Dear Linkan,

This past week was very busy for you again! Over the weekend we went up to Eagar to spend the weekend with the Donaldson's. You had a very good weekend and had fun with all of the attention that you got. I barely get to hold you when we go up there because everyone else always wants to hold you and play with you. Mostly we just relaxed and this is one of my favorite pictures of you just relaxing with Grandma.

While we were there Aunt Shiloh wanted to be silly and take some goofy pictures of us, here are some of my favorites:)

Since being back you have been busy learning new things and just hanging out with me. We got a Bumbo and it is my new favorite thing because it is finally something that you like to spend time in. Your not a big fan of your swing, so if I ever get busy I usually just have to do it one handed or set you down and let you fuss. Not any more:) You love the Bumbo because it lets you sit up and watch me while I'm doing things. You will sit in it for extended periods of time as long as you can see me, the second I go out of view you typically start to get fussy again.

You also laughed for the first time today!!! It was the cutest thing ever and I was so glad I was able to catch some on video!!! I love that you are always so happy and I just know that soon you will be laughing all the time, I'm so excited!! Also, check out your outfit, my best friend Jacque Weech got that for you for Christmas and I love it! You look so cute in it, it is so fluffy and fun.

Dad and I still think that you are the best baby ever and we love seeing the new things that you are learning every day!

I love you, Love Mom

Baby Blessing

Dear Linkan,

You have had a very busy week and it's only Wednesday!! Last Thursday and Friday we went with some friends up to their cabin in Christopher Creek. The cabin was beautiful and we had such a great time. You got to hang out with your friend Brooklyn who is only two weeks older than you. You two are so fun together and we were able to get some good pictures:)

Then on Sunday we had your baby blessing. Daddy did a great job giving you your name and blessing and a lot of family came to support you on your big day! Grandma and Grandpa Klingler, Steve, Jordan and Brendan Klingler, Grammy and Papa Red Donaldson, Grandma and Papa Martin, Gramma and Grampa Donaldson (come on mom and dad, we need to know what to call you!!), Shiloh, Cedar, Marshall, Uncle Kyle and family, Uncle Karson and family, Cubby and Sarah, Aunt Kate, Karlee and Brody were all there. You were given a great blessing, and we had a fun time talking to family and then had lunch after church. You looked beautiful and got to be blessed in the same dress that I was blessed in when I was a baby. I thought that was pretty cool:)

 Yesterday was a great day for you as well! You rolled over from back to front for the first time, and you did it three times!! Daddy and I were so excited for you. The rest of the day you were all smiles, until bed time you got a little bit upset because I took a little too long to feed you... sorry bout that! But I was able to capture those precious moments, you have the most contagious smile, but I must say that that bottom lip is just the best. I can't help but laugh when you get sad and stick your bottom lip out and start fussing. Usually you are just faking it and it is so funny! Oh how I love you:)

Then last night was the best first you have had in my opinion... It was the first time that you slept for an eight hour stretch!!! It was heavenly! I really don't mind waking up at night to feed you, but I must say that it wouldn't be bad getting used to sleeping for eight hours in a row either:) 

You are just the best baby ever! You are so sweet and make my life so fun. I am so grateful that I get to be your mom and I love you so so much!!

Love, Mom

10-25-2011

(From a journal entry)

Dear Linkan,

Wow, another year has already passed. I remember going through that like it was yesterday but really a ton has happened in the past year. I did start running again and I trained hard for the half marathon in January. I completed London's Run in 1:44! I was on Cloud 9! I beat my previous time by 20 minutes which I though was pretty good:) Right before my race in January Duskin left on his mission. He was called to serve in the Bolivia, Santa Cruz Mission and has been doing absolutely great!

I finished up that semester of school and took an insanely large load of classes in the spring of 2011. I had all of my senior capstone EXW classes and although it was a TON of work, I did very well in all of them and managed to get straight A's. I finished up all of the in-class classes I needed before the program moved to downtown Phoenix. 

