Baby Merrill!

Yep. You read it right. Seth and I are expecting a little one this September! I know you are supposed to wait until twelve weeks to announce it, but there a couple reasons why I decided to announce it earlier. Number one, I have a huge mouth and am a horrible secret keeper. Number two, this pregnancy has been so hard on me. At six weeks I was already barely keeping anything down. Now, at nine weeks I have already had to make two trips to the hospital to get an IV because I was so dehydrated. I have lost eleven pounds in one week. I haven't been able to keep any food down in four days, and even ice chips are a struggle. My doctor has put me on every medicine he can, and it still isn't keeping me from throwing up upwards of thirty times a day. I was expecting my pregnancy to be rough, but I had no idea how much of a trial it would be for me. It is really easy to get depressed when you feel the sickest you have ever felt in your life...especially when you know you will most likely feel that way for months. I have truly had to rely on my Heavenly Father to help me make it through this. Without Him, I don't think I would make it. Of course there are many other people who have been such a help to me through this hard time. Firstly, Seth. Thank you for being so patient and kind. Thank you for cleaning the house without being asked, for sitting in the ER with me when you had work to do, for fetching me cool wash cloths and medicine. You are my rock, and I wouldn't want to begin this journey into parenthood with anyone else. To my mom. Thank you for listening to me cry for hours on end everyday about how hard this is. Your compassion is inspiring. I wish we lived closer, but I find it incredible that I have such a close relationship with you although you are far away. Amber, thanks for listening and bringing me food (it was worth a shot!) and a movie when Seth was away. It really helped lift me up. Whitney. Thank you for driving all the way down to Provo and bringing me my pregnancy survival kit! You are such a good friend, and I am so grateful for you in my life! And to everyone else who has kept me in their prayers thank you so much!!! I'm meeting with a high risk pregnancy specialist tomorrow, so if you can, please pray that the doctor will be inspired as to how to help me. I really need to make it through this semester, and this appointment has given me hope that I will be able to. Although this has been by far the biggest trial in my life thus far, I am so excited to be a mom! I am grateful for the blessing of being able to do so, and I can't wait for the adventure to begin!

Our 1 year anniversary!

Seth and I have now been married a year! Seems so crazy to think it's been that long already! I guess time flies when you're having fun, right? It has truly been the best year of my life, and I am so excited to think of all the wonderful times we have ahead of us! Since this is an anniversary post, I get to be a little gushy and no one can get annoyed at me for it, so I'm taking advantage of the opportunity! I am so so grateful that I have Seth in my life. He is seriously my very best friend. It is so nice to know that I ALWAYS have him to come home to and tell him all about my day. I love falling asleep and waking up next to him. I love that when I get mad he always knows how to make me laugh and forget why I was ever upset. I love the way he always teases me and picks on me ( most of the time, anyways!). I love that he works hard to take care of me. I love that he sees the good in everyone. I love that he has never raised his voice at me and that he always treats me kindly. I love how safe he makes me feel. I love that he is a genuinely good guy that would help anyone out. I love how supportive he is of my efforts in school. I love how sweet he is to my baby niece and nephew and how I know he will make a great daddy someday. You get the idea. I just LOVE him. Ok, that's enough mushy gushy to last me a year, but I needed to put it out there! So, holidays are a big deal to me. Not so much to Seth. So I was a little nervous he wasn't planning anything special for our anniversary. But I shouldn't have worried because he went all out. After my half marathon Saturday morning I kept asking Seth what we were going to do that night to celebrate, and he acted like he had no idea. Needless to say I was annoyed. But then he told me to pack a bag with cute clothes and get in the car to go to our "activity." I quickly hurried over to my friend Diana's house to raid her closet for a cute dress and we headed off. I had no idea where we were going, and I almost always figure these things out. We ended up pulling into this super cute place called Homestead Resort where Seth had reserved a room for us to stay the night. It was so beautiful, and I was so excited. They also have this place called the crater which is a natural hot spring in this huge crater that we got to go swimming in. It was so cool! Then, we got prettied up and headed into Park City to go to an Italian restaurant for dinner. The food was really good, and we left feeling very full. Then we rented a movie and went back to the room for the night. The next morning, I woke up deathly ill. I won't go into details, but I have never been so violently sick in my life. It was awful. I don't know if it was the food or a virus, but on our actual anniversary I was so sick. Seth was sweet and took care of me, and I feel much better today. But there is nothing like being sick on your anniversary to make it memorable! I was just so glad that we were able to enjoy Seth's cute date the night before without me being sick. Despite the sickness, it was a great anniversary :)


