Harper's Birth Story.

i found out i was pregnant back in april during spring break. my mom, sister, and i went up to boise to visit family. the entire trip i was so exhausted, like the minute you wake up want to climb back in bed and never face the world kind of tired. i constantly would call home to shyler and complain how tired i was, and how i was 1000% sure i was sick with mono. he kept telling me when i got home we would go to the doctor and see what was making me so tired. on the last day of the trip my aunts got me a pregnancy test and made me take it. i went to the bathroom and did my business when the little positive sign came up. it didn't even take the entire two minutes to appear. i must have been really pregnant. all i could think was how fast we had gotten pregnant. i had only been off my birth control for 2 months. we both felt that we have had so many opportunities and privileges of amazing adventures together (knowing someone for 10 years that will happen) that we wanted to start our family. i mean i was 25 gosh dang it, i didn't want my ovaries to get dusty. i called shy and told him the news, he was so excited when i got home he had decorated the entire house in baby decorations. the joke is he decorated the entire house in blue. thinking he would have a son first. but then again i thought it would be a boy as well so the joke really was on the both of us.

my pregnancy was pretty much picture perfect. except for the fact that i felt like i had mono on steroids. it didn't help that i was teaching 6th graders and it was almost summer. the fatigue only lasted the first trimester and then i basically didn't feel pregnant until i felt her move. i never threw up during the entire pregnancy. i know girls that would probably like to punch me right about now. i had a friend who never quit throwing up throughout her pregnancy. although i did get nauseous a few times. like when i would be backing my car out of the driveway, sitting up too quickly, or the smell of pickles (which actually always makes me nauseous). when we had out ultra sound we had the technician write down what the gender was and put it in an envelope. then we had a cake baked and frosted the inside with the color of the gender. we invited out family and friends to a park and cut the cake. when i saw pink frosting i was in complete shock. i just though my entire life i would have 5 boys. don't ask me why. it's probably because i grew up with only sisters and boys are a complete mystery to me. a week before we found out what we were having, shyler told me he hoped it was a girl i think heavenly father was kind of  softening his heart to the idea. it takes a special dad to be the father of a girl. i would know because i have the best dad, and i know shyler will be just like him.

i was worried because she was due one week before christmas eve. the hospital i was delivering at wouldn't let me be induced until a week after my due date, which like i previously mentioned was christmas eve. now i don't want to sound selfish, but who wants to be in lab or on christmas eve? i decided to try everything i could to help my labor start naturally. i got pedicures, ate sicey food and booked a prenatal massage. i went in for the massage on saturday, december 13th. it was really most amazing thing. she told me i probably would feel minor contractions that day, and boy was she right. later that afternoon i started feeling contractions around 4 o clock. they started getting more consistent the later it got. around 7:00 we were timing them around 2 minutes apart, so we packed our bags and headed to the hospital. when we got there i was only dilated to a 1. the hospital policy is that they keep you for an hour and if you dilate to another centimeter they will keep you, if not they will send you home. unfortunately i didn't dilate any further so they sent us home. that night was basically hell. pardon my french. the contractions were getting really strong and so frequent i didn't sleep a wink. and the worst part was i look over at shyler sound asleep in bed. yes, the meanie in me wanted to smother him with my pillow. i couldn't make it past 9:30 before we were headed back to the hospital, this time to stay. i was now dilated to a 3. all night in pain and only 2 centimeter more dilated. the nurse kept telling me to relax, let my body do what it was supposed to do and i would dilate faster, but every time a contraction came it was so painful my whole body would tense up. congrats to those who can force their body to relax when the entire thing keeps tensing up. as soon as i got the epidural came though everything changed. bless modern medicine. in five minutes i no longer felt any pain, my body was able to relax and i went from a 3 to a 10 in a few hours. i was so nervous to push, but in the end that was the easiest part. it was so encouraging hearing the doctor and shyler say they could see a head of dark hair. i only pushed for 16 minutes before i was able to meet my sweet little baby. the nurses cleaned her up and we were able to cuddle skin to skin. it was the most magical thing i have ever experienced. she was fussy but the minute i started talking to her she completely calmed right down. she was perfect. she was born on december 14, at 4:46 pm. she weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. i can't explain the feelings of becoming a mother. i am so blessed to have little harper lee. i think i am sold on this cuddle bug. 

shy guys birthday

i decided to throw shy a surprise birthday party this year. and let's just say i am not so good at keeping secrets. there were so many times i wanted to blow it… on purpose i might add. i guess he can feel confident that i can't keep things from him. and i guess you can call me a chatty kathy.

it turned out perfect. i decided to have an alice and wonderland mad tea party theme. 

kinda girly, but hey who planned it?

i had so much fun decorating with all of our wedding decorations, they make for a splendid tea party.

we had hot chocolate that we sipped out of our many tea cups, as well as iced tea to cool us down. 

it was fun to have everyone dress up for a night. i can't believe it was six years ago we first celebrated your birthday together. someone pinch me please. our lives are far too perfect. love you to the moony moon moon. happy 25. quarter of a century, hopefully three more to go.

June 26th.

