Cowboy Nation

This last weekend was homecoming at OSU and a weekend that Matt and I had been looking forward to for several weeks. Our great friends, Corey and Brooke decided this summer that they were going to come to Oklahoma for the weekend and asked to stay with us. We couldn't have been more thrilled to spend a long weekend with them. They are some of our greatest friends and just incredible people in general. We were lucky that we've gotten to see them twice in the last few months since they came to Tulsa to visit in June. Matt got home from Florida just in time to greet them at the airport. I've actually made four trips to the airport since Thursday. It's a good thing it's just a few miles away. Corey and Brooke flew in from Houston Thursday evening. We picked them up and then headed back to our house. We sat and visited while we ate dinner and just enjoyed being together again and catching up.

Friday morning we just relaxed. Matt had to go into work in the morning, but I was off since it was my school's Fall Break. We slept in, ate breakfast and just watched TV and visited until lunch time. For lunch we met Brooke's brother and his fiance who also live in Tulsa. Her brother is an FBI agent, so he had some interesting stories to share. After lunch we came back home, packed up and headed off to Stillwater for the weekend. We made it to Stillwater around 4, and visited with one of Brooke and Corey's friends from Sugar Land for a little while. Matt and I also took the opportunity to walk around campus and visit some of the buildings we frequented a lot when we were in school. We walked past the library and there was no denying that it was Homecoming week with the orange fountain
That evening, we visited our good friends Matt and Amie who were gracious enough to host us for the night in their apartment. And let me tell you, they are great hosts. They are the sweetest couple and Matthew is such a great cook. We were spoiled all weekend long. He prepared us a delicious dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and sweet potato fries, and then we trotted across campus for the famous Walkaround. OSU boasts that they have the world's greatest homecoming. I haven't visited many campuses for homecoming, but OSU's is definitely spectacular. The house decs are phenomenal to look at and such a fun tradition. I've gone to walkaround every year for 8 years. We'll see how long my streak holds up. Next year will be different for our family for sure :).


There were a few standouts this year that were pretty amazing, but I will say the decs have lost some of their grandeur after we've seen so many of them for so many years. After walkaround we went back to the Allen's and spent the rest of the night visiting and eating dessert. It was so nice to spend some time visiting the Matt and Amie. Matt graduates with his Ph.D. in a couple of months, so we know they won't be in Stillwater forever, and we relish the time we get to spend with them.

Matt was still recovering from his recent 11 day trip to Florida and crashed pretty early that night. Corey was kind enough to tuck him in.
The next morning, Matt and Amie prepared a delicious breakfast for all of us of french toast, bacon, and fruit smoothies. We relaxed that morning and played a quick game of Settlers. Brooke and Corey and Matt and Amie have always been some of our favorite people to play games with, so it was fun to all be together again. That afternoon we all dispersed for a couple of hours. Matt and I had a few tailgates we wanted to visit while we were in town and so did Brooke and Corey. I was glad to get to see these lovely ladies and catch up with them for a few minutes that day.
I get to see Deborary fairly often, but I hadn't seen lyda in several months, so it was great to visit with her and hear how everything is going in her life. It's also fun to catch up on all the latest MFT news. I've felt really out of the loop since I graduated. She has plans to move back to Stillwater in a few months so hopefully we won't go as long without seeing each other next time. I could have sat around and visited with Deborah and Lyda all afternoon, but we had to cut our time short after about an hour. Before heading back to Matt and Amie's, we swung by the MBA tailgate and Matt got to visit with a few of his old professors. Even though we didn't have tickets to the football game, it was fun being immersed in the game day atmosphere and surrounded by so much orange.

We all made it back to Matt and Amie's about an hour before the game started and got a chance to play another board game before kickoff. The football game was disappointing to all of us (except Matt. A. who grew up in Nebraska and has been a lifelong Huskers fan), but it definitely didn't ruin our weekend. I think watching it on TV instead of in person led to less emotional investment in the game, and I really knew there was a good chance we wouldn't be able to pull out a victory especially since Nebraska had something to prove after their game against Texas. Plus, I thought our offense looked great and we had an exciting first half, so it wasn't a total let down. Matt and Amie were great at providing comfort food for us during the game too (including homemade soft pretzels which were way better than the cardboard one I would have made Matt buy me if we were at the game), which helped :). After the game, we played one last board game while we waited for the traffic to disperse and then said goodbye to Matt and Amie and drove back home.