A couple of weeks into the semester I found out I was pregnant again! I was so excited, but also very nervous because I didn't want to get my hopes up again if it wasn't real this time. Well everything worked out and it was real! THe baby developed perfectly ad my pregnancy went great! I never got sick and I never had any weird cravings. I didn't start showing or really telling people until about 16 weeks, and I was able to weak normal clothes until about 30 weeks. Then I blew up!!! 

But in the meantime, all summer I did my internship at Queen Creek High School. I assisted in the summer weights program. I worked with each of the different teams and coached them each day in their weight training. At the end of the summer I was then offered a volleyball coaching position. I accepted and spent the season as the assistant varsity and head JV coach. Our season went great and I had a wonderful time coaching them. I learned a ton and am so glad I accepted the position. Having the opportunity to coach with the other coaches was so much fun. My JV team ended the season with a 15-2 record, and the varsity finished 14-3. The second to last game of the year was against Seton Catholic. They are a very good team but we really wanted to beat them! Basically it was just a great day... It was October 19. My girls played really great and pulled out the win in three very close matches. It was the best game we had all year and my girls were thrilled to get the win, as was I. My due date with baby was the 18th, so I had many parents come up to me after the game and tell me that if that game didn't put me into labor than nothing would! Well I was scheduled to be induced on the 20th so immediately after the game I headed to the hospital to get checked in. 

We got to the hospital at 10 PM to get checked in. By 12:30 I was in my room all hooked up to the IV bags and ready to go. Marcus was there and was totally ready for bed! We usually go to sleep by 9:30 or 10 so to be up passed midnight was crazy, especially for Marcus, but he was a trooper. Julia Klingler also came with us to the hospital and that was such a blessing, especially since mom wasn't in town yet. Do basically here's what happened at the hospital and throughout labor... I was dilated to a 2 and effaced 80%. Since you are first baby the doctors wanted to gibe me cervix softening gels first to make sure my cervix was as soft as it could be before they gave me pitocin. At about 1 AM they game me the first gel and I almost immediately went into labor. I started feeling mild contractions and was really excited about that. After the gel application I laid in bed for an hour, then walked around the hospital for forty minutes, then bed again for 20 minutes and the plan was to do that three times. Well, after the first two hour cycle was up I was dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced. They gave me the second gel. Again I immediately started to feel more intense contractions. Laying in bed for an hour was not fun at all and I was in quite a bit of pin. After the hour in bed my nurse asked if I would rather bounce on a birthing ball instead of walk and I said yes!! I honestly don't know if I would have been able to walk! After about twenty minutes on the ball I told them I was ready for the epidural. At this point I was dilated to a 5 and fully effaced. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural and it was absolutely heavenly!!! The pain started to go away  immediately and I felt great. It was now about 5AM and right after the epidural I was able to fall asleep for about 2.5 hours. I woke up at 7:30 and now I was dilated to a 7 so they broke my water. From here on out everything seemed to be in fast-forward. I was still waiting for my mom to get to town so I was just hoping she would make it in time. At 8:30 I was dilated to an 8, and by 9:30 I was at a 9. The nurse said she'd be back to check me in an hour but at 9:45 I started to feel some pressure from baby's head. It was a weird feeling because I hadn't felt anything for quite a while. So Julia went and got my nurse and when she came to check me I was dilated to a 10. So the nurse wanted me to do some "practice pushes." Around 10 AM I did my first "practice push" and after one push the nurse said, "Oh, I'd better go call your Doctor." She then told me that the average first time mom pushes for about two hour. I almost started laughing and I asked "How long is the average first time mom in labor?" She said it was about 24 hours and i started to laugh. I had only been in labor for about 9 hours and it was NOT going to take me two hours of pushing to get that baby out of me! Ha so at this point I pushed a couple more times then took a break until about 10:30. I started pushing again and shortly thereafter, about 10:40, my mom and Danica walked in. I was so glad that they made it in time! About 5 minutes later my doctor walked in, and that is when I started pushing with every contraction. About 25 minutes of pushing later our sweet Linkan Kate Klingler made her way into the world:) I could not have asked for a sweeter, more beautiful baby! She is absolutely perfect for Marcus and I and we love her so much!! She was born on October 20, 2011 at 11:04 AM. She weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 20.25 inches long. We stayed one night in the hospital and were then discharged on the 21st. I was very grateful because we were supposed to stay one more night and I don't think my back and bum would have liked me too much if I had to stay another night in that hospital bed!! Since being home we have already had lots of visitors, so many people already love Linkan so much! Her personality is so cute, she is a very calm and attentive baby. She likes to just sit and look around at everything. She also loves her hands! She is constantly moving her hands and really likes to keep them by her face, because of this she is always poking herself! Well thats about it for now! Marcus and I are loving being new parents! It is an adjustment and I'm sure it will be a continuous learning process but I am so excited for what the future holds for our little family!