In the garden before dinner

Seth at the restaurant that could or could not have made me the sickest I've been in my life haha

Me at dinner :)

Babies...and no I'm not pregnant!

So recently I have been thinking a lot about babies. Ok, so I'm lying I have always thought a lot about babies. Particularly Seth and my babies. I imagine what they'll look like, if they'll be boy or girl, blonde or bald, brown eyes or green. I wonder if they will grow into more reserved, logical people like Seth, or impulsive and hyper like me. I wonder if they will like sports or by some miracle be musical. I wonder how it will feel to be pregnant and feel tiny kicks from inside, little reminders of the miracle growing within me. If you haven't noticed I am not only baby hungry, I am baby STARVING! But Seth and I have both agreed that I need to finish school before we start having babies of our own. I know it's the right thing to do for us (particularly for my sanity), but it is so hard! And it is only getting worse the longer we've been married. It's embarrassing, honestly. It is not unusual for me to start crying in church when I see a pregnant lady or a new mom. Or just a Gerber's commercial. It has become a sort of joke between Seth and I, but let's be honest it's just pathetic. Admitting you have a problem is the first step though, right? Oh well. In the meantime I will just daydream about when I can finally be a mom. Just for kicks let's play pretend.


Let's say this is my little boy. And let's say his name is Boston Seth Merrill.

OR


I have a little girl, Ansley Grace Merrill. And yes my little girl will be in pearls before she can walk!

Ok, so let's be real. I hope my babies are that cute! But make believe children are not going to satisfy my need to hold and spoil a cute little baby. I guess I'll just keep on spoiling my perfect little niece and nephew! They are the only reason I can hold out til graduation! Love them so much!

South Carolina Trip

I got to go home for a much needed visit with my family and friends two weeks ago to be in one of my best friend's, Katie's wedding. It was so nice to escape the cold, rainy weather in Utah for hot and sunny weather there! I even talked my mom into letting Madi and Logan skip school one day so we could all go to the beach! I LOVE the beach. I don't think there is anywhere more peaceful. It's one of the many things I miss about SC. My trip was so fun, and Katie's wedding turned out beautifully. I am so happy she found such a good guy and is so happy. After the craziness of the wedding festivities, I mainly just hung out with my family which was so nice because I miss them so much it is ridiculous. I love how when I come home it feels like nothing has changed a bit. My family is so awesome, and I feel so blessed to have them in my life. Running with Mom, playing baseball with Logan, talking with Madi, and being held by my daddy was great. We all have so much fun and laugh tons when we're together. It's pretty great :) The only thing that could have made it better was having Seth, Ty, and Amber there with us! But luckily my wonderful parents got a beach house for a week in August, so we will be able to be all together soon! After a week trip I boarded the plane (with a tan) and headed home to the hubs. He was such a good sport playing it solo while I was gone, and I was so excited to see him! I hate that I have to miss someone in my family no matter where I am, and I hope that one day we will all be at least within driving distance of each other! But in the mean time, I will be flying across the country as much as possible to see them! Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip! And thanks Seth for extending my trip and cleaning the entire house while I was gone! :)

Arizona!

So Seth and I decided last minute to take our overdue trip to Arizona last week. The freezing cold weather in Utah most likely influenced our decision the most, though! Anyways, the 12 hour drive was worth it! It was such a fun trip, and the weather was perfect! We got to go to the Easter pageant at the Tuscon temple, meet all of Seth's family from both sides, enjoy the sun, go to an ASU vs. U of A baseball game, visit Preston (Seth's youngest brother) at Eastern Arizona, shop, and eat LOTS of yummy Mexican food. Overall, a really fun trip! I didn't take a ton of pictures (imagine that), but here are a few!