We listened to the OU/Missouri game on the way home and watched the second half on TV after we made it back. That was a great game to watch (I'm glad we don't have to play Missouri this season). Sunday morning we went to church and then to lunch at Hideaway. We had a great lunch just visiting with Brooke and Corey and trying to soak up the last few hours we had together before they flew back to Houston. It was harder saying goodbye this time than last time because last time we had a scheduled time when we would see them again. I told them that we owe them a trip to Houston, and I think we're going to try and get down there sometime in the early Spring. We are very thankful for the great friendships we have formed over the years with some great couples!

Matt headed back to Florida early this morning so we spent the rest of last night doing laundry and getting him ready for his trip. We also just relaxed and soaked up some time just the two of us taking Rhapsody for a walk and watching some Netflix.

We had a great homecoming weekend and it definitely lived up to all our expectations.

Sharing the News

As soon as we found out we were expecting (well before actually), we started thinking about how we would share the news with our families. We hadn't told our families or friends that we were trying to get pregnant. In fact the only person I told was my mentor Judy so she could be praying for us (although I think a couple of my close friends had it figured out). We wanted to keep our plans quiet for a few reasons, one of which was that we wanted the news to be a surprise when we did get pregnant so planning how we told people was a fun task Matt and I took on. We discovered we were pregnant the weekend before Labor Day and immediately decided we would head to Weatherford the following weekend to share the news. Unfortunately we found out later that week that Barry's mom had passed away and the funeral was that weekend in Weatherford, so although we had already decided to head home for the weekend, we decided to go a day early to be with my parents. Each time we got off the phone from talking to our parents that week before we shared the news, Matt and I would just smile at each other and say, "They have no idea." It was fun keeping the secret just between the two of us for a few days.

We drove to Weatherford Thursday night and initially planned to tell my parents first, but because of all the family in town for Joyce's funeral, they had company, so we went to Matt's parents house first. I don't remember which one of us came up with the idea of how to tell his parents the news. I think I did. Matt's mom usually starts asking us for a Christmas list a couple of months before Christmas, so this year we made one in advance that looked like this:

When we got to Matt's parents house, Matt said that we had come up with a Christmas list and asked if they wanted to see it. It was fun to see their reaction when they realized our news.

After we spent some time at Matt's parents, we headed over to my parent's house. By this point it was late that night and I absolutely couldn't wait to tell my parents. We made it over there, and Barry's brother and sister-in-law were still there. We visited with everyone for awhile and eventually (I think it was close to 11 that night), they went back to the hotel and we were FINALLY alone with my parents and I didn't wait another second to tell them.

How we decided to tell my parents involves a little back story so hang with me. My mom and I have always been super close. She is my best friend and besides Matt is the person I'm closest to. We lived alone together for the last 3 years my high school and we had agreed during that time that there was no way we could live far away from each other especially when I got older and had kids. So we made a pact that wherever my husband and I ended up settling, she would move not to the same town as me but within an hour distance. In fact when Barry called and asked me permission to marry my mom, I reminded him of our pact, and he agreed to comply. Matt obviously knew about this pact because we talked and joked about it so often. He actually came up with the idea of how to tell them and told me about it before we even got pregnant. Here's what we did.

We got a map and Matt mapped out a circle of appropriate places they could move to that would meet the requirements of the pact. He made an inner circle that was our buffer zone (so we didn't turn into an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond). We also printed out a few real estate listings of surrounding towns.


