Telling the Families

We knew we wanted to wait to tell the families until closer to the safe zone. Seeing as we had just suffered a lose we wanted to make sure baby was really sticking around before we got everyone's hopes up. Mother's day was the next big holiday so we decided, as to not leave anybody out, that we would wait and tell everyone as a late Mother's day early Father's day present.

Every step of our wedding we had pictures of our boots together. I knew that I wanted to keep that going with our baby announcement so I order a cute pair from Amazon. We also wanted to include the dogs as well. I used one of the signs from our wedding and created two cute chalkboard signs and we put together a quick photo shoot with the pups.

I put them in a hand painted black frame and dusted it with silver paint to give it a nice shine. I wrapped them up in tissue paper and one by one let our parents and grandparents open them. WARNING: Bring on the tissues and I'm sorry if any one gets embarrassed!

My Parents

Ty's Dad and Step-Mom Jaime

 

 Ty's Mom and her boyfriend John. 

The only thing I wish I could have got with this one was John's reaction, his joy was truly priceless!

 

 

Ty's Grandpa and Grandma Moss.

Our Exciting News

When we where still dating, Ty and I had talked about how long we would want to wait until we brought a baby into our little family. Ty said two years after marriage would be good, I said I would be good with one year.

After our wedding the subject got brought up more often but it wasn't until we had been married for year that we decided to slowly ease into the world of trying to conceive. We planned that the easiest rout for us would be to just not prevent it. That way if God thought we where truly ready then he would make it so.

My first step was finding a job the had decent health insurance. I was able to find a job that offered benefits working as an administrative assistant at a truck dealership. It wasn't a good fit for me, I missed teaching too much. I was soon fired from that job, unjustly but definitely for the better. That lead me to a month of unemployment, depression and finally back to teaching.

It was great a first, teaching in a two year old room at the same school that first got me into teaching back in 2006. It had changed and expanded to multiple locations. I settled into my new role but something just wasn't right. I was overly stressed and although I love the ladies and families I worked with there was no denying that it just wasn't meant to be. During my last month at that location I was finally able to get a positive pregnancy test. It was faint but positive. I was set to tell Ty on Valentines Day but after much stress and anticipation I ended up telling him a few days early.

I wrote him a card that says "Roses are red, Violets are blue, October 2016 is when our baby is due". Sadly the next day I started miscarrying as well as being told that my only option in the company was to transfer to another location due things just not being a good fit. It was very sad and I cried a lot of tears. Only a few people new about that pregnancy and that was my husband and my co-teacher at the time. I was very happy that only two people knew about it because I felt like a failure and was thankful I only had two people to tell that I had lost the baby. Chances are the pregnancy wasn't viable to begin with but it still hurt and I felt like a failure.

I started work the following Monday at my new center. It was a smaller classroom then I was used to with a small group of preschoolers. I instantly feel in love with center and knew this is where I needed to be. My stress level went down. I was happier and surrounded by the most loving women I have ever met. I felt at home.

Fast forward to April 2016 I knew there was a chance that this month could be my month. I really wanted to wait one more cycle to get that positive again but God had his plan. My period was two days late and although I kept thinking tomorrow will be the day it will start, I got a feeling that I had to test the next morning. BAM, instant positive. I laughed to myself at the timing.

Ty had just started his new hobby- home brewing beer, we had just started a 2.5 gallon brew that had an additive in that that made it so I could drink his beer. Real tasting beer that was very gluten reduced so it wouldn't harm me and make me sick! Not to mention a practically brand new bottle of vodka and a few weeks away from Ty's birthday!

I was planning on coming up with a fun creative way to tell Ty about this positive test when he started talking about how excited he was that he was going to be able to share his new hobby with me. I was actually going to be able to drink his beer that I had helped him cook. I couldn't help but start laughing.

"Want to know something funny?" I asked him. He replied sure and I handed him my phone with the picture of the test.
"When did you take this?"
"This morning" We both started laughing at the timing. God works in funny ways sometimes. We knew this baby was meant to be!

For the Love of Singing

I always loved to sing. I would have tried harder with my singing if it wasn't for my horrific stage fright. It wasn't until I started teaching preschool that I allowed myself to open up with my singing. When you are in front of kids it doesn't matter if you are singing flat, through your nose or off key, what matters is you are singing.

It is proven that singing increases endorphin's, a feel good hormone, in your brain. Having a sad day, just belt out a song.

I love to teach my love for music and songs to my students. What I love even more is when it carries over into their home life.

One of my students mom's talked to me today about a song that her son started singing at home. Spring time in Utah brings what that locals call pop corn balls, a tree that when it flowers looks like popcorn balls.  The other day this child we will call Jack  (name changed for privacy reasons) called to his mom to come quick. She ran into the room thinking there was an emergency only to find Jack staring out of the window. "Mom look! We have pop corn trees!" He then sang her the song.

Earlier this evening I was talking to a past students mother. We where talking about a possible babysitting job and how much I missed her two children. I expressed my sadness that most of my students forget a out me within a few months of me leaving. She told me they still sing all the song I taught them.

The Worst Circumstances

In March of 2015 my Brother-in-law's wife (the one who live in Germany) sadly lost her mother to cancer. It was a very sad time for the whole family but the bright side being we got to spend lots of time together as a family. This included a very fun paint war, a dirt fight and many family fire sides.

 Foot prints for Grandma!

 William playing laser pointer with Dozer, or Do-Zar as Kaelyn calls him.

 

 The boys.

 The boys with Dad.

 Jilly, or Do-Do as Kaelyn calls her, with her favorite person Kaleb.

 HI!!!

Meet Bubbles

Meet the newest addition to the Pullan house, Bubbles the hamster. Bubbles started his journey to our family from my best friend, Sara. He was originally a gift for my Godson. He, only being 2, got tired of him and Sara felt he would be happier with a family that could give him more attention. I had an idea to take him for a classroom pet at my school. 

