The Faulk Family

Easter. A time of pastels, bunnies, and new Sunday clothes. I was determined to make Riley's first Easter great. Looking back, I just shouldn't have cared so dang much. Maybe if I hadn't everything would have gone swell... So the morning started off fine. I was excited to put Riley in his cute Easter outfit and for the whole family to look great at church (because clearly this matters...not). First thing in the morning we get a call from Daniel's dad saying that Daniel's mom is really sick so we won't be able to go over there for dinner. I felt terrible for her (and she was SO sad to miss Riley's first Easter), but this definitely threw a wrench in our plans. We had no food. Seriously. I ran to the grocery store the day before just to get the dessert we thought we were bringing to Daniel's parents house. Still, I decided I would deal with that later. While Daniel was showering, I nursed Riley in his rocking chair. He was just looking up at me wi...

Remember how I used to blog?  Yea...me too.  I'd like to get things back up and running because it makes me sad to think of all the fun things that are happening as Riley grows up that I might forget!  We're also well under way with our kitchen renovation, so there will definitely be a post about that coming soon--don't get TOO excited! Anyway, my last post was about Riley's birth.  I'm not sure how to describe the month after that...'rough' might be a good word to start out with.  This is my blog so I'm going to be real here and say that I struggled.  I think I thought that everything would go smoothly--sure, I'd lose some sleep here and there, but overall I would just be swimming in feelings of love for my newborn and none of the hard stuff would matter.  While I definitely loved my newborn (I mean look at him...who couldn't love that?), I encountered many things I wasn't prepared for... 1. Endless Crying.  I'm not just referring t...

 A warning in advance--this is really long and detailed, so if you don't want to read a detailed birth story (with pictures), then stop now!  This was an important record for me to make and I didn't want to spare any details. :) Technically the story of my labor begins on Riley’s due date: July 24, 2013.   Because I have to go back to school as a teacher very soon (my first meeting is August 14), I was desperate to see if I could use some “natural” methods to get the labor going.   So, on Wednesday, July 24 around ten in the morning I took about 1.5 ounces of castor oil, which is known to get labor kick started occasionally by basically freaking out your bowels so you have the runs—lovely.   I waited for a few hours but nothing happened at all.   Bummer.   My mother and sister came to Salt Lake and we celebrated Pioneer Day by going to temple square and having lunch at the Lion House.   After lunch I started to have some horrible pains in m...

For one of my baby showers, my friend had me write down the 10 things I have loved most about pregnancy and the 10 things I have loved least about pregnancy (loved least?  hated?).  I thought I would share my lists here! The 10 Best Things About My Pregnancy 1. Growing "Up Top" Yup, they got bigger.  Finally.  Also Daniel's favorite thing about pregnancy maybe? 2. Feeling the Baby Kick and Move Definitely the coolest (and simultaneously the weirdest) thing ever. 3. Designing a Nursery I love a good interior design project so this has been a blast for me. 4. Eating for Two Enough said. 5. Feeling Connected With Other Women I think it's cool to finally be experiencing something millions of other women have gone through.  It makes me feel connected! 6. Learning About Pregnancy and Birth Being pregnant has given me the opportunity to learn SO much about pregnancy and birth and it's fascinating! 7. Strengthening My Relationship With My Husband ...

             Pregnancy is fascinating. It's one of those things that I've wondered "what it felt like" my whole life.  I mean seriously--a HUMAN BEING growing inside of you?  Creepy. I wondered what it felt like when the baby kicked.  I wondered what it felt like to actually give birth.  I wondered--let's be honest here--what it felt like to be fat.  So many unknowns that felt so far away from where I was in life. Then suddenly, here I am.  I am pregnant. Even as my husband and I started trying to get pregnant I thought it would never actually happen.  I'm not really sure why--maybe it was because my mom had trouble getting pregnant, or maybe it was because I had so many friends that struggled with infertility.  I'm not sure.  It took us 3 tries to get pregnant (whoop-de-doo), which I know is nothing, but it was interesting how each time we found out I wasn't, my mind went immediately to "of...

Well, it's been a while friends...as usual. BUT I'M BACK!  Hopefully for good this time with a lot of updates.  School is out, my shows at the Desert Star are over and now I have NO EXCUSE not to blog.  At all.  A lot of things have been happening around here since my 20th week of pregnancy!  We're now in week 33 and here is a video update on how things have been going the past, ahem, 13 weeks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAoBhlmudl0 It's easier to just have you watch that outrageously long video than to retype all of the same info here.  It all boils down to the fact that I am in the last few weeks of my pregnancy and overall things have been going great.  Here is a really crappy photo of me this week at 33 weeks pregnant: I seriously don't know why I'm always wearing horizontal stripes while pregnant.  I'm pretty sure this is a common knowledge no-no.  Still, I just don't care.  Maybe if I was fat EVERYWHERE and not ...