I handed the folder to my mom and told her that I knew it wasn't the best timing, but we wanted to give them as much notice as we could since they only had until May. She gave me a confused look and opened the folder. She and Barry laughed at the map and my mom started looking at the real estate listings. They totally DIDN'T get it. They were obviously distracted with Joyce's death and everything that was going on and we had all tossed around the idea at times of them moving closer, so she just assumed we were helping them out and a baby didn't go through her head at all. She would browse through the listings and mention how one house was too small or another didn't have enough bedrooms. I kept saying, "You have until May", hoping it would register something. It didn't. She finally said, "Why May?" and I couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "Because that's when the baby's due!" That's all it took and instantly Mom and Barry both jumped out of their chairs, my mom screamed, "You're pregnant" and they gave us huge hugs. Barry even got teary eyed mentioning how with one death comes another life. Their reaction was just what I was expecting (only I thought they'd catch on a little sooner). I don't think I've ever seen them so excited. They talked about grandparent names, Barry said he was going to teach him/her to fish and my mom said we needed to get to shopping. We sat out on the back porch for a while longer talking all things baby. It was such a fun night! Now we weren't trying to pressure my parents to move anytime soon. 3 hours is a little far but it's doable for now. Not that we would complain if they decided to move though :).

The next day we went over and shared the news with my grandparents. We went to Momoo and Papa's first. As soon as we got there, I told Momoo I had a picture I wanted her to see. I pulled out the picture of Matt and I holding up a positive pregnancy test. She smiled and excitedly said, "You're pregnant?" and hugged me tighter than she had in a long time. My grandpa was sick and having a bad day so I went over to his chair to show him the picture and he hugged me and told me congratulations. That's the last memory I have with Papa, and although I would have loved to see him again to make more memories that moment is so special to me.

Later that afternoon we went over to Granny and Grandaddy's house. We got there and I told them we had something for them. We handed them this card:

I loved Granny's initial reaction. She said, "Great grandparents, We're too young for that!" It was cute. As we were leaving she said I guess we have until May to get a cane. We stayed over there awhile and she told us about family quilts that we could have for the baby and seemed a little distraught that she had to keep the news quiet for a few weeks. She did a good job keeping our secret even though I know it was hard on her.

We also got the opportunity to share the news in person with my Jeremy and Anna and my step-sister, Tiffany and her husband since they were all in town for Joyce's funeral. We didn't think we would get to tell them in person because they live so far away, and although we wish they could have come home for happier circumstances, we were glad to get to tell them in person.

Since that weekend, we've gotten to share the news in person and over the phone with lots of our friends. Although it's been stressful trying to remember everyone we need to tell (and make sure they don't hear the news from someone else), it's been so fun to spread out the excitement of our pregnancy and let others share in our joy.

My family has had a rough summer/fall filled with two very bad doctor's reports, months of watching loved ones suffer, and two funerals. Matt and I believe that God provided this child at the perfect time to show his goodness and to bring joy to our family during our trials. He is taking care of our family through giving us this child, and we are so thankful for his faithfulness and love for us.

Life Changing

When I think back on my life, I can think of a handful of moments that have been truly life changing. You know, when your life is heading one direction and in an instant everything changes. These moments have come in the form of a phone call, a job offer, a question, one spoken sentence, and most recently in the form of two little pink lines on a home pregnancy test.
Since Matt and I got married 4 1/2 years ago, we had spent time discussing the time when we would feel ready to expand our family. For several years of our marriage we were in graduate school or adjusting to new jobs, so we knew it would be awhile before we would be ready to take that next step. We also valued and cherished the time we have shared as a couple in our marriage and were determined to develop a strong marital foundation before adding children to our family. After prayer and discussion, we decided that after 4 years of marriage, we had reached a point in our marriage as well as financially and professionally, that we were ready for the next phase of our lives.

Honestly, I expected to have some difficulty getting pregnant. I've known several couples who have struggled with infertility, and I wanted to be prepared if we had problems. I think this is probably a common fear for most women. That fear combined with a crazy summer out of town work schedule for Matt led me to believe that getting pregnant wouldn't be a quick process. So at the end of August, when I knew there was a possibility I was pregnant, I thought the chance was slim. There was no way I was going to take a test with Matt being out of town (I wasn't going to tell him over the phone, and it would have been torture to keep that secret to myself) so I planned to take a test the weekend when he got back from his trip to Florida.

