Going Private

Hey I gotta lock this thing up and make it private. So leave your email address so I can let you in again. I'll delete them as I get them. Thanks and sorry guys for the hassle but it's just not very safe for our little one on here.

Peytyn Sloane Allen

Go to our private blog to read the story!

Catching up

Being pregnant has brought so many fun times and even more interesting experiences. I had the opportunity to go home just before Thanksgiving to see my family and friends. I had a baby shower which was so much fun! Little girl things are the best and I'm pretty sure our little one is set for the first year now!


It was so much fun to get a break from everything going on out here in Michigan. It had been about 11 months since I'd seen anyone. Being away from home has really taught us both how important family is. We can't wait to come back to Utah for good. Only about 6 more months which is crazy. It's hard to believe we've been out here for 2 1/2 years!


Unfortunately I was too pregnant to be able to fly home for Christmas and, of course, Branden wouldn't go with out me. We had our own Christmas here instead. I learned the hard way that husbands don't follow rules when it comes to spending. We made a deal that we were gonna go low key this year. Keep it simple since we really don't want to have to pack up more stuff than necessary to get home. We didn't do a Christmas tree or lights or anything fancy. Come Christmas morning, I went out out to the living room and Branden had wrapped a bunch of presents for me and drew a Christmas tree in highlighters that was taped to the wall. He's such a stinker, but I think this was my best Christmas ever. I wish so bad I had gotten a picture of it. I can't believe I didn't have my camera with me.

So he doesn't get to go home until he's done with school. I feel really bad about that, I'm so glad that our families are coming out to see the baby soon. I hope they aren't going to be disappointed. Brandens classes this semester are crazy so he's really busy. He gets to have clients already! I don't think any other state allows students to have clients before they've graduated. It's a wonderful opportunity for him.


I'm wrapping up my last few days at work right now. I'm really gonna miss my job a lot. The people I work with are the best. I'm really excited to get to be a stay at home mom though. Yesterday they had a little party for me. We had wonderful mexican food and I got some adorable little outfits for our little one. I wanted a baby to try them on, but the only thing small enough to fit into the clothes would be my bosses dog and I doubt she'd be too happy about it.

So now we're just waiting... I hope she comes soon. I can't wait much longer!

Baby Crazy

Getting ready for a baby has been a lot of fun. We're already getting to know her personality and she's not even gonna be here for another 3 months. I can honestly say she's gonna be quite the princess. So far we've learned:

• She does not like loud noises. Branden and I got to go to the Detroit Pistons game this weekend and everytime they'd announce anything or play music or the buzzer she would kick my ribs. Which by the way she only does on my right side so they're constantly bruised on the inside.


• She doesn't like alfredo sauce. So much for the never ending pasta at Olive Garden.


• Grape juice gives me heartburn. I'm attributing that to her because that used to be my favorite juice ever, and now I can't even look at the stuff.



• She'll be a night owl just like her daddy. I wish Branden could carry her at night so I could get some rest, because come 10 or 11 every night, I want to go to bed but she wants to stay up and watch football with him.

Since she's not going to have a bedroom while we're out here, there's really no reason for us to get any decorations and things like that for her. Instead of getting to prepare a room for her like most mommy's do, I'm keeping busy with crafts and things. I've decided that she needs a bow to match every little outfit she has. Branden says she's not going to like wearing flowers as big as her head, but until she can tell me that herself I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it. Here's a few things I've made so far.

Believe it or not, Branden is already wrapped around her little finger. We went back to a store 2 times to get the full set of some stuffed animals for her "just incase she wants all of them". Also he picked out these Michigan State onsies for her cuz he thought she could wear them while she was in the hospital. He was pretty disappointed when I told him 3 months wont fit a newborn even a little bit.

And this is for those of you that want a belly update. I do not like pictures at the moment, so bare with me if I'm a little hesitant at posting these. I feel gigantic.

Oh and by the way I'm gonna be home next month for a week. Anyone that's around before Thanksgiving let me know because I haven't seen anyone in 11 months we need to catch up! Still not for sure on a name yet. We're getting closer though!

It's a GIRL!!

Big news!! We got to find out today what we're having and we couldn't be happier! It was such a great moment although it almost didn't happen. We had the ultrasound tech taking pictures of her bones and organs and measuring her from head to toe, but she couldn't figure out whether it was a girl or boy. We were trying everything poking her feet, changing the center of gravity, I was wiggling my tummy around thinking c'mon babe we've only got 1 shot for this. Finally after an hour, she woke up and rolled over.

