12 Week Pregnancy Post

So one of the things I'd been plotting about doing when I got pregnant was taking belly bump pictures. Which is kind of funny, because for a long, long time I did NOT want to get "fat" and be pregnant. Like, up to when we started trying a couple years ago, I still had that mindset. Now I'm like *whine* "When am I going to look pregnant already?"

I think it's going to be a while. So far I just look kind of lumpy.

Here I am at 6 weeks along. We didn't know how far along I was (it could have been anywhere from 5 to 8 weeks) before our first ultrasound, so we just put a question mark.

Here I am a couple weeks ago at 10 weeks. Lumpy!

And here I am today, at 12 and a half weeks. Still lumpy. And this is after dinner, when I always look bigger.

My friend posted these questions below on her blog every week, and I thought it would be fun to answer them weekly or bi-weekly. The blog is basically my journal, so it will be fun to keep a record of my pregnancy for myself, even if you guys are totally bored reading it.

How far along? 12 weeks 3 days
Total weight gain: 1 lbs
Maternity clothes? Nope, but I am wearing fat pants and also shirts that hide my lumpy self.
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: And lots of it! Although last night I had this horrible dream that I miscarried the baby, and I woke up all sad and worried.
Best moment this week: Well, a week ago we announced our pregnancy to everyone and it was so fun!
Miss anything? I miss horseback riding. It was hard not to ride when I was in California, but thankfully I won't see Scout-y boy again until after baby is here.
Movement: Too early!
Food cravings: Oranges. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: A lot of different things, but mostly meat (especially chicken, ew). Which is so sad, because I love meat. 
Gender: I think it's a boy, but I will be completely happy either way!
Labor signs: Oh goodness, I hope not!
Symptoms: General queasiness, all day, every day. Heartburn (I couldn't even figure out what it was because I'd never had it before! It's very unpleasant). Constantly going to the bathroom.
Belly mutton in or out? In, and I hope it stays that way. Pokey-out belly buttons scare me.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy but still worried, although I am starting to worry less and less.
Looking forward to: Hitting 13 weeks on Monday and being out of the first trimester! Also we find out baby Trick's gender on January 22! That's only a month away!

Our Tricky Baby

So, I haven't been completely honest on my blog. Things really haven't been as boring around here as I've made them out to be. In fact, the most amazing thing has happened to us--we just weren't ready to tell yet.

Well, a miracle has occurred! We are having a baby!

July 1, to be exact

As you know if you are a follower of my blog, this is a pretty big deal. We had been trying for a long while with multiple fertility treatments and were planning on doing IVF in January.

Finding out we were pregnant was a complete shock. I was a couple weeks late and had taken multiple pregnancy tests. They had all been negative, which wasn't surprising. I have seen so many negative pregnancy tests in the last two years that I was pretty sure that second pink line was a myth.

Because we were going to a theme park (this was in the middle of October, when we went to Wild Adventures) I wanted to confirm with my doctor that I wasn't pregnant before I went on crazy roller coasters. He ran a blood test and told me, "You are definitely not pregnant." Okay, fine--at least I get to enjoy the theme park.

Well, a week later and the monthly visitor still hadn't made an appearance. I had one test left from my last box of pregnancy tests, and I figured, what the heck, I will take it anyway, even though the doctor said I'm not pregnant. It's just sitting there. Jordan had left for work about an hour before I got up, so he wasn't home. I took the test and started to brush my teeth.

Usually when I take pregnancy tests, I run out of the room and hide so I don't stare at it for the three long minutes it takes for the results to show up. But not this time. So boy was I shocked when immediately the pregnancy line showed up, followed by the control line. I stared at it, convinced it was malfunctioning, and called Jordan, shaking. I think he thought I'd been attacked or something because he was like, "What's wrong? What happened?" When I told him I was pregnant, he was like "WHAT!" I told him I was going to run to CVS and buy more tests and then call him back.

I drove really, really fast, ran into the store, and bought about $40 worth of pregnancy tests (because, obviously, I needed to get two different kinds, and now was not the time for off-brand). I sped home, convinced a cop was going to pull me over, and took two more tests.