He got home from Florida on Friday night and we had planned to spend the day together on Saturday. That morning we got up and headed out to breakfast, something we rarely do, but we were celebrating Matt's homecoming. Afterward we drove over to Lowe's to look at ceramic tile for our kitchen. We wanted to get some prices because we've been planning to use some of Matt's overtime pay to tile our kitchen. We got home from our outing around 11, and Matt said he wanted to wash the car since the weather was so nice outside. I hadn't told Matt about the possibility of me being pregnant or that I planned to take a test, because I was just so sure it would be negative that I didn't want to get his hopes up. I planned to take the test, read the negative result, and go on with our weekend not having to wonder any longer about the results. So, when he headed outside to wash the car, I knew that was my opportunity to be alone and take the test. I took the test and watched as the pink dye began to spread into the test window. I knew that the first line was the test line, so when I saw the first pink line appear, I was in total shock. I sat there for a moment trying to control my breathing and whispering "Oh my goodness" over and over again. Then I knew it was time to share the news. I've never been a wife who had an elaborate plan of how to tell her husband she was pregnant. Basically I wanted Matt to know as quickly as possible so we could share in the initial joy and excitement together.

I left the test on the kitchen counter and ran outside to get Matt. I stood in the garage and here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Hey Matt, can you come inside for a minute? It's important"
Matt: "Is it a bug?" (Honestly, that was good logic on his part because I would definitely make him come inside immediately and kill a bug, if I saw one in the house)
Me: "No, it's not a bug, but I need you to come here. I have something to show you."

He dropped his sponge and walked inside. I picked up the test, and with shaking hands and still in shock, I held it up for him to see. It took about two seconds for it to register what I was showing him and then this is how our next conversation went:

Matt: "You're pregnant?"
Me: "That's what this says"
Matt (wrapping his arms around me), "You're really pregnant?"
Me: "That's what the test says, but I'm not sure I believe it"
Matt: "Well, take another one"
Me: "I just went to the bathroom. I can't take another one right now"
Matt: "Drink some water then"

We spent the next few minutes hugging, smiling, and thanking the Lord for such an incredible blessing... and then I took another test.

This time I used one of those fancy digital read out ones. Matt came in and asked what it said. I told him that we had to wait three minutes to find out. He looked back down at it and said, "Um, baby, it didn't take three minutes." I looked down and saw the digital letters spelling out pregnant and I lost it all over again, shocked, excited, and so very grateful. We just couldn't get over how blessed we are to be given this little miracle.

I ended up taking a third test just for fun, because they came in packs of two

After we both calmed down, we went back to finish what we were doing before our lives changed forever. Matt finished washing the car and I did some work in the kitchen. That afternoon we did a little shopping. We ran to the book store to get a pregnancy book and a baby name book and went to a few other stores looking for ideas of things to get to tell our families the news. One of my favorite memories of that day was seeing Matt beaming the entire day. I would look over at him when we were in the car and he was just always smiling. He never stopped smiling the whole afternoon and evening, and his smile was brighter than I've seen in a long time.

That Saturday was a day we will both never forget, the day when we discovered we were no longer a family of two, but a family of three! We give God all the glory in giving us this child, and I still have moments when I think to myself how undeserving I am of all these blessings in our family. God has been so very good to us.

Oh, and because of the conversation we had that day when Matt was washing the car, Baby Baugher is affectionately known as Lovebug (until we know the gender and can finalize a name).

The Lord Has Done Great Things for Us...

...and we are filled with JOY!!!

I'm pretty sure everyone who reads our blog has already heard our recent news, but I still wanted to make it "official" on the blog. And beware, because now that the news is out on here, you can expect there to be lots of new posts about Baby Baugher headed your way :).

