Jada Noel Ward

Alright so this is Andrew....I'm new at this so bear with me. Since July, our lives have turned around completely. Our daughter Jada Noel, was born on September 2, 2012.  She weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. She came with a lot of dark hair and has been such a light in our Home.

When Lucy and I first got married we were not planning on having a baby until Lucy graduated. However, soon I started feeling as if Heavenly Father was wanting Lucy and me to start our family. We had been receiving so many blessings and I knew that they were what would enable us to start one. I was hesitant to tell Lucy my feelings though because I didn't want her to feel that I didn't want her to graduate or that I was not worried about her carrying a baby and being a mother at such a young age, when these things are so far from the truth. One day she actually said to me that she had feeling the exact same way! We talked about about it and made goals with school and our finances before we would start trying to get pregnant.

During this time Lucy was working for Le Ritz Hotel and Suites in Idaho Falls. Lucy worked from 6:00 to noon at the Hotel while I worked at Broadway Ford as a Diesel Apprentice. We would then drive to Rexburg together and attend classes till evening, drive home, get all of our homework done and repeat the process the next day. Needless to say we were pretty releived when the semester was over.

In October we spent conference weekend down at my parents home, we were driving home listening to the afternoon session when Elder Anderson gave a talk on starting families. He was pretty clear on when we should start having our families. He said that school and money are not something we should be worried about in our decisions to have a baby, (which were the only things holding us back...). The next week Lucy and I made the decision to start trying.

We first found out Lucy was pregnant on Christmas Day 2011.  The months that followed were filled with ups and downs as Lucy's pregnancy progressed. We thought we had got off lucky when it came to morning sickness because Lucy had not felt sick at all her first 8 weeks of pregnancy. Well, we were wrong. Lucy was soon diagnosed with Hypermesis Gravidarum , which is a very intense type of morning sickness. Lucy was kissing the porcelain up to five times day until she got this heavenly medicine that really helped called Zofran (or Ondansetron)! She was dependent on the Zofran all nine months of her pregnancy.

Anybody who knows Lucy can see that her being sick would not stop her maintaining straight A's as a full time student while working part time. We were off track those beginning months so I spent all day working at Ford. Lucy would go into work at the hotel around 3 in the afternoon and work till midnight. She was so so sick, it was hard to watch her go through that time. She is such a strong person I am so blessed to have her.

The spring semester started in April, right when Lucy's little tummy was starting to show. We moved to Rexburg to be closer to school. She was so cute carrying her backpack around with her baby bump in the front. She got a job at the School that semester working as an academic peer advisor in the communications and business department, which has been an awesome job for her. She would spend all day on campus between class and work. I would go to my classes in the morning and then make the trek back down to Ford to work in the afternoon. Towards the end of the semester I took on another job working from 4 to 7 in the morning as a custodian on campus.

When the semester was over we were still just short of two months before little Jada was due to come. I was still working from 4 to 7a.m. at school and then I would be at Ford by 7:30a.m. and work until 5p.m. Lucy was a full timer at her job on campus as well. After a very long two months and arguing with Lucy's Doctor to get him to induce her so she could have J. before the next semester, Jada was born on a Sunday, after 14 hours of labor and a C-Section at 8:06 p.m.

When she came out we saw her beautiful little face and body as she she stuck that lower lip and started to cry. We could see from the first moments that she was a little ball of personality. We didn't have much time before the semester started...about a week. Lucy took 14 credits online and as always has pulled off those perfect grades. I quit my job at Ford which had been such a blessing to me and Lucy because I needed to have more time at home to study and help with J. so Lucy could work as well. We just wrapped up this semester and life is good.

P.S.- I spent a lot time these last few months looking for an internship. I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by Koch Pipeline in Corpus Christi, TX.  I had a phone interview and was then flown down to have an interview on site. I interviewed with four really great people and got a good sense of what the company was like and what I would be doing.  Culturally, it would be a perfect fit for me. I was given an offer which was beyond what I was hoping for. I am so excited about my school and career. I definitely picked the right profession.  Life is good.