All three couldn't possibly be wrong. I called Jordan back, we talked about how shocked and awed we were, and I called my mom and he called his. They both cried.

That afternoon, my pregnancy was confirmed with a blood test and Jordan and I went out to dinner to celebrate.

Two weeks later, we had an ultrasound with our infertility doctor and saw little baby Trick (we call the baby "Trick" because it was so tricky how we found out!). So tiny! He/she measured at 6 weeks 3 days.

A week later, we had another ultrasound with my OBGYN and saw baby again, who was still doing great!

Today I am 11 weeks 4 days along, and we got to have our third appointment yesterday. We didn't get to see baby, but we got to hear the heartbeat, which is going strong just like it should!

I can't even begin to tell you how blessed we feel. I honestly didn't know if we would ever be able to get pregnant, and I thought if we did, it would certainly be through IVF. This all has certainly been a lesson that I am not in control of this--my Heavenly Father is. This baby was meant to come to our family at this particular time, for whatever reason, and nothing that me or Jordan or our doctors did was going to change His timetable. 

This is certainly the most wonderful Christmas present that I have ever received. Although getting pregnant was such a struggle, full of lots of tears and hard days and sadness, I think it makes me appreciate this baby so much. I can't wait until July when I can hold little baby Trick and learn to be the mommy I want to be.

Our Christmas House Part II

Last year, Jordan and I talked a lot about putting Christmas lights up on our house, but it never happened. This year, we finally got some and put them up! We only have two weeks to enjoy them, but they are still fun! Jordan did such a great job putting them up. He's awesome!

We bought the new LED lights. They are supposed to be white but they look kind of blue-ish. They take a bit of getting used to. We both wish they were the more yellowish-white but this is all they have in Albany right now. They still look really nice though!

Next year we need to add some reindeer! :)

Our Christmas House

We got a real Christmas tree this year! Our whole house smells like Christmas and it's just wonderful. It's a really big tree, too. We got a real tree our first year we were married, but it was tiny and cheap from the grocery store.

Anyway, isn't it pretty? There's already PRESENTS under it! Gotta love presents under the tree. I'm already done shopping for Jordan. It's so nice to be done!

Lexi was also feeling festive, so I set up her own tree for her on her kennel. She only has one present. It's from my mom and I have no idea what it is--Mom wouldn't tell me. I probably should go shopping for poor Lexi.

Here's our stockings hung by the fireplace with care! I got Lexi a stocking last year in California. It doesn't match ours but I don't really care. It says, "Santa's Helper" and it's adorable.

I can't believe that Christmas is only two and a half weeks away!

An Eggcellent Surprise

I remember making lists in Young Women's growing up about what qualities I wanted in a husband. I always put down the normal stuff--you know, extremely good looking, great testimony, hard worker, blah blah blah.   But one thing that I really, really wanted in a husband was a great sense of humor. I have always loved to laugh, and Jordan certainly knows how to make me do that.

Last night I decided to boil some eggs, but by the time they were done I was already in bed and almost asleep. I asked Jordan to go mark the eggs and put them back in the carton. When I mark boiled eggs I just write "HB" on them, but not my Jordan!

This morning before work I decided to make egg salad sandwiches, so I pulled out the eggs. I saw what Jordan had done to them and I totally "cracked up."

I had boiled three eggs, and each had a special face. Of course, I didn't think of taking pictures until the last one. But what made them way more funny was the writing on the side.

The first two had said, "Eat me!" and "I'm too young to die!" I was laughing hysterically as I was making the egg salad. It was a pretty awesome start to the day.

I'm so lucky to have a husband who makes me laugh every day!

December Cline Updates

No one has been updating their blog recently, and it makes me kind of sad! What am I supposed to do when I'm all bored over here? So I thought maybe I would try to get y'all blogging by setting a good example.

Here are some of what all has been going on around here.

1. It's December 3rd and 80 degrees. Isn't that miserable? I was HOT at work today in a short sleeve shirt. And it's supposed to stay that way all week! Georgia "winters" are crazy.

2. On Saturday we got to watch our friends' daughter Brinley while Kristi went to have her baby. It was really fun. Brinley and I made waffles together and played fetch with Lexi and then took her to a friend's birthday party. Everything went well with the birth and the Brown family welcomed a gorgeous baby girl Allie Jean Saturday afternoon! We were lucky--since we had Brinley we got a "back-stage pass" to see Allie just a few hours after she was born!