Remembering Papa

I got a tearful phone call from my mom Wednesday morning shortly after I had gotten to work that my grandpa had passed away. He had been diagnosed with terminal cancer at the end of July, so we had all been preparing ourselves, but I was in shock when I heard the news. My first thought after I heard the news was how badly I wanted and needed to be with my family. I immediately called Matt at work and asked if there was any way we could leave for Weatherford that day. He is such a good husband and worked things out at work that we were able to leave town that afternoon, and made it to Weatherford Wednesday night. We made it to my grandma's house just in time for dinner and shared a meal with my parents, grandma, and aunt. I was glad to get a chance to spend some time with my grandma without a house full of people around.

The next day, my mom had to work in the morning, so Matt and I took our time getting ready and ran a few errands. We met my mom and Barry for lunch, and then Barry and Matt took off for OKC, while my mom and I went back to my grandma's. Barry had a doctor's appointment that afternoon in OKC that he really couldn't miss, and I was thankful Matt was willing to go with him, so Barry didn't have to go alone. The preacher doing the funeral came over to my grandma's house that afternoon and most of the family was there and we all sat around sharing stories about Papa and how important he was in our lives. One of the things that stood out to me the whole weekend was the legacy that Momoo and Papa have left. There was a houseful of people who had been directly impacted in so many ways by Papa. Momoo kept saying the whole weekend how great a day that was when she got to hear all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren sharing about the important role Papa played in our lives. Some of the highlights included how Papa loved living life. He worked hard and was able to retire at age 50 and then he and my grandma traveled and enjoyed life. My mom and aunts talked about how their family always valued vacations and making memories. We talked about how supportive Papa was in every decision we made and how he was always there for all of us at all our school events and anything else that he knew was important to us. We smiled when we remembered his laugh and how he loved giving people a hard time. We laughed about the stories he told, marveled at the faithful, loving 54 year marriage between him and my grandma, and cried as we thought about the hole that was left in our family.

One of the things that my cousin mentioned that really has stuck with me is that although we are sad and miss Papa, his death is not a tragedy. He had a great life. My grandma said when the doctor gave him the news about his cancer, he told the doctor that it was okay because he had had lived a full life, and he truly had. I thought about how honored and blessed I would feel if 50 years from now, I had a house full of family sharing stories like we shared about Papa that day. He was a wonderful man.

Thursday evening, we went back over to my grandma's after most of the other family had left for the night. As we were talking about Papa, Momoo mentioned that she had some photo albums and asked if I was interested in looking at them. She pulled out more than 10 albums ranging from the 1920s up to just a few years ago. I sat on the couch next to her as we browsed through the albums. She shared stories about her family, her mother, Papa, their vacations and lots of fun stories about my mom and my aunts. It was a reminder to me to keep updated on all my photo albums because it was just a sweet time hearing my grandma reminisce about her life and her family. They seemed like a fun couple who had the privilege to live life fully. At one point, she was pointing out a picture of her mother and said that the picture had been taken on Momoo and Papa's wedding day. I asked if she had a wedding album, and her eyes instantly lit up. She ran off to find it and I sat and listened to her share about her wedding day, her attendants, her dress, and how weddings were different back then. At one point, I pointed out how happy she and Papa looked on their wedding day, and with tears in her eyes, she said, "You know as much as I loved him then, I love him more now." I want that kind of marriage and am honored to have such a strong example to look to. I know they fought and had stressful and difficult times in their marriage, but their faithfulness and love carried them through and strengthened their commitment.

Friday morning was spent running errands and finishing up details for the funeral on Saturday. That afternoon we went back to my grandma's to visit, and as soon as we got there, she said, "I got some more photo albums out if you want to look at them." We spent more time that afternoon and evening looking at photo albums and time laughing about funny pictures of my mom and grandpa. It was a special time with my grandma that I will always remember.

