Elder Mark Cameron Hales

Mark is COMING HOME!
Well, not for a couple months but I can hardly wait!
Mark has been serving faithfully in the Guadalajara, Mexico mission for the past two years! We love him so much and are so proud of him! He's lost himself in the Lord's work! He can hardly speak or spell in English anymore! Lol! And he has the darkest Farmer's tan I've ever seen!! Lol! We might as well call him Marcos. ;)
His letters are always fun to read every week and they put a smile on my face!

The wheels on the Bus...

All in White for Baptism

Night Rider!

Country Livin'

His only follower that day:(

Middle of Nowhere!

I never update this thing! :/

Things are going really well! We feel really blessed!
I'm 5 months pregnant and we're expecting another baby girl in March. My actual due date is March 20 but I have a feeling that I may deliver a couple weeks early if I get the final OK from my Doctors.
Life has definitely had its ups and downs for the last 10 months. I'm just so happy to have the knowledge I do about life after death, forever families, and our Savior! My testimony and Tyson have been my rocks this past year! I've always been blessed with a soft heart and faith just seems to come easily for me. I think that's one of the only reasons I've been surviving the trial of losing Tatum so well. I had plenty of moments where I had that "ugly cry", the kind of cry you just can't control or stop. But I've mostly had peace and understanding about it all.
For some people it might have been a hard decision to decide to get pregnant again right after a loss but for us it was an easy decision. We wanted to start our family when we had Tatum and now we want to continue our family. Getting pregnant right away, sort of helped me keep my sanity, too. I'm sure for some couples they might feel the opposite about this but I didn't want to postpone trying again.
We were able to get pregnant at 5 months post-partum. This pregnancy has been a little bit easier as far as the morning sickness goes but I've had to take it easy a lot more. My body just isn't as strong as it was the first time around and it just seems to be a bit worn down. I just didn't really have time to get back into shape or tone anything up after having Tatum.
I'm anxious to have this baby and get back into shape, though! I want to run and have a normal exercise routine! Unfortuneatly, for now, I've been put on limited activity "bed rest". I can still work, which is nice because my job isn't physically strenuous and it's only 3 hours per day and 4 days per week. I just can't exercise, lift things, or doing any sort of physical activity, at least until the end of the month. My Doctors think I have a low-lying placenta right now and we're hoping for it to rise as the pregnancy progresses. Until then, I'm advised to have limited activity. It's pretty boring, to say the least but I'm following all of my Doctor's orders. :)
I'm just hoping and praying for the best and I'm confident that there's next to no chance that I would have another full-term stillbirth due to an umbilical cord knot. The chances are slim to nothing that it could happen again. Plus, I'm being monitored much more closely this time.
In fact, just today I was at Quest Diagnostics having my blood drawn and tested for multiple preventative things. They took approximately 10 viles of blood from me today. 10! I stopped counting after 7 because it was making me light headed but, it was a lot! All I know is that I feel I'm getting the very best care and things seem to be going well so far.

Tyson and I are still having the hardest time coming up with a name that we love for this baby girl!

??????

Any suggestions? I've already had a million suggestions and lots are cute. Nothing has stuck yet, though. We'll see.

Monterey Bay, 3-Year Anniversary!

So many Sea Lions!! We loved this trip! The weather was perfect and it wasn't too crowded. It was such a relaxing trip!









Tyson took this pic of me watching the Sea Lions.
They were everywhere!



The Aquarium was so cool! I hadn't been there since I was a kid. I loved it.








We got some great pictures at the Monterey Bay Aquarium! These jellyfish were beautiful!

I need to get back into blogging!

I'm terrible about updating this thing! Lately, I upload all of my pictures onto facebook because it's so darn easy! I really want to have my photos tell a story though. I think that blogging is such a neat way to share experiences with people. I just need to designate time for it, I suppose. Is it just me or are there TOO many things that require a designated time? Exercise, grocery shopping, household chores, lesson plans, callings, blogging, etc. Some day I'll figure it all out! ;)

Tyson and I just celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary on July 27. We spent a few days in Monterey to celebrate. It was so nice, the weather was beautiful and we were walking distance from everything. We stayed at the Portola Hotel and Spa. It was the perfect location. We were able to walk to Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row, the Aquarium, and Down Town. It was so relaxing.

This summer we decided to take a few trips around California instead of one BIG trip like we usually do. That way we can spread out our vacation time and vacation money!
So far, we've traveled to San Diego, Holly Wood, and Monterey and next on our list is a RUSH concert in San Francisco. It's been such a fun summer!