3. I STILL haven't decorated for Christmas. I think it's because we haven't been able to get a tree yet. I was so busy last week (baby shower one day, then mutual, then a Relief Society meeting the next, then we watched Brinley on Saturday) that we had no time to get a tree. It almost made me wish we had a fake tree. Almost.

4. We are looking forward to visiting all the Cline family when we come at Christmas! Only 21 days until we fly out there, so we are getting super close!

5. We got to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last night, and it was wonderful! It's so great to hear those amazing men speak. I tried to make some caramel corn for our refreshment but I totally overcooked the caramel and it ended up really hard instead of chewy.

And that's about it for the Cline household. As I'm rereading my list I kind of feel like maybe the reason nobody is updating their blog is because their lives are as boring as mine. Ha ha!

California Thanksgiving 2012

Well, it's been almost a YEAR since Jordan and I had visited my home state and I sure was excited to go back there! We left the Saturday before Thanksgiving and came back the Saturday after. I suppose it was a long trip, but it felt like it went by so fast! It was so fun to see my family but sadly Matt was stayed at BYU for Thanksgiving since he's coming home for Christmas. I don't know when I will ever see him again! :(

I always try to think of things to take Jordan to do in California that he hasn't seen or done before. I don't know why--maybe I just really want him to like Cali? Anyway, this time we decided to go see the big redwood trees that are so famous.

On the long drive up there, we stopped at this pretty river. Dad always has to stop and see what the fishing situation is.

We finally made it up to the Calvaras Redwoods. This was a HUGE tree that they (sadly) cut down in the 1800s to make a dance floor. It's like 40 feet across or maybe bigger.

Here's Mom and Brett posing by the Mother and Son trees. They are two separate trees that just really love each other!

Here's me and Dad!

This is a tree that they cut the middle out of. It's still alive but just barely. Isn't that kind of sad? But since it's there, we might as well take a cute picture!

Here's the red wood of the red woods.

So huge!

Thanksgiving, of course, was the big event. Dad decided to get brave this year and smoke the turkey instead of letting Mom bake it in the oven. Since he had only ever smoked one other piece of meat ever (the week before) I think we were all a bit nervous. But it turned out absolutely delicious!

Mom and I did a lot of the cooking. I was in change of the spinach dip, the yams (thanks to an amazing recipe from my friend Kristi), and the ham glaze (which I almost ruined, but it turned out fine). Jordan made the stuffing. He's so talented! 

Grandma and Grandpa Gallacher and my Aunt Lynn were all present at Thanksgiving dinner, but I was lame and didn't take pictures! The food was all amazing and the company was great!

I had seen an idea on Pinterest that I absolutely loved and Mom was nice enough to go with me on it. I wrapped a wreath in yarn and then made "leaves" so everyone could write a few things they were thankful for on them and then pin them onto the wreath. Everyone humoured me. It was fun to see everything people wrote down!

Brett wrote "Family" and "Cats." He has a cute cat named Lancelot who is pretty nice.

The completed Thankful wreath!

My dad is silly. He wrote, "Each one of my kids, and sometimes some more than others." Don't worry, he's kidding...I think.

Friday was our horse day. It had been raining practically every night the first few days so everything was super wet so we couldn't get the horses out. So lame!

I took this cute picture of Mom and Dobba-do walking out to the barn. He is such a HUGE horse!

I am slowly turning Jordan into a horseman. He's got the basics of riding down, so this time I taught him how to lunge. He did really well! He's a natural. He just needs to work on his canter cue. You have to say it just right. "Can-TER!"

Isn't he the cutest horse you've ever seen? Pretty much every day we were at my parent's house, I would look out the window and go, "Look, Jordan! Scout's eating/sleeping/rolling/biting Dobbin. Isn't he just so cute?" Jordan thinks I'm a little crazy.

Here's me with my sweet boy. Please ignore my dad's ugly sweatshirt and the fact that I'm not wearing makeup.