Us on Easter Sunday...Seth's grandma struggled on taking the picture a little, but it turned out pretty good :)


With Preston after they played basketball


At the baseball game. My head is leaned back because it's big, and Seth's is leaned forward because it's small. Funny, I know. Haha


One of the many catuses/cacti in Arizona. I was somewhat obsessed with them because I had never seen a real one. There are literally forests of cacti there. It's really cool. Haha.


One of Seth's faves. We literally ate there 3 times this past week. 3 times of yummy, greasy, goodnesss that is!

All in all a fun trip! We were hesitant to come back to the freezing weather, but I was definitely missing these two cuties, so it made it a little easier to come back!


Baby Cooper


and little miss Ella
And the hugs and kisses at our return were worth it :)

At last...

This post will probably cause some of you, ok most of you, to think I am a complete nerd. But something monumental happened to me this past week. Monumental mainly because it remained so elusive the past three years. Let me introduce you to my arch enemy-the A-. In South Carolina there was no such thing as an A-. The grades were simply A:93-100, B:85-92, C:79-84, D:70-78, and F:anything below 70. But after coming to BYU I was quickly introduced to a grading system which does not allow you to take pride in earning a 93, but instead puts a minus at the end of your A, denoting that you were almost great, but didn't quite make the mark. Minus. Negative connotation. So in my mind an A- equals failure. Despite my intense aversion to the said grade, I nonetheless ALWAYS seemed to make one. I would work so hard to get the 4.0, but no, the A- would creep in there and knock it to a 3.93. So frustrating! But, at last, I have conquered my foe. This semester Brooke Makell Gibbons Merrill reigned victorious. Straight A's. Take that A-.
P.S. Please note that there is no such thing as an A+ at BYU. Discrimination? I think so.
P.P.S. Nursing school is even more ridiculous and awards anything below a 95 with a minus sign. Not cool.

Life Lately...

I suck at blogging. It's a fact. Maybe someday when we have kids I will be better. So for the next two years you will have to bare with me. However, there have been many happenings in the life of Brooke and Seth.
1. This perfect little guy was born April 5th. I am so excited to have little Cooper in the family! I can't imagine loving anyone more than I love Ella and Coop!


2. Misty and Tanner are having a baby! I'm sure I am going to be just as googoo over their little baby as well! So excited for them!

3. I made it through march madness without getting divorced! Haha! Just kidding, but really. I like basketball, but it is nice to have my husband's full attention again :)

4. We ditched our cable. Biggest news of it all...Seth was the one who decided to do it. I was shocked, but we both decided we will be much more productive without the TV distracting us. Yay for no ESPN! :)

5. I am running a half marathon in June! I never thought I would say this, but it really has not been too bad training for it. I have never felt more in shape, and I think it has been a great stress reliever (not to mention the 10 pounds I've lost from it). I'm only up to seven miles though, so we'll see if I end up changing my mind!

6. First year of nursing=complete. Well, after finals that is. I am so glad to be that much closer to graduating! I am so anxious to start living what I like to call, "a grown up life." Which in other words means, having a baby. But I am not one of the women who can play superwoman with a kid in school. So, I wait, but not very patiently. I do enjoy the time Seth and I get to spend just the two of us though, so I try not to take this time for granted. Here's a pic of some of my nursing buddies and I practicing shots :)


7. My family came to town to visit the cuties in update number one. It was so fun to be able to show my family my little home and spend time with them. Heavenly Father has truly blessed me with such a great family, and I am so grateful for them in my life!

8. I turned 21. I know huge deal and all considering I don't drink. But whatever, I still feel grown up!

9. I am currently searching for a summer job. If you know of anything good, hook a sister up.

10. Seth and I have been married for 10 months now. It seems crazy because it seems like it has not been that long, but I can't imagine my life any other way. He makes me so happy, and I love him a little bit more each and every day. So grateful for all the support, patience, and sweetness he shows me. I think I'm a pretty lucky girl :)