Just briefly...

Just briefly, here's what's been going on with Tyson and me...Tyson and I are doing really well but just to recap a little bit...
On Mother's Day, 2009 I found out I was pregnant! I can honestly say it was one of the happiest days of my life. Tyson and I were thrilled. My due date was January 10. For some reason though, I always knew I would probably deliver a little bit early. Anyway, we were ecstatic when we found out we were having a girl! We both wanted a girl and I just KNEW it would be a girl.
On December 23, 2009 I went to the hospital to check on the baby because I noticed that she wasn't moving.
I was admitted right away and sent upstairs to have an ultrasound and search for the baby's heartbeat. I could tell right away that the nurses were stalling and searching. They kept asking me if I'd called my husband and if he was on his way. I assured them he was coming.
In fact, that day when I woke up I knew instantly that something wasn't right with the baby. Most mornings I was awakened by kicks but on December 23 there was nothing. I immediately said a prayer and asked my Heavenly Father to put my mind at ease and have her kick if she was alright so that I could go on with my day without worry. Only, she didn't kick right away. Instead, the phone rang and it was Tyson, calling because he had a feeling that he should call and "Check up on me". I knew right then that something was very wrong and I told him to meet me at the hospital. Tyson works out of town in Visalia, so he met me there within an hour or so.
The nurses and Doctors searched for her heartbeat but she was gone. We were terrified. We couldn't believe it.
I was induced right away. I was so scared. While in labor the Doctors warned me that the baby could be scary to look at, discolored or malformed. I was terrified of what might be wrong with her and so confused. How could this happen? I'd had a textbook healthy pregnancy. Everything had gone as planned. I was just waiting for labor to start. We were so close. I'd just been at my Doctor's office a couple days before and the baby was perfectly healthy. I was only days from my due date! Everything was prepared. I'd read all the books, been to all of my appointments, done everything right. I'd carried her for nine months. The clothes, the car seat, the adorable nursery, the cupboards were stocked, everything was perfect and waiting for her. I was horrified at what could have gone wrong.
I labored for over eighteen hours and delivered our precious daughter on Christmas Eve. She was perfect. It turned out that there was a very tight true cord knot in her umbilical cord. Other than that, she was just beautiful. She looked like a sweet little sleeping baby.
The Dr. Thinks that somehow, probably during her last active wake cycle she must of somehow pulled the knot tight and it cut off her oxygen. Plus, when I fell asleep and my heart rate dropped, my baby's heart rate also naturally dropped. Therefore, the combination of the knot, dropped heart rate and possibly some Braxton Hicks contractions were just too much for her and she died.
It's just devastating. So sad. We were so close. Already full term. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and she was 19.75 inches long. We wanted to bring her home so bad. This type of umbilical cord knot is rare. My Doctor's compare it to being "struck by lightning". So, it wasn't something hereditary or something that could likely happen again and that brought a lot of peace.
Tyson and I arranged a small graveside service for her...we were so happy to be surrounded by so many friends and family. It was a beautiful service with singing, a beautiful poem, and a dove release.
We just finalized the design for her headstone. It says, "Our Precious Daughter Tatum Jane DeWitt December 24, 2009. I am a Child of God."
I just created a blog to record her story and our experience in more detail...but i haven't completed it yet. tatumjane.blogspot.com

We're BaaAack!

We haven't blogged in forever!! To start out I am about 4 1/2 months pregnant!!! We will find out the gender on August 20th! I'm betting it's a girl. I'm due on January 10, 2010. We are thrilled! As far as the pregnancy goes... It's been tough. I never thought a person could throw-up that much! But 18 pounds lost later, I realized that it's possible to lose everything you eat for weeks. Gross, I know, but true. I'm recently doing much better though! Tyson and I just got back from our " babymoon" to Maui, Hawaii! It was wonderful! We both needed a relaxing beautiful vacation! Tyson is still working for Target:D and I will be teaching preschool again in the Fall... Only this year I'll be teaching five days a week vs. Only three days last year. So, we are busy with work and preparing for our baby to come. :)

Go DOGS!!!

We finally made it to a football game this year! We've been so busy that we almost never made it. It was our last home game vs. Louisiana Tech and WE WON!!! Tyson and I met up with our friends, Ryan and Michelle Carter and we went to cheer on the Bulldogs together. We were just happy to win a game :)