When He's Not Farting....

... Eric is actually a really cool guy. I would know, I married him!

I know you all think your husbands are wonderful, and that is just great. But I think mine is awesome and I never really talk about that. He has made my life pretty dang special and has made me feel like a pretty special girl. 

Eric was a little peeved about all the silly things I shared about him, but he knows I did it out of love. Nonetheless, I told him I was going to do a special post all about him and how awesome he is, so get ready, cuz here it comes!

In Eric's pre-Courtney days (we'll refer to that as PC), he was quite the ladies' man. And I have a feeling it had something to do with his long hair...

But I bet you guys could have guessed that, seeing as he is such a handsome man and all. What you probably didn't guess is that Eric was on the BYU Lacrosse Team!!!

That's him right there! #5. I am not including this information to brag that my husband was a collegiate athlete (although that is pretty dang cool), but rather because of his personal qualities that led him to that point. Eric started playing lax as a Sophomore at Lone Peak High School--the very first year they ever had a lax program. They were horrible. But Eric worked super hard and he even attended BYU's lax camp every summer to help himself improve. Then when he got to BYU as a freshman, he tried out for the team. He didn't make it. So he worked even harder and worked out with the team as much as possible. Then he tried out again and he made it! This is a pattern I have noticed many times in knowing Eric: when he knows he wants something, he works hard to get it and he doesn't give up until he does. Take me, for example. He had some pretty tough competition ;)

Moving right along here... Eric is also a reeeally good big brother! He is the oldest of 5 kids and every one of his siblings looks up to him a LOT. Although they like to complain that Eric is the golden child and he gets everything he wants, they really do love him.

That is Eric with his youngest brother, Courtland, who is now 13. You can just tell by Courtland's smile how much he loves being with his big brother. Stacie (Eric's mom) always tells me that when Courtland was little, he would ONLY allow Eric to help him do things. None of the other kids were allowed near him. I love stories like this. I know Eric is going to be such an awesome dad because he is a great big brother. I'm glad that he will be the one setting the example in our household. As a side note, the dog is definitely a huge part of Eric's life. Her name is Kai and she also adores Eric. She is pretty much his dog and he trained her. I am amazed at how well she listens to Eric! She wouldn't be so obedient if he wasn't so loving to her. He still wrestles her to the ground though which always worries me because she's getting so old. Stacie always tells us that Kai has a really hard time walking around on Mondays after Eric plays with her on Sundays when we're up there for dinner. :)

Eric is an extremely loyal friend. He would NEVER say anything bad about any of his friends, and he has a lot of them. He accepts all of them for who they are and never judges based on mistakes they may have made or things they sometimes say or do. He is a really great example to me in this arena because I tend to be overly critical of others. I'm quick to point fingers at someone else because of all the issues I have. I'm trying really hard to learn Eric's ways.

This is Eric and his best friend Doug at Eric's birthday party a couple years ago. I also love how silly Eric is. He really is a goofball and it makes life so much fun! We have a great time together even though he told me once, pretty seriously I might add, that I am no fun. Apparently my level of fun just doesn't even compare to his... but he has been diligently trying to change that too.

Eric is an EXCELLENT teacher! And he really enjoys teaching, which is nice for me because--as I have already made abundantly clear in this post--I have a lot to learn from him!

This is me after I caught my first fish! Eric took me fishing back when we were dating and I had a blast. I was worried I would hate it and that I wouldn't be able to catch anything. But thanks to Eric's patience and great teaching, I caught 8 fish that day! (This picture is already making me miss my pre-pregnancy body... oh boy)

Well, I could got on for hours and hours, but I'll wrap it up before anyone falls asleep. I love Eric, and he loves me. That is a wonderful feeling and I can't wait to see our love continue to grow!

Oh and by the way, Eric found out today that he was awarded an ORCA grant for the research he is doing with a chemistry professor on campus. I am SO proud of him and his accomplishments!!

The Power of Prayer

When I was in my senior year of high school, I had THE best seminary teacher EVER! For our seminary graduation (or maybe it was Christmas?), she gave each of us a plaque that says "Prayer Changes Things." I have come to know that this phrase is so true. Prayer does change things. It can change anything and I have a very strong testimony of that. But even more powerful than the prayer of one person, is the combined power of a multitude praying together.

Yet another powerful tool is the internet. The internet brings people together and allows us to tune into what may be be going on in the lives of other people instead of always just focusing on our own problems.

Today, I am asking anyone who is reading this to help me combine these tools: internet and prayer. There is a very special girl named Mary who will be undergoing a very serious surgery on her brain tomorrow (Friday the 21st.) Last summer, she suffered an AVM bleed. I do not know enough about it to speak intelligently about what exactly that means, but she was in the ICU for awhile and since then has had some very interesting trials. One of which was that she could not taste food the way food should be tasted. This problem made her not want to eat. Can you imagine? Not enjoying the taste of food? That would be so frustrating to me! But that is probably the least of her worries.

Mary is a BYU student and she was miraculously able to return to BYU this past fall but some of her symptoms came back and she had to go home early. So now she is undergoing surgery to remove the AVM from her brain. If any of you bloggers out there enjoy reading good stories of total strangers like I do, Mary's mom started a blog to tell their story. You can check it out here. You can also get all the details on Mary's story and what exactly is going on with her brain.

