see everything she wanted to with the heart. She referred us to a specialist at Davis Hospital who informed us that our baby had a heart defect and then referred us to Primary Children's Hospital. We've been going to Primary's for the last few months to get fetal echos to monitor his heart. Here is the plan from Primary's: I am going to deliver at the University of Utah hospital (I'll be induced there on January 15) and right after delivery, the baby will be taken to Primary's. They will put him on medication to keep the ductus arteriosus open (which typically closes shortly after birth). After a few days he will receive surgery where a catheter is inserted into an artery in his leg and brought up to his heart. A balloon will then open up the pulmonary valve. Even though there will now be an opening in the pulmonary valve the right ventricle hasn't been able to pump for 9 months so his heart will require a few more surgeries. Within the next week he will have open heart surgery called a BT Shunt which is another valve in his heart. At that point it's up to him to see how he does. He will most likely need another open heart surgery (the Glenn procedure) at 6 months old. This procedure makes his heart into a 1 1/2 ventricle heart where the right side is only having to do half the work. Depending on how he's doing, he'll possibly need another surgery at 3 years (the Fontan surgery) which makes his heart into a 1 ventricle heart and the right side is completely bypassed.

We've had quite the last few months.

Russ and I continuously count our blessings. We are so grateful for an ultrasound tech who caught this early, for the amazing medical care we have received and will receive at Primary Children's hospital, for the education and preparation they have provided us with, for all of you and for your concerns and prayers, and mostly, we are so grateful for our little guy and are so excited to meet him in a couple weeks!

All I want for Christmas is...

...to see my husband!! Russ is such a hard worker and he got a temporary job this Christmas season working at the Post Office in Salt Lake. He works from 5 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. every single day! Then he comes home, sleeps, and goes straight back to work! If I get to see him during the day, I see him for a few minutes at a time! I'm so grateful for such a hard working husband but I miss him like CRAZY! I am so excited for Christmas this year because I get my husband back!

I'm fat!

My favorite comment from this week:

"Mrs. Ferry, Priscilla didn't think you were pregnant. She said sometimes bellies just get fat."

Kids make me smile! :)

Beck Family

My family was all together for the first time in a long time! My little brother just got home from his mission and my sister was in from California for Thanksgiving so we took FAMILY PICTURES!!

Oops!!

Last Monday I decided to be a good wife and cook dinner so I made taco soup. It was all done and Russ wasn't home yet so I left it on the stove and turned the stove to OFF. I then went upstairs to read. About an hour later my house smelled so I ran downstairs to find a kitchen FULL of smoke! I couldn't see a thing! The smoke took over my entire house!! Apparently instead of turning the stove to OFF, I had turned it to HIGH and had burned the soup for an hour! Needless to say this has been quite the week. I've been staying at my mom's house all week and have had to commute every morning! I don't know how commuters do it! I hate it!!! We've left our windows open as much as possible (but it's been snowing half the week!). It's Friday and our house still smells like smoke! We're trying EVERYTHING to get rid of it! In a couple days I'll have to wash ALL of our clothes cause they reek! Russ has been so good through it all and hasn't complained even though it's been alot of driving and cleaning and COLD (with the windows open) all week long. Let's just say, I will NEVER make taco soup again!!!

NERD!!!

My COMPREHENSIVE Exam is this coming February (over everything I've learned in the last four years!) and the national PRAXIS exam (for certification as a SLP) will be next semester or in the summer so I am officially a NERD!!

Russ is a NERD too but he's at SCHOOL so I couldn't take a picture of him!!

A REAL DATE!!

Russ and I are BORING and all we ever do it work and school. (Hence why I never blog!) We never have enough time to even see each other, let alone do anything fun! But this past Friday I didn't have work and Russ got done with work early so we went on a REAL DATE! We went to Logan and went to the temple, ate at Iron Gate Grill, went mini golfing in a mini golf place all decorated for Halloween, and finished the night with a caramel brownie shake from Charlies (the best shake ever!!). It was a MAGICAL evening! I loved being with my husbando all night and not having to think about school or work once!!

We tried to get the temple in the background but it didn't quite work!

There was construction at the temple and this was the sign they had up!!

I love life!

I know this is a really random post...especially for me but I've decided that there are alot of things I love right now and I decided to share a few...