(warning: picture overload)

as a little girl you can't help dream of your wedding day. i know i always did. but if someone would have told me of the stress that comes with planning a wedding, maybe we would have just eloped to the temple, skipping a reception and all. no. not really. we had everything we dreamed of. with the help of my mother. she deserves a shout out from the president with all the time she spent helping.

we were sealed for time and all eternity in the salt lake temple.

the temple in which my parents were also married. 

i mean who doesn't want to get married there it looks like a castle right?

anyways we had our reception at the american fork amphitheater.

i prayed for days that it wouldn't rain because we had no other back up plan.

we were blessed with the most beautiful day.
our theme was vintage.
our colors were burnt orange, robin egg blue and cream.
our song was louis armstrong: la vie en rose
daddy daughter was city and colour: the girl
mother and son was the beatles: in my life

i loved all the personal touches we put into our reception.
each table was decorated differently and labeled with a date that was significant to the two of us.
dessert was our favorite homemade dishes by the ones we love.
our engagement video (still to come) was shown as everyone sat on the steps.
dancing is my favorite. especially if one plays shots by lmfao. yes. we. did.

one of my favorite parts was the generations dance. 

all married couples called to the dance floor.

as the music played the couples were excused from the floor based on length of marriage.

the last couple left dancing was my great grandparents.

65 plus years of marriage.

we switched partners and they told us secrets about creating a marriage that lasts.

it takes work, and a lot of laughter.

shy guy i can't wait to grow old with you.

The (slightly) New Mr. and Mrs. Bischof

i know this has been a long time coming...

we have been married for four months now...and the blog doesn't even show that we are engaged. 

well here is to cramming in the last six months..

shyler and i met 7 years ago in mr. clark's math class.

so we have 7 years of history, which would probably take 7 years to write.

i will just say that heavenly father works in mysterious ways.

we have been friends through many ups and downs until one night our friendship changed.

we were at the library park when he told me that he loved me.

we hadn't kissed yet, we hadn't even held hands,

but he told me that he had been in love with me for 5 years.

and something changed. it's something that words can't really describe.

a moment that will go down in the history books. 

...needless to say ten months later we were engaged.

we went on a bike ride to our secret garden.

he had a picnic set up that would put the bachelor to shame.

with nat king cole playing on a record machine.

we made wishes on pennies that we tossed in the river.

i asked him what he wished for when he got down on one knee.

he told me he had always wished to marry me.

sometimes wishes do come true.

mine did.

(more to come on the wedding.....)

the awful waffle.

my sister and i spent the day shopping for supplies for our latest valentine craft.

after surviving the rain we decided to treat ourselves to a treat. 

last summer my kindred spirit and i discovered the awful waffle on a bike ride.

since then, they have relocated and let me just say it is one of the cutest places to get waffles

 (or crepes as i prefer). 

i decided to try speculoos 

instead of my normal nutella.

i think i have a new favorite.

(note to future self: on the next snowy day, take my significant other so the two of us can sit by the fireplace, eat a crepe and snuggle... because all you need is love).

possibly the funniest video of all time.

one year ago january used to be 60 degrees....

not 6 degrees like this year happens to be....

so we decided to go camping. it was too cold to roast marshmallows so we did whats second best:

chubby bunny.

i think this video deserves an academy award, but that's just me.

(side note... around 1 minute 20 seconds is when it gets real good).

remember that one time i lived in ukraine?

i was just looking through some old pictures when i came across these...
about 3 and a half years ago i once upon a time decided that i was in need of an adventure.
so i packed up my bags and headed off to the faraway country of ukraine.
did i speak russian? no.
ukrainian? no.
how i got around for 5 months is still a mystery to me.
if it weren't for my trusty dictionary i think i would still be lost in the metro system.
i began my love for teaching in ukraine.
i taught kindergarten for 3 hours a day in english and was left the rest of the day to explore.
i lived with a family who was much more poor than i was.
well i guess in a literal sense.
i slept on a chair for 5 months, which beat the alternative of the concrete floor.
for a month we didn't have hot water or electricity.
after coming home after a long day of walking in the frigid cold, only to take a shower in ice cold water happens to not be on the list of things that i miss.
however the family who hosted me reaches the top of the list.
they were far from poor in spirit.
they taught me that you don't need anything but family to be happy.
they were the happiest people i have ever been blessed to meet.
i plan on a return visit to steal my favorite child Stopa.

while i was there i also was blessed to travel to 5 other countries.
ever since i read the devils arithmetic in the fifth grade i have had a secret obsession with the holocaust. i have always wanted to go to auschwitz.
let me just say for the record it changed my life. i could go on probably forever about my experiences there, although i think some things are better left unsaid. i was fortunate to eat gyros in austria (and sing sound of music songs at the top of my lungs), sign my name on the beatles wall in prague, and eat real hungarian goolash in hungary. wow. take me back.

after looking through my photos i discovered a couple things:
1. i was so fat when i came home from my visit...seriously nutella will do that to you.
2. i need to visit europe again. luckily i am this summer with a boy who will be my life long travel partner. paris. here. we. come.