When the lady said it's a girl I teared up and started laughing. I couldn't believe it. I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life. Branden just turned to me with a big grin and said, "told ya". He's very sentimental... We went right over to Babies R Us and bought 2 outfits, a skirt, and a swimsuit for $12 total. I didn't know their stuff was so cheap! I can't wait to go to the craft store. I'm gonna start arts and crafts right away.

We don't have a name for sure picked out yet. We did for a boy, but girls are just so much more difficult! All we know is that I want it to be different like my name. My boss says I should just name her Breezy, (I'll be honest-I'm kinda vain cuz I almost considered it) cuz it's so different. I think we can do better. Branden doesn't want nicknames though. That's gonna be a little more difficult for me, cuz that's my family tradition. We'll see. Anyways here's our beautiful baby girl. We love her so much and cannot wait to hold her for the first time!

Her side profile

Her little foot poking back at the camera

This is my favorite although we will stop this immediately. She's sucking her thumb.

So precious.

Half way there

So were officially half way there. According to the book we're at 5 months, but technically we're only 18 months. I'm saying half way. I went to the Dr. a few days ago and got to hear the heartbeat. Besides that they really don't tell me much. Just that I'm pregnant. I want to be like... no kidding is that what you call this? I did find out one thing though. Lately I've been waking up with really bad pain in my lower back and down. They say it's a little bit early, but they think it's my sciatic nerve (spelling?). Basically the baby gets comfortable in a place that makes me miserable.

We get to find out what we're having in 2 weeks and I cannot wait! I thought for sure I'd be able to tell by the heartbeat by now cuz a lot of times boys heartbeats are around 120-140 and girls are 140-160 ish. Unfortunately our baby is too smart for us.

9 Weeks: 191 bpm

13 Weeks: 146 bpm

18 Weeks: 145 bpm

This tells me nothing because it's so close to the middle. Which means whenever I go to hear the heartbeat the little boy gets excited so his heartbeat speeds up, or the little girl is sleeping. I was hoping for 120 or 160 but really we're just happy everything sounds good and we haven't had very many complications. We can't believe how fast the time is going by but at the same time it feels like a dead stop sometimes.

This is a picture of me on our nightly walks. My only exercise cuz the gym downstairs doesn't have air conditioning. It's too hot to get on that stupid treadmill.

I offically had my 1st stranger ask me when I was due. I was very excited about that! Branden said the only reason they could tell is cuz I was walking funny after eating. I get really full and my tummy gets huge when there's food in it. My mother inlaw is a life saver for getting me 2 belly bands. I still can wear all my clothes, without the bands, I wouldn't be able to. They're too tight on my bladder! I recommend these things to everyone who plans on having a baby!

I'll keep everyone updated as soon as we know more! Thank you for all the well wishes we really appreciate the love and support while we're so far away!

You thought I was kidding

"For years, the 118 rooms of the Deluxe were frequently occupied by hookers and often visited by police officers. A few recurring motifs run through newspaper stories about the Deluxe’s final days: “prostitution bust,” “assault,” “murder,” “drug paraphernalia,” “body found.” After years of embarrassing many REO Town residents and infuriating many more, the Deluxe was closed down last summer after the owner was unable to pay his tax bill; last September, the Ingham County Land Bank purchased the site for $400,000."

That's a direct quote from an article about the hotel that I featured in the post about where we're at at the moment. Remember the one that's right across the street from our apt.? Well they've decided to bring out the community and let them all vandalize it before they tear it down. It was actually pretty cool... but kinda weird. You could recognize all the tags that people put on the building as those of ones they'd signed on the city park or the side of buildings and stuff. Not the smartest bunch huh? What better way for the cops to set up a sting operation than to allow all the hoodlums to spray paint their murals on the walls of the hotel really really big. I don't know if they did but that would have been so easy.

I didn't take all these pictures but they're pretty great!

Team Work Award haha

Rumor has it the guy that painted this picture and his friend were given community service hours for spray painting under a bridge. They suggested that they be allowed to use their art work as their way to fulfill their community service hours. Way to go Lansing... punish by allowing the kids to professionally vandalize a building. I'm sure they learned a lot from it.

This art project brought out a lot of creepos, but it turned out trashy/cool at the same time. The community has really enjoyed it. We liked it too... But it kinda reminded me of driving though Detroit where all the buildings off the freeways were spray painted and burned to bits. Keeps the city interesting...