As I've gotten older, I've come to realize the importance of funerals in honoring our loved ones, aiding in the grief process, providing closure, and bringing families closer together. Papa's funeral was a great celebration not only of his life and legacy but also of the love of our heavenly Father. I heard my grandma tell the preacher when they were planning the funeral that she wanted Papa lifted up during the service, but she wanted God lifted higher. That's exactly what Papa's funeral was: A time to honor a great man and to give praise and glory to our Savior for hope that we will be reunited with Papa again. I was amazed at how well the pastor did in sharing about Papa's life. When we left the funeral I hugged him and told him that what he shared was my grandpa. He shared stories about how Papa always liked giving others a hard time, loved camping and fishing, treasured his wife and adored his children and grandchildren. He spoke of his faith and love for the Lord, and the legacy he has left in the entire town of Weatherford. After the service, and graveside we spent time fellowshipping with our family for the rest of the afternoon, catching up with cousins we hadn't seen in awhile, playing with the younger children in the family and even cuddling up with some precious little puppies one of which I'm sure will be the newest member of the Van Auken family. That evening we told my grandma goodbye and headed back to my parents house to spend some quality time with my parents and Jeremy and Anna before everyone headed back home on Sunday.

Family looking at photo albums

Barry's getting some practice for the future :)

Sweet puppies

As difficult and emotionally draining as the weekend was, and as much as our hearts are aching at the loss in our lives, the whole weekend I kept thinking about how blessed I have been to have such a great man in my life for 25 years. He has had a direct impact on my life in providing stability, consistency, love, and humor during my childhood and young adulthood, and I am so honored to be a living part of his legacy. My prayer is that Matt and I and our children will honor him in the way we live our lives. Just like him, I pray that we will love God, love our families, work hard, and experience life as fully as he did.

Tulsa State Fair

I'm really behind in blogging, but we've had a lot going on lately, and I've made myself promise to start blogging more regularly. I wanted to make sure and blog about our trip to the Tulsa State Fair a couple of weekends ago with our friends Matt and Erica. This is the third year Matt and I have attended the Tulsa State Fair and one of the only reasons we go every year is that the first weekend of the fair, they host the Oklahoma State Sugar Arts Show where cake decorators from all over the world compete in a huge wedding cake competition. The cakes are just incredible and amazing and so fun to look at, and they keep us coming back every year. This year the theme was mansions and monasteries, and each cake (in the master level competition) had to be inspired by an actual house. There were some really cool ones this year and the best part was the timing that we made it to the fair. The wedding cake competition is one of the most popular attractions and the lines for browsing the cakes are terrible. Everyone is stopped taking pictures, talking about the cakes and walking in different directions, and there are usually so many times, when we are just stuck standing still in line. This year, we got to the fair about 30 minutes before it actually opened, and whether we were supposed to or not, we managed to get into the QT center about 15 minutes before the fair started. We were able to walk through at our own pace and take our time looking at the cakes (some of which were still being set up). We'll definitely remember this trick next year and make sure to get there early.
I'm a pretty huge Food Network fan, and one of my goals at the fair is to try and spot as many Food Network celebrities as I can. They host weekly cake competitions, and this year I spotted three of the competitors I've seen compete in the challenges. I excitedly point them out to Matt, and he usually doesn't recognize them. This year, he remembered two of the three though.

Matt took lots of pictures of the cakes. Here are some of our favorites.

These first three weren't part of the wedding cake competition but there was a separate category for chocolate and lower levels of cakes


The detail work on the cakes is amazing. We were impressed by the hand painting on this one.



All the elements on the cake must be edible. Sometimes the flowers look so realistic, I swear they are real.


This was my favorite cake this year:
Besides the cake competition, the other reason we go to the fair every year is for the famous fair food. After looking around at some of the other exhibits, we stopped for lunch. Matt got an Indian Taco, and I had a corn dog and we all shared some fries. I enjoyed everything I ate, but regretted it later that night. Good thing the State Fair is just once a year
After lunch we walked around outside and looked at some of the other buildings, and then ended the day with another favorite, ice cream. Last year at the fair, we stumbled across a booth selling ice cream from this place and immediately fell in love. All four of us had been craving and waiting for that ice cream for a whole year. There aren't any stores in Oklahoma, so we have to depend on the state fair each year to fulfill our ice cream needs. Their ice cream is the smoothest, creamiest ice cream I've ever eaten, and we savored each cool, creamy bite. After our ice cream we headed back home for the day to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Going to the fair each year is one of my favorite Fall traditions.