Love, Mom

10-21-2010

Dear Baby,
Well a lot has happened in the past three months. I found out I was pregnant in July, however I was pregnant for about 11 weeks when I found out I had what was called a blighted ovum.This is where the body becomes and acts pregnant, however the baby never forms. I was "pregnant" for 11 weeks with no baby. I was hungry and tired all the time so sometimes I wonder if it was just all in my head? Or was my body really reacting that way? Needless to say going through a miscarriage has not been a very fun process. I had to have a suction d&C surgery that was followed by a lot of pain and bleeding. I am now feeling back to normal, however I know it may take a while for my body to be back to normal.
My plans now are to go running consistently again and do a half marathon in January. I would really like to get under two hours! I would also like to be in really good shape the next time I get pregnant and we can start trying again in December. I am very optimistic that everything will turn out fine and be for the better. I know that  Heavenly Father has a great plan and this is part of it. I think he was wanting it to be a wake-up call to me that I am actually going to be a mom and that is a HUGE responsibility! I definitely see things in my life that need improvement and I am working on those so that by the time i am a mom I will be both spiritually and physically prepared.
Tonight was a special night, amidst work and everything else going on I got to take a break and President Anderson (Our stake president an Martin family friend) came over to our house He heard about my miscarriage and wanted to visit and help us out in any way possible. He spoke with us then he and Marcus gave me a blessing for comfort. It was a great blessing and I am so grateful for a worthy priesthood holder husband who truly loves me unconditionally. He is amazing and I am so blessed to be his wife. I am also grateful for a stake president that truly cares about me and wants to help. He is an awesome man and I felt the spirit so strongly with him here. Lastly I am 100% grateful for my Heavenly Father who knows and loves me personally. He knows my pains and he would never give me a trial that I couldn't get through. He is always there for me and helps me so much and I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of a loving Heavenly Father. Also, I am thankful for mu Mom. She came to town last week with Cedar, Shiloh and Marshall and all weekend she too care of me. She cooked and cleaned and was wonderful. I am so blessed to have such an awesome mom and I love her so much.
Life is good. I am so blessed. I couldn't ask for anything more... except maybe a baby relatively soon:)

Love, Mom

New Idea

Alright, so when I found out I was pregnant with Linkan I started a "Baby Journal." I would write different things in it like feelings I was having, firsts, and different things that were going on with the pregnancy. When we moved I lost that journal and I can't find it. SO... my new idea is to do that journal on my blog, that way I can't lose it:) Hopefully I can stay up on it this time, my goal is to print it at the end of the year so that we can have a book of Linkan's first year of life. Wish me luck!

That One Time...

K so this happened quite a while ago, but every once in a while I will catch a glimple of Marcus's screen on his phone and this is what I see.