Here are some pictures & videos of life lately:

This weekend for the fourth of July Andrew and I went down to Ogden to visit my grandparents.  It was a fun and relaxing weekend.  The Struve's were there as well, so Andrew got to finally meet them!  We had to drive back monday afternoon because I had to work at five.  Work was actually extremely busy because we were pretty much the only place open in town.  My manager let me off around 9:30 so I could go with Andrew to watch the fireworks downtown by the temple and the falls.  I was kind of disappointed though; everyone kept talking about what a neat show it would be and how big the fireworks show was in Idaho Falls.  But, to me it was not that great....not compared to the show in Kansas or Oklahoma at least! :)  It was still fun though.  Andrew friend came with us, as well as Kristen.

We only have two weeks left of school, and we are SO excited.  It has been a stressful, but good semester and we are definitely ready for it to end!

Last week I had one of the worst days EVER! I had to wake up early to register for my classes, and this is critical because i HAVE to get certain classes at certain times since Andrew and I's schedule is so tight.  Of course, the internet was not working though.  Luckily Kristen happened to answer her phone at six in the morning and she was able to sign up for my classes for me.  Because that whole process ended up taking so long I missed my plasma donation appointment and Andrew was almost late to work.  Then when I came back home from dropping Andrew off at work I couldn't get into our apartment  because the dead bolt was jammed.  I drove to the apartment office, but they did not open until 9, and it was 7.  Plus I had to be at school by 9.  Andrew was able to run home for a few minutes and bust our door open.  THEN I started to feel sick...but I really had to go to school because I had a meeting with a teacher to redo a test that was vital to my grade.  SOooo I drove to school.  While working on my test in my teacher's office his son came in with a bologna sandwich (I HATE bologna!)  and he warmed it up in the microwave.  Is that not the most disgusting thing you have ever heard of?  Anyways, that smell did not help my sick stomach and I ended up running out of the office to the restroom so I could throw up.  It was a miserable experience.  I went home and slept for the rest of the day, but missed one of my classes.  Andrew tried to turn in my assignment that I had completed for the class that day, but he would not accept it since I wasn't there.  How rude.  Oh well!  Andrew being the wonderful husband that he is, came home early from school to take care of me and made a terrible day end well.  I love him :)  He is the absolute best.

Andrew's birthday was on Sunday so we celebrated it this weekend!  On Saturday we went to Blackfoot to watch Stephanie (Andrew's sister) compete in Special Olympics.  She got 3 gold medals! It was a lot of fun, but we all left with quite a bit of sun....especially me.  I was in SO MUCH pain the rest of Saturday and Sunday.  It hurt to move anywhere! haha.  Poor Andrew had to deal with me complaining about the pain all day on his birthday.  Saturday night Andrew and I went to Buddy's, a delicious Italian restaurant for his birthday dinner.  It was yummy and had a great atmosphere.  Plus, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  It was really nice.

On Sunday we taught CTR 5.  There were five girls in our class and it was so much fun.  They were all in love with Andrew, one of the girls even drew him a picture with a big heart that said I love U on it! hahaha.  They were the cutest.  We also both got callings on Saturday, Andrew is a ward missionary and I am the primary chorister.  We are both really excited about them!  If anyone has any brilliant games and ideas for me to teach the kids songs please send them my way.  I can use all the help I can get!

We are midway through semester, and I cannot wait until it's over!  Really I just cannot wait until august when we go visit my familia in Kansas. :)

Here are pictures of our apartment :)

Feathers!

So I guess the new fad at the moment is putting crazy feathers in you hair.  I am totally in to this new trend and have wanted some in my hair forever!  Last week Andrew was in his Calculus class and saw a girl with some really cool feathers in her hair.  He asked her where she got them and she gave him the number of a girl who makes them and puts them in your hair for you.  He texted her and got an appointment set up so I could get it done. (He's the best husband ever.)  I was so excited when he told me.  We went yesterday to get them and now I have feathers in my hair and I can officially feel cool like all the rest of the girls at BYU-I. haha.  Too bad Amber's in Spain, she would LOVE this new fad.

Andrew reads the Hunger Games to me every night before I go to sleep.  Right now we are on the second book (Catching Fire) and I am so engrossed in it.  I have a hard time sleeping sometimes because I want to know what will happen! It's ridiculous. haha.  The worst part is that Andrew has read them and so he is always saying..."Oh, this is the best part! You will never guess what is going to happen!"  It kills me.  Anyways, so far they are pretty great books and you should read them.  CAUTION: You will become addicted.