1. I love my husband! He is such an incredible man and is so perfect for me! I love him more and more each day! I can't believe how lucky I am to be married to a man like him!

2. I also love the little guy in my stomach and love that I can feel him move around right now!

3. I love to read! Absolutely love it! I just finished (in a day) Shannon Hale's new book 'Book of a Thousand Days' and recently read 'River Secrets' and can't wait to read her new 'Forest Born'.

4. I love my job! I'm working at a new school this year with Kindergarteners and first graders. Of course some days are better than others but I love the little munchins I work with. They make it all worth it and always make my day. Kids are so dang cute!

5. I love that I can eat real food now! Instead of just toast like I have for the last four months! Of course I don't eat meals like this one all the time but looking at it doesn't make me gag anymore! Yeah!!

6. I love FALL! I have officially decided that it is my favorite holiday. I always knew I liked spring and fall the best because of the weather but I absolutely love fall! I love the weather, I love the leaves, I love how beautiful it is, I love the back to school feel, and I love the anticipation of the holidays!

Coming soon...

We're having a BABY!!! I'm due the end of January and just found out that we are having a BOY!! I was pretty nauseous for the first three-four months but I'm feeling GREAT now! We are so excited!!

Beck Family Fun!

We went to St. George and Vegas with my familia last week. We were only there two days but it was fun! We went swimming and hiking in St. George and in Vegas we went to Donny and Marie!! We were the youngest ones there by far but it was an entertaining show! Thanks Mama Sue!

One Year!

Russ and I have been married one year! It's been incredible and just gets better every day! I have the most amazing husband and I'm so grateful for all that he does for me and all that he has taught me. I love you Russ!

Summer happenings...

Here's some pics of the recent summer happenings in my life. I've gotten to tend my nephews lately and they are so stinkin cute! I was trying to take a picture of the baby but Logan insisted he be in it too! :)
I went and saw my little niece sing in her sunshine singing group on the 24th! She was so cute! She's the one on your left that is doing actions!

And I made my very first creative cake! Okay, so it was super simple but I'm still proud of it! My nephew wanted a blue truck cake for his birthday so this is what he got!

Book recommendations!

I know I've been in school all summer but every so often (okay- whenever I can) I reward myself with a good book (not all the text books I was suppose to be reading!). And I just wanted to recommend a few of my favorite!

Of course, no book collection would be complete without HARRY POTTER! If you haven't read them yet- you should NOW! I reread the 6th and 7th book and I forgot how much I loved them! And if you're a fan- you should definitely go see the new movie!! I love Harry!!


This next series is also a MUST READ! My mom has been trying to get me to read it forever and I finally gave in. It is the 'Great and Terrible Series'. It's an LDS fictional account of the last days. It is incredible! There are six books in the series (the second is the hardest to get through but get through it because it is worth it!). I just finished the last book and I wish there was more to the series!

I don't know how many of you have heard of Shannon Hale, but I love her books! They're really easy reads (probably directed to teens and young adults). I don't know if I'd call them fantasy but everyone I've read has been so good! I loved 'princess academy', 'goose girl', and 'Austenland'!! Check her books out!

Another one I read and liked (but don't have a picture of) is 'The Book Thief'. It's about a little German girl during the time of the Holocaust (if you like books set in that time period then you would love this). Death tells the story so it's a little different and sad but such a good story!

I've read a couple more (I told you I love reading!) but these were by far the best! If you have any recommendations for me- bring em on! I'm looking for a new good book!!

Bear Lake with the Ferrys!!

We just had an incredible weekend with Russ's family up in Bear Lake! We went swimming, hiking, to Minnetonka cave, more swimming, and loved all being with each other! My favorite moments of the trip were: when little Gib (2 years old) stood at the side of the pool with a serious face ready to dive in (you had to be there! This kid is hilarious!), when Johnny was reading scriptures and talking about how feeling the spirit is a good feeling and Emma said 'I have that good feeling right now!' (so did I), when Russ showed up on the second day (he had to work so he got there late), and when the entire family went swimming and we were all together! It was so good to be with family and I hated seeing this trip end!

American Idol!!

We got tickets VERY last minute to the American Idol top 10 concert in Salt Lake! I love this concert because you get a little bit of everything! Secretly Russ liked it too! I took pictures of all the top ten but I'll give you a preview of the top 4! 