When we first brought Bubbles home, Dozer instantly fell in love. He was gentle and loving. He treated Bubbles the same way he treated our Goddaughter, or any small child in fact. He has never been anything but kind and caring to Bubbles. When I first took Bubbles to school Dozer feel into a depression for a day. Being a happy go lucky dog he quickly got over it. But when Christmas break 2015 and I didn't have a parent volunteer to take Bubbles home for the long weekend I decided to bring him home.

He loved being at our house. The room stays a pretty steady temp as well as him getting a nightly veggie treat (either a carrot or a broccoli steam). It became very obvious that both Dozer and Bubbles loved each other. Every morning and evening when we get home from work they both meet each other at the cage by the food bowl. No joke they love each other. When Dozer was on bed rest (explained later) his main spot to lay was right next Bubbles cage.

 

 

After Christmas break I tried to take Bubbles back to work due to a parent wanting to watch him for a weekend. The parent ended up having  a family emergency and was unable to bring him home for the weekend. On the car ride home I observed Bubbles behavior and it was agitated. I then determined that he was just having a hard time adjusting back into the classroom life with 2 year old's poking at him all day and decide that he needed to stay home with us.

I think he is a very happy hamster with his best friend Dozer.

The Wedding Party

After Ty proposed, we quickly picked a date. Ty's brother and his family where going to be movie out of the country later that year so we knew that it would have to be soon. We battled between two dates- May 17 & May 31. After talking to families and such we decided that May 17 would be the date.

The next task on our list was picking who would be in our wedding party. We sat down at dinner one night and figured and planned it out.

(C) Tiffanie May Photography

Starting on the left: Jonathon (Younger Brother), Travis (Family Friend), Ty, Jeffery (Best Man/Friend), Kurtis (Older Brother), Nick (Younger Brother)

My Line was tricky because I have so many wonderful woman who are apart of my life. I decided I wanted people beside me that helped play into a part of our story.

(C) Tiffanie May Photography

Julie, Sara, Andrea, Me, Rachel Michelle

My Line
Rachel- Sister- Maid of Honor
Julie- Best friend for years "Other Wifey" to Ty, he helps watch after her and makes sure her car has oil in it.
Andrea- Best friend- Amazing woman who not only is one of my best friends but a really good friend to Ty. She's always there if we need her.
Sara- Sara played a big role in getting Ty and I together. She was friends with Ty before I had met him and has definitely been by our sides. We are also the God-Parents to her son Kam.
Michelle- I met Michelle at work, she was my boss, and we quickly developed a friendship. She helped make my dream proposal come true and is always there when we need her. A party isn't a party without Michelle there!

The little ones where a bit harder seeing as we have so many young people in our family. It took us a while but narrowed it down.

Our Ring Bearers

(C) Tiffanie May Photography

  My nephew Collin (Julie's son), My nephew Owen (Rachel's son), Ty's youngest brother Kaleb
One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was that huge smile on Kaleb's face. He was so proud to do his job and look so handsome in that hat. Collin was very shy and was only up there because Owen was. Owen being the oldest had the job of caring the rings. Originally we where going to have Owen carry mine and Kaleb carry Ty's but that didn't work out. We where also supposed to have Ty's cousin and nephew (both 2 years old) help out too but that didn't end up working out. They both refused.

(C) Tiffanie May Photography

My niece Erianna (Julie's daughter), Ty's cousin Olivia, Ty's cousin Kaylee, My niece Lexee (not pictured)

My sister made these cute flower girl dresses with the help of some of her coworkers. I loved the way they turned out.

Home Sweet Home

During the first part of our relationship, Ty and I lived separately. He lived with his dad and step-mom in a little house in Glendale and I lived with my parents in Sugarhouse (suburbs of Salt Lake City, UT) . We spent every weekend together for just over a year until Ty's parents got approved for a house out in Eagle Mountain Utah about 30 minutes south of Salt Lake. Eagle Mountain was too far of a drive for Ty so we decided it was time to find a place of our own.

We came up with our budget on how much we could afford and started finding places we could rent. We quickly discovered that we would be better off buying a home. It was a longer commitment but in the long run we would save a couple hundred a  month plus it would be a good start for our future.

We started our journey with the hopes that we could find a place before Ty's parents moved. At first it was exciting seeing all these empty/blank spaces and imagining what we could do with it. Every house had a back story and begged for us to add our part to it. Unfortunately most of those houses ended in heart break.

We put in 3-4 different offers with each one getting failing. The worst one being a cute town home in Magna Utah that fell threw beginning of December 2013, when the HOA wouldn't renew their FHA standing until the new year. We found this out after we had our offer excepted, inspection done and our closing date set. Together with the sellers we tried everything. The sellers offered to pay for the FHA approval but the HOA refused. We where crushed that we wouldn't be in a house by Christmas.

Our hearts where shattered and we felt like giving up. We started to feel less excited about house hunting when two more of our offers got rejected and sellers went with other offers instead. Our realtor was amazing and helped keep our spirits up.

That was when she showed us a cute little community in West Valley City. The town homes where festively decorated for Christmas and fresh snow had sprinkled the ground. It was a listing that had just come on the market that day. The price was great and Ty instantly fell in love with it. I needed a little bit more convincing but Ty knew that it was going to be ours. It really was what we wanted. A two bedroom with room to grow. We put in our offer and crossed our fingers that we could close and move before Christmas. Everything worked out this time around except for our move date. The seller, a retired school teacher who was planning to move to Idaho to live with family, needed some extra in the house. Her son who was helping her move wasn't going to be able to come down until after Christmas. We where able to work with her and on December 27 we moved in!