BodieThomasBleak..

Right as he came out and was placed on Hannah's stomach!

The first time Jeff got to see his son!

The 3 of us with Bodie minutes after birth (ya she looks amazing I know!!)

This was at placement

When we came home from the hospital with Bodie!!

Skinnnnny with chicken legs!! (This is how he sleeps, hands in the air)

His first bath and Jeff and I not knowing what to do!

Bodie Thomas Bleak

Everyone has been asking details about Bodie's birth so I thought I'd just write it for everyone to hear all at once! At the moment it's 3:40am and my baby decided he wasn't going to sleep tonight! So this may be a little scrambled, but just remember it's 3:40am!
Jeff and I were told by Hannah (our birth mom) that she had chosen us as Bodie's parents in September. We already knew she was having a boy and had already established an amazing relationship with her. After that I got to go with her to every doctors appointments and Jeff and I even got to go to an ultra sound and see the baby. Hannah came over to our house often so we got to bond with her and the baby. We truly have an adoption story straight outta adoption heaven! Hannah and I are almost too much alike and her and Jeff have a great relationship.
December 26th she called me saying she had been up all night with horrible contractions and a lot of pain so we hurried to the doctors office (we were at my Grandma's in Orem and she was at her dad's in Provo and her doctor is in Salt Lake..) and it was a horrible snow storm and the poor girl was in the back sick and in so much pain. We thought that was it, the baby is coming! But it ended up being dehydration, because she was so sick. After that we knew that it could be any day so I was up at night checking my phone for her call or stressing about cleaning the house.
FINALLY January 9th she was having contractions that were labor contractions! All day she was timing them out and waiting till they were 5 minutes apart for an hour. I was in full crazy mode and was ready for her to go to the hospital when they were 10 minutes apart! Around 10:00pm it was finally time to go, so Jeff and I got in the car and once again had to go through a snow storm to get to the hospital. Once we got there the nurses checked Hannah and she was already at a 5+ and contractions every 3-4 minutes. So they rushed us into a room, gave her the epidual and then it was the waiting game. Her grandma and aunt brought her to the hospital because thats who she lived with up in Salt Lake (she worked as a CNA at a hospital up here in SLC while she was pregnant, so she just lived with them) so her grandma stayed with me Hannah and Jeff all night. Jeff slept most of the night while Hannah and I talked, cuddled on her hospital bed and laughed all night. Bodie was face up and not progressing once she got to a 7 so the nurses did this new crazy thing by lifting her leg and turning her on her side to get him to rotate. By the second hour of doing that he was RIGHT THERE!!
By the time the nurse checked her he was right there wanting to come out! At 6:00am they got everything ready and Hannah's grandma and Jeff left the room so it was just me and Hannah and she started pushing...ok started as in 2-3 pushes and we could see his head and his little black hair! They did one more push and he was practically out, so at 6:15 the nurse got the doctor and he came in and 3 big pushes and at
6:24am January 10, 2013 Bodie Thomas Bleak
came into this world. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. I looked at him and truly knew he belonged in our family.  Even at just seconds old he was already calm and they had to big him to get him to cry to clear his lungs!
He was 6lbs 6oz and 19in long.
He had this amazing black hair with long fingers and long toes! We went out to get Jeff and her Grandma once she was covered and they couldn't believe it was all done and he was here! We fell in love with him the second we saw him!
Hannah and I were the only ones in the birth and I cannot tell you what a blessing that was for me. To see Bodie come from our Heavenly Father right into our arms was a feeling I can forever tell him. I was so lucky she had me there with her and that I got to experience that with her.