Happy 4th of July!

I know this is a little late but for the Fourth- we went to Logan on the third to celebrate Grandma Smith's birthday, eat dinner, and watch the Logan fireworks. Then on the fourth we went to the Centerville parade and saw our niece Emma in her cute sunshine singing group float! Then we got to slip and slide with my little nephews! That night Brandon was in charge of the fireworks like always but I thought he was going to blow us up this year! Good news- we all made it through! 

Happy Birthday to me...

For my birthday Russ got me a camera! Yeah! He's such a good husband! This is the first picture we took with it!

I found the button where you can do black and white with just one color! It's my favorite!!

Whitney's no good horrible very bad day! Part 2

I don't know if any of you remember my first day of Grad school last summer. If not you can reread it on my blog cause it was quite the experience! Well, I just started Grad School for the summer semester yesterday and apparently Grad school doesn't like me very much. I felt really itchy all day and when I finally got home that night (around 8:00) some of my fingers were swollen. As the night progressed the rest of my body starting itchy, my hands were going numb, and my eyes were getting swollen spots around them! I started freaking out! I have no idea what happened but I had a SEVERE allergic reaction to SOMETHING! I can't miss ANY school because it is so condensed that if I miss a day of school it's like missing 2 or 3 weeks of regular school. I did take one Benadryl that helped a little but I couldn't take any more or I wouldn't have woken up the next day for school. Finally at lunch break today I got some stronger stuff. I'm still itchy but all the swelling numbness stuff is gone! To top it all off, Russ is sick too! But he was such a sweetheart and still helped me last night while I was freaking out! I can't even imagine what's going to happen the first day of Grad school next summer...

Cute card!

I work with the greatest lady ever, Miss Kerry. She made this super cute card for me for my going away card!! She is the cutest! One day I'll be able to make a card like this!

Goodbye ELC!!

Today was my last day at the Early Learning Center Preschool in Corinne. Russ sent me flowers at work- how cute is he?! This year I have come to love the kids and teachers that I work with so I couldn't think about it when I said goodbye or I would have cried... alot! I'm going to a new elementary school next year for more experience but now I am so sad that I'm not going back to the preschool! And I'm so scared to go to a new school were I don't know a single person (again)! I think teaching is a horrible job! You fall in love with new kids every year and then they leave you or you leave them! I love my little kids so much! They always said the funniest things and always made me smile. Here's just a few to make you smile:

*While pretending to type on the computer, 'I'm going to facebook.com'
*During planning time: 'I'm going to be a white bad guy', another child: 'I'm going to be a black bad guy'
* Really trying to give me a compliment: 'I like you a little bit'
*This kid said his /s/ like an /sh/ and the first work I accidentally made him say was 'sit'
* While making leprachan headbands, 'We're like Nephi!'
* Me: what did you build with your legos? Kid: 'The great wall of China'
* 'Computer has the /r/ sound. Wii and nintendo doesn't have the /r/ sound.'
*'My tongue is too tired. I need to go lie down.'

I love Preschool!!!

My 365 kit!

A few months ago my friend at work showed me her 365 kit that she bought on New Years from Creating Keepsakes. It is the most amazing thing ever! It comes with all the scrapbook supplies for you to take a picture every day of the year and scrapbook it. They only made 4,000 of them and it was a big mess and I've been looking on ebay and all over for one. My friend told me today that her friend had an extra one that she would sell me and I got my kit today! I am so excited! I haven't scrapbooked in forever! But this is just different enough and prepared enough that I think I'll like it! Russ and I don't have the most exciting life now to take a picture everyday but one day we will!!

'That wasn't a 'sand'wich that was kitty litter!'

Sorry I haven't posted forever! If I don't take any pictures I feel like I can't post. But don't worry, I'll do a few new posts today!!

Last weekend we were down at Mama Sue's and Russ helped move sand into her new sandbox. He shoveled sand all day! I supervised... :)

P.S.- I know the title of this post is kinda random but it's from one of the greatest movies of all time!

April Fools!

For April Fools day I made Russ some 'special' chocolates! When he popped it in his mouth he was so excited and he chewed and chewed and chewed until he finally got to the COTTON BALL center! HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!!