Our Family Has Grown By 19" !!

Our baby girl has finally arrived! Lucy Love Shugart was born last Saturday morning at 12:28 am. She was 6 pounds 6 ounces and 19” long. She is quite the cutie and is very healthy and happy. It’s amazing how similar her personality is to how it was in the womb. She is very calm and content. My mom says she’s the most content baby she’s ever seen. It’s been fun to have her home with me. I can’t stop staring at her! And even more exciting…she slept for five hours last night.

So here’s the story of the delivery. I went to my prenatal appointment on Friday expecting to come home a few hours later but after checking my blood pressure and because Lucy was still breech they decided to admit me to the hospital and deliver her that night. They tried turning her but her heart rate dropped so they decided to do an emergency c-section. It was the most uncomfortable, icky hour of my life. But we got this adorable little girl because of it and it was completely worth it.

As for my recovery, things are going very well. I always heard horror stories about how painful recovery is after having a cesarean. That hasn’t really been the case for me. The first day was pretty uncomfortable but it was definitely bearable. I’ve been up and about and moving around more smoothly than I did when I was pregnant.

Here are a few pictures of her earliest moments.

When it rains it pours

This past month has been very eventful for Ben and I. We have been very blessed. At the end of March Ben turned 25 years old. We celebrated his birthday by going to one of our favorite resturaunts Red Robin.

Then we opened gifts at home. This is him before he opened all of his goodies.

This is him after.....

I also had a baby shower. We rented out a room in the provo library and it was gorgeous. We had almost 30 girls show up! It was really fun and I really was showered with gifts. I failed to take any pictures but here are a few a friend took.

Ben has been applying for jobs across the country for a while now. At the beginning of April he interviewed with Detroit Diesel in Tooele, Utah. A week later we got the exciting news that he got offered the position as their new process engineer! They wanted him to start within two weeks so quickly our life became a little hecktic. We got a gift card for P.F. Chang's that we have been saving for when he got a job offer so last weekend we finally went! It was really fun.

We needed to find a place to live quick and after a day of looking all over Tooele we found this great condo. It is brand new and has three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. We move in this Friday.

Here's me entering our condo for the first time after the keys were officially handed over to us.

We have been extremely blessed. Life is a little crazy right now being 8 months pregnant, moving, and Ben starting a new job in less than a week, but I am so grateful for all of the opportunities that Heavenly Father has given us.

On the home stretch.

This is a picture of me at 29 weeks. I'm so excited that in 10 weeks our baby girl will be here (hopefully). I've really enjoyed my pregnancy. I've been really blessed to not have the typical pregnancy nausea, wild cravings, and crazy emotions. I've had a few minor aches and pains but its really nice to have books and resources that remind me its all normal.

We've been prepping for the big day and we now have a crib, mattress, and bedding for her. Recently, a few family members have been kind enough to send us some baby stuff. And I officially have the craft fever! I made these really cute baby wipe holders and fabric flowers for her hair. I'm so excited.

Christmas Time

Ben and I stayed in Utah for Christmas because all of my siblings were going to be at my parents' house in Draper. We had a lot of fun and we were really spoiled with all of the yummy treats and millions of presents we got. The talk of the week, besides the birth of the Savior of course, was Ben. Why? Well, Ben is such a speedy and well trained sledder that he flew down the hill through my parents fence and into the neighbors' backyard. I'm not sure what happened after that because I decided it was too stressful of a situation to watch so I went inside to channel surf. Everyone laughed and it ended up being a funny and memorable adventure. By the way, the fence is fixed.

Ben gave me some great gifts including tickets to The Nutcracker at the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake. Ben and I had never seen The Nutcracker nor did we know the plot, so we weren't too sure if we'd like it. But it was really fun and highly entertaining. The theater was absolutely gorgeous and we tried to take pictures of it but they don't do it justice. Now that I'm pregnant, I am so grateful for intermissions. I always thought it was silly that women would wait in those terribly long lines to go to the bathroom when they could just wait until the end of the show. Now, I understand. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing the show again. I loved it.

Thanksgiving Weekend

First of all, I think most everyone who has access to this blog knows, but in case I've failed to mention it ...I'm pregnant. I am 14 weeks along and am due at the end of May. Everyone asks so I'll just mention that I haven't really been sick. I feel a little icky but nothing compared to the average pregnant woman. Ben and I are happy and excited to be parents. We are thrilled. My new favorite hobby is reading the pregnancy books and learning what size of fruit our baby is. Currently, its the size of a lemon.

Ben and I had a very eventful and memorable Thanksgiving weekend. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house. It was very yummy especially for a pregnant woman who eats everything in sight, that is if I'm not feeling sick at the time. We had a small birthday celebration following dinner that was simple and sweet.

I asked Ben for a mini vacation for my birthday so we planned on going to St. George, Utah. My grammy passed away so plans changed a little bit due to the funeral set for that weekend. Instead we spent our mini vacation in West Jordan. We went shopping during the Black Friday sales, went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, Chilli's for dinner, and then watched a cute Christmas movie back at the hotel. It was really fun to get away from Provo for the weekend and enjoy time together. I loved my birthday celebration. He's a good husband.

My new job!

I applied for a preschool teaching position a couple weeks ago and I got the job! I was so excited and after figuring out my driving situation I accepted the offer. It's in Springville and the hours and pay are great. I'm done everyday at three thirty except Fridays I'm done at ten in the morning! I started on Monday and it has been a lot of fun. The kids are really cute, energetic, and moody. We've had a lot of tears, laughter, shouting, and spilled milk. I love the teachers I work with. They are SO nice. Growing up I always heard the stereotype that lunch ladies are mean. I found out this week that it's TRUE! The lunch lady scares me. She's grumpy and has hurt my feelings a couple times! Lame, I know. But the teachers assured me that I didnt do anything wrong. I am so glad that I got this job. I love snack time and lunch time (btw, I get two lunches because I teach two classes). One of the highlights of my week was when the kids were finger painting. One child went up to Miss Julie (who was wearing black pants) and put yellow hand prints on her bottom. She had lovely artwork on her bum for the rest of the day.

here's a pic of me ready to go to my first day of school!

Our First Blog Post!

I've never blogged before so if I fail to make this interesting I apologize in advance. I wanted our friends and family to have a way to be updated on our lives without having to send out massive emails, which is always tedious and I never end up sending them anyway. So in my attempt to keep in contact I'm making this blog.


I just finished school and am now looking for a job, which I am having a hard time motivating myself to do. Ben walked with me because he'll be finished in December. It was fun, and I must say pretty cute to get pictures of both of us in a cap and gown.