Once Bodie was born we all went up to the maternity ward and got to just cuddle him and love him and spoil him and kiss him....and love him!!
The hospital was AMAZING. They gave Jeff and I our own room so we could stay there and be with Bodie and Hannah. They were just so unbelievable and understanding. So we were just down the hall from Hannah's room and we would hang out in there all day and eat, but then at night have in our room so she could rest! The next day Jeff and I decided we would go home and let Hannah be with Bodie all day and have her family have that time with her and him. So we left and showered, ate and had to do some shopping. Both Bodie's birth parents were 9+lb babies so I was sure he was going to be big, so I never bought newborn clothes. So at 6lbs 6oz we needed newborn clothes!!
Hannah was feeling so great by that evening we decided to do "placement" early and do it that evening of the 11th. Placement is just all the dumb stuff..it's paperwork and a bunch of stuff that is just putting Bodie in our custody and relinquishing Hannah's rights. We told her that all that paperwork meant nothing, she is/will always be part of his life.
We actually had an awesome placement. A big part of why I think it wasn't as hard or emotional for either of us was knowing we would still stay close and that it wasn't goodbye.
We got to take Bodie home that night and my mom and sister Madison were there waiting for us with HUGE smiles!!

He was 7lbs 1oz at his 2 week check up the other day, so he's a growing boy! He's long and lean!! He's got chicken legs and a skinny little body! His hair is still dark dark, but hasn't gone curly yet! Since his birth dad is black he has gotten darker and darker. Babies that have any dark race in them actually come out white and their pigment comes and darkens for weeks/months. So everyday he gets darker and tanner! Jeff and I will have to go tanning for the rest of our lives to keep up with his beautiful skin color! He is an amazing baby. He eats, sleeps, poops and eats more. He has been honestly an angel child and barely cries. His cry is so cute so when he does cry I let him cry for a minute just to hear it! Yes, I know that will change!

Since Bodie was born Hannah has seen him 3 times and probably soon to be 4! We love having her in our home and he loves her and that makes us all happy. I would hate for Bodie not to know her and how much she loves him. He is so lucky to have so many people that love him and we are just so blessed to have in our lives.
Thank you for everyone's support, love and prayers. We truly have been blessed and we are so excited for that's to come!
Love..
Jeff Lacie Woody and Bodie

Grandma.Grandpa.

I am working in Provo this week for work so I have been staying with my grandparents that live in Orem so I don't have to do the commute. So I wanted to do a little shout out to the most amazing people I have ever met. 

My grandma's name is Carolyn. She is the mother of 8 children and grandma to 24 children and a great grandma to (almost) 2 kids! 

Many years ago my grandma was under an extreme amount of stress over problems in the family and she had a stroke that turned from that to Lupus and many other tissue disorders throughout her entire body. She lives everyday in essence amounts of pain and headaches. 

She has been to doctors all over to try to find a cure for her pain and yet doctors tell her over and over that there is nothing they can do due to the lack of knowledge to what the problem is. 

Everyday my grandma wakes up, goes to the gym and does her physical therapy at the pool. Comes home and gets herself ready with  her hair done, make up and cute sassy outfits and during all this listens to the scriptures on tape. She then does scripture study with my grandpa and they pray together as a couple. She then goes to start her serving for the day.

She is the first to make bread and take it to families in the ward that are need of some extra love. She is the first to send a card to those that need a pick me up. She goes every single day to see her friend in a nursing home and sits with her and talks about whatever her friend wants, just so she won't be alone. She never forgets birthdays and anniversaries, or neglects to call on special occasions. 

The reason I wanted to do this little shout out was because of an experience I had last night. 

Last night my grandparents were called by their Bishop to have a small meeting. I was in the family room and they all went into the living room to talk. I was listening to the conversation they were having and the amount of faith astounded me.

There is a family in my grandparents ward that are the "special" family and has many needs and problems that they like to dramatize and announce. The Bishop came to ask if my grandparents would visit/home teach as a couple this family. The Bishop knew of the burden this family are and the amount of hardship they could bring, but through prayer felt that my grandparents were the right choice to visit/home teach this family. My grandparents proceeded to tell the Bishop that this would be hard on them, but as the Bishop told them that he truly felt that they were the choice Heavenly Father needed in this familie's lives-my grandparents replied, "Bishop we will do as they ask, we will do our very best to make sure we fulfill this calling." Knowing how hard and time consuming this will be and the health my grandma is in, they still had such faith that if they took this calling they would be blessed. 

