Christmas and Other Stuff

First Plane Ride!

Uncle Casey and Addie; the nieces sure love their uncle!

Temple Square! Part of our Delta Adventure :-D

Chubby Riley Legs! :-D

Lounging...

First Cereal! She was uncertain...

Christmas this year was both fun and eventful!!! :-D We had some travel issues, but we got home in time for Christmas, and got back to Rexburg just fine. It was great seeing the family, and we even got to visit SLC for a bit, and see the lights. Any blurry pics are probably my doing :-D Love you all!

To Uncle Casey

Sometimes she likes to pretend to be Roman.
Hobbes, her faithful companion






Hi!

I recognize that I haven't posted much; truth be told, it's not even because I'm busy, or even lazy. I just hate getting one comment per post-that-takes-up-time-and-energy-to-make. But as I was reminded, not all of my siblings have facebook, and can see the pictures that David and I put up every now and then. Therefore, this blog is dedicated to my big brother, Casey.

Dear Casey;

Hi! We miss you a ton here, and can't wait to see you at Christmas! I think Riley especially is excited; because you haven't met yet, I like to tell her about her Uncle Casey, and how he'll have to teach her cool things like math, soccer, and how to flip an omelet. She can't talk yet (just makes funny little noises, so we know she's trying!), but I can tell she can't wait. So you'll recognize her when you see her: so far, Riley has dark hair, but you can see hints of red every now and then. She has big blue-green eyes with long lashes, and she smiles, but only when she wants to, and on her own terms. Riley is growing like crazy--she's around 12-14 lbs, and close to 27 inches long.

When you come home, you'll have to play with her. She's learning how to stand (usually on her dad), and she loves it when you make faces at her. David has recently started teaching her how to stick out her tongue--it's hilarious! Because she already is showing a VERY strong personality, we decided she needed a good companion; enter, Hobbes. Hobbes is her Tiger. He is currently the only toy she plays with; I feel for her kindergarten teacher.

David and I are both well; David is working a ton lately, and we both start school in January. We have three semesters left each, and then I student teach, and he goes on to whatever schooling he decides to go on to. We're both extremely excited to be done! But in the meantime, we like to cook a lot and watch movies--Robin Hood has been our favorite so far, but we also liked Prince of Persia and the A-Team. I keep trying different recipes; I'll send you some of the ones that have turned out well!

I've put up some pictures so you can see your niece! Casey, we love you so much--I hope everything is going well for you. I can't wait to see you;

Love,

Abby, David, and Riley

P.S.--I tried making potato gnocchi again; epic fail. One day, we will succeed!

Life in General

President Thomas S. Monson gave a talk entitled "Joy in the Journey" in which he said "I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistant future when you have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey--now".

Every night before bed I like to ask my husband what his "joy in the journey" was for that day. It started out as kind of a silly thing, but now I really look forward to the answer. Sometimes he's really tired and his answer makes no sense, but I still love him :-). Especially now, we have a lot of joy in our lives--here's some of mine:

--Riley. She has to be first because watching her each day is my joy. She's getting so chubby and beautiful, and I swear she's getting smarter every day. Being a mom has helped me to see that sometimes the grossest things--poopy diapers and big burps--can be considered joy. I love watching her grow and figure things out.

--David. Now that he's working full time I don't get to see him often, so that makes mornings, lunchtime, and afterwork extra special. We try to make the most of those times, which means my morning, lunch hour, and afterwork time are great! He makes me happier than I ever imagined; I love spending as much time with him as possible. David is such a great husband and father; I couldn't ask for anything better.

--Cooking and Cleaning. Call me old fashioned, but I love making my house neat and tidy, and having food on the table for my honey when he comes home. I was really worried about giving up working fulltime when Riley came, but now, having worked fulltime, it's kind of nice to just clean house and make meals like I couldn't before.

--Walks. We like to go for walks! Sometimes it's too stormy (those generally end up being movie nights), but there is nothing more fun than going for a nice walk outside in the sunshine.

--My ward. So, our ward is really intense. REALLY. But I really don't mind--I'm starting to like it! One of my joys each day are the sweet relief society women who stop by with meals, or just to say hi. I've enjoyed getting to know many of the people in the ward; they are such good people! I'm excited to have the opportunity to serve and make new friends here.