Although a few years younger than me, I know what a wonderful person Mary is. She has always been so bubbly and bright and so very kind to anyone she meets. She is hilarious and fun too. During my fourth year of Girls' Camp, Mary was a wee little first year and she hung out in our cabin for literally HOURS, entertaining us all with her "Coffee Talk with Linda Showelbowg." Any of you girls out there remember that? :) Then in testimony meeting during Sacrament meeting a couple weeks later she somehow related all the mosquito bites we got to some Gospel principle. She had everyone laughing but at the same time actually had a really great insight.

Anyway, please pray for Mary. Heavenly Father will hear our prayers and we can all be a part of helping one of His children.

If you're interested in getting updates from her surgery, you can read her older sister Catherine's blog here.

Dear Mom

I think it's about time I tell you how grateful I am that you had me. You see, I'm the second child of your six. And at this point, I don't know if I'll ever make it past baby #1. It's been a rough 17 weeks. I never knew it would be possible for me to have such an awful aversion to food. I have to eat or else I throw up... but I never want to eat because the thought of food makes me want to throw up too. You of all people know how much I HATE throwing up. Before I was pregnant, I hadn't done that since my senior year in high school!

But there have been other issues as well... From the time Baby Bready here was the size of a cumquat, I was already waking up in the middle of the night (every night) having to pee. After getting back into bed, it usually takes me a good hour or two to fall back asleep. Oh sleep... How I love thee. All I want to do is sleep, but I have no time for that.

The nausea FINALLY went away! Hallelujah! The past 4 days have been glorious. Except for now I have this awful pain in my lower back constantly. I sit at my desk at work all day, and then I have to go sit in a desk at school for another couple of hours. Last night it was so bad that not even laying down in bed at night was bringing any relief.

Everyone keeps telling me it's worth it, yourself included. And I know you must be telling me the truth or else you would have stopped at Nikki and I would never have been born. And I can see it in you too. When I was putting all of our home videos onto DVD for you for Christmas I loved watching the ones of you filming your babies. I could hear the love in your voice so strongly. I think I'm starting to get a little glimpse of that, but I cannot WAIT to hold this baby in my arms. I know I will be instantly in love and it's going to feel so good.

I love this picture of you holding me. I am SO ready to be a mom and to finally understand a mother's love.

Love forever,
Bam

P.S. Here I am at 15 weeks. I'm gonna be HUGE seeing as I have such a short torso.

Our Marriage

December 27th was Eric and my 2 year wedding anniversary. Two years?? Seriously? I know that two years doesn't sound like a lot, but back when I sent off my missionaries (not at the same time mind you), two years was an ETERNITY. But I didn't end up marrying either of those missionaries and boy am I glad! Not that they aren't great guys, but my Eric is so perfect for me and I really do know that Heavenly Father placed him in my life at the exact moment that He did so that we would be married and raise a righteous family.

Oh and that family part? We are both SO DANG EXCITED! Especially Eric. Which just makes me love him even more. Every day he pats my tummy and lowers his head down and says, "Come out." And then he tells me he wants the baby to come out and play with him. We both agree, however, that it would be best if the baby stays in there until it's ready. Although it will be awhile before they can actually play together, I know he's going to be a great dad and that is one of the reasons I know we were meant to be together. Since I was very young, becoming a mom has always been my biggest dream. I always struggled trying to figure out what I wanted to be professionally and choosing a major, etc. and I think that's because all I ever really wanted to do was have babies. And I need someone with me who wants babies too and wants a wife who wants babies and wants to be the support system so that there can be babies (hopefully lots of them!) Eric is perfect for the job.

And now, just some random information about the Breadys:

• We bought a box of garbage bags at Costco right after we got married. We're still working on using up that same box.
• Eric farts a LOT. I'm pretty sure they get more frequent and more smelly every day.
• We both get annoyed when the other person leaves messes around. We both leave messes around on a daily basis.
• We each have our own tube of toothpaste: Colgate for Eric, Crest for me. At first I tried to just use the Colgate, but he didn't like the way I squeezed the tube and would comment on it every day. So I just switched back to Crest.
• Eric steals my socks. He likes the way girl socks feel on his feet better. 
• We are both very competitive. We have definitely yelled at each other while playing games with friends. I am only slightly embarrassed about this. (It's usually Eric's fault)
• Eric's hiking pace is GRUELING for me. I always say that I love hiking and Eric thinks I'm lying about it because every time we go together, I complain the whole time that he is going too fast.
• I sleep in the very center of the bed because I like to be close to Eric, who is dutifully staying on his side.
• Speaking of sleeping, Eric says and does HILARIOUS things while he's asleep. 

To celebrate our anniversary, we went to La Jolla Groves in the Riverwoods. It was AMAZING. We were both drooling over the delicious food and we cannot wait to go back! I ordered the chicken stuffed crepes, and as much as I want to try everything on the menu, I may have to get the same thing every time I go.

Eric and I agree that this next year of marriage is going to be the best yet! I will graduate from BYU, Eric will take the MCAT and apply to medical school, and of course, we'll become parents.

Someday, I would like to write a post in which I'm completely open and frank about the hard times/fighting we've endured. But for now, I'm content to end on a happy note :)