Friday afternoon we hit Old Town Sacramento. It's along the river and is just basically a touristy place where  they keep all the shops looking like of like they did in the 1800s.

Here's Mom and I by an old train.

And we're not really sure about the sign, but the salt water taffy was delicious!

We finished it all up with dinner at In-and-Out Burger (my favorite!) and the next morning headed to the airport. I sure love my family and I'm grateful for everything they do for me! Can't wait to see them in the summer!

Our One-Year Agility Anniversary

One of my friends pointed out to me that I hadn't updated my blog in forever. I'm not being lazy, it's just that nothing is really going on! It's the lull between Halloween and Thanksgiving. So I was glad we had a dog trial yesterday so that I could at least post about something.

Yesterday pretty much marked me and Lexi's one-year anniversary in competing in dog agility. We returned to the same trial that was our very first last year but this time we were competing in AG-II (Intermediate) since we got our AG-I (Novice) title last March. Lexi ended up with one Q'd run and she also won first place in the class. Go Lexi!

I'm convinced that something in the ring must have smelled because she was so unfocused and just wanted to sniff the ground. Although maybe it was my fault because we probably should have been practicing more at home. Oh well. Also I informed Jordan that we need to build a pausebox because those things are the devil and Lexi cannot for the life of her figure them out.

Here's the video of our runs. They aren't the smoothest we've done but they are certainly an improvement from a year ago.



Sorry there aren't any pictures--I currently can't find my camera!

Come What May

I was driving to agility practice on Saturday morning, listening to my Moulin Rouge soundtrack, and the song "Come What May" came on. I love the lyrics in that song! This is my favorite part:

There's no mountain too high,
no river too wide.
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side!
Storm clouds may gather,
and stars may collide,
But I love you until the end of time.

Even though the Moulin Rouge story certainly doesn't paint the picture of the ideal relationship, this song certainly rings true. Love isn't perfect, and things go wrong all the time, but you lean on each other through the hard times, come what may! Gotta love it.

Plus, Jordan and I sing to each other all the time (yes, we are dorks), so I love that it says, "Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side."

Anyway. In summary: This is an awesome song, and I have an awesome husband. If you want to listen to it, here's a youtube clip.

Trunk or Treat 2012

Yesterday we had our ward Trunk or Treat. The primary put it on and they did a great job! A TON of people were there. To get ready, Jordan and I spent the day carving our pumpkins for the pumpkin carving contest. Jordan, as usual, did an amazing job!

I did a puppy pumpkin. Do you think it looks a little like Lexi?

Everyone brought a chili for the chili cook-off. I brought a butternut squash and black bean chili, but I didn't win anything. Kristi won first prize though! Way to go, Kristi!

We headed outside and decorated our trunk so the kids could come around. Pretty spooky!

Here we are giving candy to Brinley. I love seeing all the little kiddies dressed up! Don't ask me what Jordan's costume is supposed to be...I'm still not really sure.

Here's me and Jaylene! I was a witch (but my tights kept falling down! Lame) and Jaylene borrowed my tiger ears. Aren't we adorable?

Here are our pumpkins at the contest. Jordan won by a landslide! He is so super awesome. Way to go, Jordan!

The Night Circus Party

Last night Jordan and I hosted our monthly book club meeting. We read The Night Circus and really enjoyed it! The circus is completely black and white, so I suggested that everyone bring a black and white or red treat to share, and some of us dressed in black, white, and red as well. Gotta love ambiance!

I put this on our door--it's the same sign that is on the gates of the circus in the book.

Gates Open at Nightfall, Close at Dawn
Trespassers will be Exsanguinated

I decided to be fancy and decorate our food table. I think I'm still in the mood from the baby shower!

Here's the table with all the super yummy food! Jaylene and Steve brought cheese popcorn, and animal crackers with cool whip (like circus animals, get it?). I made some white punch.

Jennifer brought spiced jelly and crackers, as well as an oreo dip. So good!

I made mini chocolate pies. They weren't really black...I should have added food coloring...but they were yummy!

Elwanda brought caramel apples, since they were featured in the book. She even put darling ribbons on them! So fun.

Oh yeah, and we discussed the book too. It was fun! Everyone seemed to have a really good time! Thanks to everyone who came for making it such a success!