My testimony was strengthen at that moment when I heard them tell the Bishop they would take any calling the Lord asked. 

Both my grandparents are 2 people I hope Jeff and I can be when we are older. They have opened their homes to many and hearts to thousands. Even through my grandmas pain everyday she continues to serve and help others. I pray that she knows how much others look at her with admiration and love. 

I love my grandparents.

Infertility vs. Adoption

Since I have gone through the roller coaster of emotions for BOTH infertility and adoption I thought I would share my experiences with them both.

Infertility-

The amount of hormones they pump you full of for any form of infertility will make you a crazy person  to start off with. As a woman you have been gifted with the ability to have children. Men can do most of the same things we can. They can dance, design clothes, cook, clean, work, shop, vote, argue, wear skinny jeans, apply makeup, arrange flowers, kiss boys..all in all they can do anything a woman can-except give birth. 

It's hard to be told that your body cannot produce a child and your body is a "default." First you start fertility medicine and then they start the testing and then they start the treatments and next thing you know it, it's been 3 years and your hormones are jacked up and your body has no idea what is going on. The whole time you wonder if the money, tears and heartache are worth it and in the end when there's nothing to show but medical bills and 20 lbs added to your back side, it's hard to emotional take it all in. 

People like to add their opinions and insight on things they know nothing about and tell you special tea and pills to get you pregnant in a month, or their friend's sister's best friend went to this doctor and she got pregnant, or my favorite, "have you tried having sex when you're ovulating?" UM YA! 

Adopting-

My favorite of all time has been this one, "Why don't you JUST adopt and I bet you'll get pregnant right after!"

So, we should adopt a baby and pray that once we adopt we can FINALLY get pregnant? Think about this. I always picture my children in heaven waiting to come down and how would they feel if they knew that I was saying that the only reason I want to adopt is so I could finally get pregnant? We are adopting because OUR child is in heaven and is coming down through another body, not so we can get pregnant and have biological children once he's here. 

The roller coaster of adopting is a whole different amusement park itself. There are highs and lows and inbetweens. There's heartache and promises made, there's the best moments in your life, with promises broken. 

We are adopting because this is our baby. 

Shop.Deals.Win.

So I've been told to write about my shopping. I don't wanna brag but I'm kinda the master at finding amazing deals..it's a gift I think. I have a small obsession with shopping and there's no high like shopping. The reason I can get away with more shopping is the deals that I look for and find. Here's a few keys to finding "the" deal!

1. When you walk into a store, any store- go straight to the clearance section. 

2. Nordstrom Rack- shoes- go in the clearance section and look for a label that says "Worn and Refurbished"..that is your goal. Word and Refurbished shoes are shoes that over a certain amount of money that a customer buys and returns at Nordstrom. Because of the price of the shoe Nordstrom can't take them back and re-sell them so they send them to Nordstrom's Rack at a cheap cheap price. Another reason is someone bought them and wore them for a small minute and returned them to Nordstrom and again, Nordstrom can't re-sell them so we luck out. Everything at Nordstrom's Rack will go on clearance sometime. If you go often enough and go straight to the clearance section you will find killer deals.

3. Even when things are on sale, they always will go an "Additional 30-40% off"..eventually every store does it. Wait and see if your sale item will go on the additional sale and you'll save more, which means you can buy more!