He claims it's his favorite picture. Scary huh? This was just minutes after getting home from getting my wisdom teeth out. Of course he couldn't resist taking a cute pic, and then forwarding it to multiple friends! I do remember him taking the pic, but don't ask why I thought it would be cool to stick my thumbs up... or why I even agreed to let him take it in the first place!Oh dear...

Anyways, last night we had dinner with some good friends the Dewitts and the Browns. Emily made taquitos and they were amazing! We then watched biggest loser while eating ice cream... whoops! I always swore I would never do that. In fact last week I rigged my laptop in front of the treadmill so i could watch it while I ran 5 miles, that made up for the ice cream this week right? Anywho, heres some pics from last night.

A new year, and a real blog post!!

Well, one of my goals for this year is to do better at blogging. I am hoping to be able to print it off at the end of the year as a journal... so we'll see how that goes. Being the last day of the month I figured I should update as to what Marcus and I have been up to this New Year!

Well over Christmas break we were really busy. First, I ran in a race called the 12 K's of Christmas. A 12k is 7.5 miles, so my goal was to do it in one hour. I ended up doing it in 59 minutes and 2 seconds so I was REALLY excited! Also, with that time I took third place so I got a medal!

After that was Marcus's graduation! I am so excited for Marcus to be done and I am so proud of him for all of his hard work and perserverance! He ended up graduating from ASU with a bachelors degree in communications and a minor in sociology. As pleased as I am that he graduated, I am a horrible blogger and didn't even take any pictures. Sorry, but I'm sure you can imagine it just fine...

That same day my sister Danica got to town and was able to go through the temple for the first time. It was an awesome experience! It was so cool to have my mom, dad, me, Marcus, Duskin and Danica all in the temple together at the same time. I know Sage was there as well... 4 kids down and three more to go:)

Next, Marcus and I went with a group of friends to Gammage to watch "The Forgotten Carols." It was a good play and had such a great message, it was the perfect thing to get me in the Christmas mood! We had such a good time with these guys, and are so lucky to live so close to all of them!

For Christmas we headed up to Eagar for a couple of days. Christmas was so awesome and it was great to spend it with family! (Again... no pics. Hopefully one day I'll get better at taking pictures!) The day after Christmas was Duskin's mission farewell. He will be spending the next two years in Santa Cruz Bolivia! I am so proud of him and so excited to get letters and hear of his experiences down there. I have already received a couple and they make me cry everytime... anyways, here are a couple of my favorite pics of that.

Then, at the beginning of January, Marcus's parents treated us to Joe's Crab Shack as part of his graduation present. It was SO good!!! I LOVE crab now and I would recommend that place to anyone. It is a little pricey, but so great. Plus, you get to eat the whole meal completely with your hands, no utensils... That's my kind of meal!

 Then school started, this is my last semester of undergraduate classes! All I have after this semester is my internship! Yay! School this semester will be hard, however I am so excited for all that I will learn and I know it will be fun.

Lastly, this past weekend I ran in the London's Run half marathon out in Queen Creek. It was a great race for an awesome cause and I was so glad to see so many participants! I have been training for this race for the past three months so I got really nervous the morning of because I was really wanting to hit my goal! Almost exactly a year ago I ran the PF Changs half and it was my first. My time was 2 hours and 4 minutes. So when I started training this year I was really hoping to break two hours. As I continued to train I realized that I should be able to do that no problem so I set a more ambitious goal of breaking 1 hour and 50 minutes. I knew I could do it, but it would be hard! Well, the race started and I was feeling good. I was running faster than I needed and I just kept on going. By mile 10 I was really starting to feel it, but at that point I knew all I had left was 3 miles, I run that far all the time! So I pushed through the pain and ended up with the time of... drum roll please... 1 hour 44 minutes and 6 seconds! I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out! I felt great and actually ended up placing third in my age group at this event as well:) Anyways, sorry for the marathon post, but thanks for reading it all if you did. Until next time...

PS- Shay this was for you!