Leaving Provo and Bethany's Wedding

McKay started work on June 24th, so he flew out to Mississippi on the 21st.  I stayed in Salt Lake with his parents for a week so that I could attend my cousin Bethany's wedding.  I had so much fun staying with Becky and Steve.  They were a huge help in watching and caring for Bryce, as well as entertaining me while I was there.  We were so lucky to have been able to live close to them for so long.  We will definitely miss Sunday dinners and spending so much time with them.

We took Bryce to the Strawberry Days Rodeo on our last night in Provo with our friends Jeff and Sam.  We will miss hanging out with them!

We went to the Orem Festival with Kelsey and got to watch the whole parade. It was a blast.

You can't see it, but Bryce is rocking his BYU onesie in commemoration of his time in Provo.

Pictures we took as we drove out of Provo.

Grandma Pollei giving Bryce a bath.

My cousin Bethany was married on Friday the 28th, and it was so wonderful to get to see so much of the family before I headed across the country.  The wedding was beautiful and Bethany and Turley looked so happy.  I am so happy for them and their new adventure together!

Grandpa Eldon

Grandpa Mueller

Uncle Sean

Uncle Bart and Uncle John

Papa entertaining Bryce

Recap: Bryce Dean Pollei

September 2012, we were set to go hiking with our friends for labor day.  I had suspicions I might be pregnant so the morning before we went hiking I took a pregnancy test.  The test was positive so I spent the entire hike trying to decide how I was going to tell McKay. That afternoon, McKay fell asleep on the couch and I drove to 4 stores in Provo to find one that had helium.  I put messages in balloons telling him the reasons I loved him, and in the last balloon was a coupon that said "Good for one baby, redeemable in April 2013".  We were both very excited and surprised.

At the zoo for my birthday, we were over 5 weeks pregnant and had no idea.

Baby Pollei was due April 27, 2013.  The months leading up to his birth we spent lots of time relaxing, walking, and eating ice cream.  McKay went and got me Dairy Queen on a very regular basis.  

Last prego picture. I was huge!

McKay getting ready to go to the operating room

 I was 10 days overdue when we checked into the hospital to be induced.  At that time the Dr. told us that it was very likely I would need a C-section, but that it was up to us.  We could try to do it the hard way or try a c-section right away.  We decided to give it all a try.  My mother was in town (she came for a week and was wonderful at helping me take my mind off the fact I was enormously pregnant) and was wonderful at bringing the nurses treats so we received excellent care.  To make a long story short, nothing happened (except pain).  I was not progressing and after a few drastic measures they broke my water at midnight and we were gearing up to having a baby by morning.  Morning came and still no baby.  They told me I wasn't progressing and that we would need to do a C-section.  We were very scared but agreed that it was the right thing to do.  From the time they wheeled me out of the room until the baby was out of me and I was closed up was a total of about 18 minutes.  If only I had chosen that originally, instead of having 24 hours of labor first!

Our anesthesiologist was fantastic, he played Justin Timberlake for me through the surgery and told jokes and kept me laughing.  McKay was able to sit up by my head the whole time, until he snuck over to take pictures of Bryce after the doctor pulled him out.  We didn't have a name picked out for him and it took until the next day for us to name him.  Bryce Dean Pollei was born on May 8th at 9:05 am. He was 20 inches long and weighed 7lbs 7 oz.  

The first time I got to see him. 

First time I held Bryce.

First diaper change

Aunt Kelsey came to the hospital every day for hours and hours to keep me company. I had my mom in town for a couple days which was wonderful, but once she had to leave, Kelsey kept me company even when I was in a drugged haze.

Grandma Pollei came to visit every day.

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Heading home from the hospital. None of his clothes fit. He had lost almost a whole pound in the hospital and newborn size clothes drowned him.

Meeting Papa Pollei

Meeting Grandma Beverly

Meeting Grandpa Moffat, and me eating ice cream, per usual

Aunt M came into town to help me out.  It was such a blessing having her here!

 We blessed Bryce over memorial day weekend at McKay's parents house. They were so kind and put out a whole spread to feed and entertain everyone. McKay gave Bryce a wonderful blessing and it was such a special day surrounded by so much family and loved ones. This is sure one loved and spoiled little guy!

At Bryce's baby blessing. He was 2 weeks old here. There are 4 generations of Pollei men in this picture.

My side of the family at the blessing. It was so lovely to have the whole Nickerson clan (minus Ethan) there.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family!

Papa has the touch.

Bryce is such a good natured baby.  He smiles all the time (I think he first started smiling at about 2 weeks old).  He is a great little sleeper, he has been sleeping through the night for over 3 weeks now.  He has just started finding his voice and loves to hear himself talk.  We can't imagine life without him in it!

Recap: How we came to be in Mississippi

In February 2013, McKay was set to graduate from BYU in April, I was pregnant and due in April, and we had no idea what we would be doing after graduation.  McKay was debating between going to graduate school or getting a job.  He took the GRE but just didn't feel great about grad school.  He decided to go to the BYU job fair and hand out resumes and go from there.  At the job fair, he ran into a friend of one of his mission companions who was there with a company recruiting, and they started chatting.  McKay left a resume with them, and later that afternoon his friend (Seth) called to invite McKay to P.F. Changs for dinner.  The company was taking their recruits there and there was an extra spot.  Not one to pass up a free meal, McKay accepted the invite and went to dinner.  At dinner he was asked by the recruiter when his interview was for the next day, when he said he didn't have a time, they scheduled and interview for the following day.  The interview went really well and the company ended up flying McKay to Denver for an interview a couple weeks later.  They ended up offering him the job and we were very unsure what we were supposed to do.  After lots of prayers and tears (from me), we decided to take the offer.  I was very hesitant to take the job because the company sends you to a location where you will work for 3-5 years on average, and then the company moves you again.  The idea of not choosing where we were moving and then moving again was very scary to me, especially with a new baby.  But the job felt like the right decision so we went ahead with it.

We found out we were moving to Mississippi the week after Bryce was born.  We moved down here at the end of June and now live in a town called Clinton, which is just West of Jackson.  

McKay works for a company called FAST, and he is a developer for them.  His technical title is an implementation consultant.  The company contracts with local government tax agencies to set up their tax websites.  The contract here in Mississippi is almost halfway through their project, so we will probably be here for 2-3 years at least.  

We are renting a house about 4 miles from McKays work.  It is very old and has lots of oddities, but it is very close to the church building and we have a great ward. We are enjoying the new experience and southern hospitality.  Our little next door neighbor Lexi (she is 80) brought us a pie our first week here! We have 4 bedrooms and welcome all visitors or anyone who is just passing through!

The Start of Something New

Well, McKay made this blog shortly after we got married and we never looked at it again.  Now, a year and a half later, we have a baby, and moved across the country to Mississippi so I decided that we could resurrect the blog as a way to keep people updated on our lives. (Lets be honest though, no one cares what we are doing, everyone just wants to see pictures of Bryce).