--My family. I think I've talked more to my family in the past couple weeks than I have in a while. Just chatting with them has been one of my joys in the journey. I love hearing about their lives and their kids, what they're doing, and how everything is going (hint, hint...). It reminds me how grateful I am to have such a good family.

Those are just a few of the things that bring me joy every day--they aren't something I have to wait for "someday"; they're things that happen EVERY day. So what's your joy in the journey?

I love you all!

More Pics!

Meet Miss Riley!

We had our baby!!!

Riley Colleen Kunz was born July 26th, 2010, at 3:07am. She weighed 6 lbs, 12 oz. and is 19 1/2 inches long. I keep wondering where to start--there is so much to say about her!!! She's just amazing, and her daddy and I are completely smitten.

About 5:15pm on Sunday, David and I were relaxing on the couch, getting ready for our Sunday Food Network marathon. We were both looking forward to just relaxing for the next little while--mom, dad, and Whitney had all come up the day before, and we had a blast (pics to follow)! So Sunday was going to be our sit-and-do-nothing day...until my water broke. Kind of took us by surprise! David was very calm (albeit a little pale!), and got my bag and pillow and the car seat and started packing up the car while I worked on not freaking out completely. We got checked into the hospital, were they checked and told us that, yes, my water had indeed broken, and that I was about 5 cm dialated already--woo!!!

They got us into a delivery room, and hooked me up to all kinds of fun machines, and then my nurse (who was phenominal!!!) came in and told me that the strep B test I took the week before at my last dr. appointment came back positive! So they hooked up the penicillin, and let me chill for the next 7 or so hours. Once that was done, I was still only about 7 cm dialated, so they hooked up the ptosin (sp?) drip! It wasn't that bad, especially once I got some nice pain killers to "take off the edge". A little after 2am on the 26th the drugs wore off (sadly), and the nurse came in and told me to start pushing! about 40 minutes later, Riley was born! (I won't go into the more gorey details). I got to hold her a little before the nurses took her to be cleaned and weighed, but she was just beautiful, even covered in gunk.

They took her to the NICU nursery because she was about three weeks earlier than she was supposed to be, and she's doing great! David and I get to see her often (we're hoping to take her home once she gets the hang of eating more), and she absolutley amazes me every time I see her. She's still hooked up to a bunch of moniters and an IV, but she's such a beautiful little girl still! Overall, we're all doing great. I'm feeling good (albeit sore...), and David is an excellent daddy! You can tell he's crazy about her--we both are!

Our moms came up, and we've had so many calls, texts, and visits from family and friends--thank you all for your love and support! It means so much to us, and we're looking forward to introducing Miss Riley to you all! Love you!

Nasty Green Noodles

So, David and I have been trying to be healthy. We don't eat bad--we just eat less good than we should :-). On Saturdays, David works at the pool till eight, so I try to have dinner made for him when he gets done. We've had some spinach in the fridge for a while and I decided to use it to make some "healthy" pasta sauce--something like a pesto sauce. The result? Goopy, nasty, toxic green sauce. But it was healthy, so we were going to try it!

The result? Epic Face Painting and a Noodle War, because the color of the sauce was too revolting for me to consume.

Love you all! :-)

Graduation and Baby Shower

My family! We got to go back to Caldwell for my baby shower, and my little brother's graduation (congrats Bug!!!). It was a blast! We got to spend a ton of time with our family, and just enjoyed relaxing away from Rexburg for a few days :-). My baby shower was AMAZING--thank you so much, Whitney! My sister put it together, and it was great (sorry, no pics, but Whit has some on her blog!). Thanks to all my friends and family for the support and love--it was great seeing everyone, and we can't wait to see you again (or, for the first time, in Baby's case!). Love you all!

House!

Our house! Granted, not a whole lot of pictures, but you can kind of see what we're going for. Or maybe you should just visit. That would be cool too. :-)

Oregon!

I'm still trying to figure out this whole "blogging" thing! I haven't posted in a while, but life is great!! David and I have been busy like crazy, but work and school are going well. Baby Kunz is growing well (2 1/2 months!!!!); we're still working on a name so she's not just "baby"--so far we like Mara and Lily. I don't know where to start; the pictures are mostly from our last trip to Oregon with David's family; it was a blast!! We enjoyed hanging out with the family, and did some really fun things. Below we have some pictures from our dinner at La Fiesta, the AMAZING kitties at the Big Cat Show, and a picture from Glacier Lake (which was gorgeous! I highly recommend taking a trip there--worth it!) We love you guys!