I rarely buy full price, because after working retail for 2+ years I have learned that EVERYTHING goes on sale. No matter how expensive or high end the product is, stores have to get things out of their stores for the newer thing. You may not have the "in" item right away, but within a month or 2-you'll have it for 1/6 of the price! Here are some of my favorite finds-

Jeffrey Campbell
Original- $109 My price-$24
Worn and Refurbished 

Cashmire Sweater for Jeff
Original-$98 My price-$7.97
NRack Clearance

Jeffrey Campbells
Original-$119 My price-$18
Worn and Refurbished

Jeff's Gap Shirts
Original-$24.50 My price-$3.40

Seven For All Mankind
Original-$189 My price-$23.97
NRack Clearance 

Current Elliots-
Original-$209 My price-$34.97
NRack Clearance 

Alice and Olivia
Original-$265 My price-$27.97

DV
Original-$98 My price-$24
Worn and Refurbished 

Sperrys
Original-$79 My price-$18
Worn and Refurbished 

Steven by Steve Madden
Original-$129 My price-$24
Word and Refurbished 

JBrand
Original-$189 My price-$12.90
NRack clearance

Some of these are just some of the things I wear those most that I got great deals on. It's just to show that some of these clothes-when I bought them at Nordstrom Rack,  they were still full price at Nordstroms or they were in the stores within a month of when I bought them. 

I have 5 pairs of jeans I have boughten on clearance upon clearance that are name brand jeans all under $35.00. 

I love clothes and can't give them up, but I can't pay $190 for a pair of jeans..so I wait and wear them for $25 and they are so much cuter at that price!

Good luck shopping!

Compare.

Women vs. Women

I've decided..and I means Lacie..I've decided that I am going to use my blog as an outlet to whatever thoughts are running though my head, ideas that I have, shopping tricks that I can share..pretty much anything that I have in my head-I'll write.

The last few days I've been pondering and lugging around the 20 pounds that I've managed to pack on in the last few months. I want to blame most of it on the hormones I was on for infertility, but lets be honest..I've had a DrPepper trip here and there. I was grunting and groaning about how all my cute pants aren't fitting and I'm tired of looking around and seeing all these girls skinnier then me. The more I've been thinking and lusting after girls with skinny legs and small butts I realized a few things-

1. I am not fat. I am not obese. I am not having health issues.

2. I may no fit into my size 26 jeans like I did last fall, but my body shouldn't fit into a size 26.

It was at that moment that I wondered to myself, do I want to loose weight so I feel better about myself or do I want to loose weight so I can compare my body to those with skinnier legs?

Of course the answer is the second option and I just thought..wow this is how women work. I would care less if Jeff sees me a little more chunky and trying to squeeze myself into those jeans, but Oh My! have mercy another woman better not know how much I weigh or size jeans I wear!! I won't lie I am totally the girl that checks other girls out when they have a body that I envy. My "trouble" body 

parts are my butt and thighs so when I see a girl with skinny thighs and a tight butt I wanna punch her. I wish we would all just be grateful for whatever body shape God gave us, we never will be, but I wish we would. I was not built to be a size 0 with no curves, and I'm actually ok with that. I know that Jeff likes a little junk in my trunk, even if I don't. Jeff will always ask me, "who are you trying to impress, me or the other girls at the party..?" My answer- the other girls at the party! Women, we are funny. Lets for the next 24 hours look at ourselves in the mirror and be like, "damn-that cellulite looks good on my thighs!" I am happy that I don't spend my days in the gym and eat to strict diet..I live my life and enjoy my days and if that means my jeans fit a little tight or I have a dimple on my butt..I'll take it.

Camping

This summer I decided that after months and months of being depressed and infertility heartache that it was time for me to spend some time with Jeff and enjoy the time we have now. So I quite my job and Jeff and I are "yes" people now! We are saying yes to every opportunity that comes our way.

We went camping up in the Utah Uintas with a few of our friends! It was gorgeous. 

And YES we are matching! Jeff loves matching haha. He thinks it's so cute and his brother got us these matching jackets so since we were in the middle of nowhere and with just bears around us I figured this was the best time to "match." 

Ali, Jordan, Jeff, Lacie, Dunham, JR, Becca