Big News

The time has finally come.  We're moving!  We're not just moving anywhere though, we're going to TEXAS (hey, it's a little further West)!  Wes got a great job working as the Assistant to the City Manager of Allen, TX, it's about 20 minutes Northeast of Dallas and sounds like the suburban life that we're used to (I've never been...).  It all has worked out better than we could have planned and we feel great about the opportunity, both for career and family.  

We try not to think about the friends that we're leaving here in Virginia (I get teary really easily these days) and to just look forward to this new experience.  

We hear that the most stressful things in life are new baby, big move, and new job; we just decided to do all three within a month- no big deal though, right?  BG is due on the 24th of Jan. and if all goes well, Wes will start his new job 4 weeks later.  Yikes!  Believe it or not, I've already started packing a few boxes in order to do as much before the baby as possible- it'll be crazy, we might go crazy, but I figure that one way or another, by March, we'll be in our new place.

A little disclaimer about moving to TX: We all know "those" people who hung up their state flag in the window of their dorm room, those that think that TX is the center of the universe and let everyone know about it.  I promise we WILL NOT become "those" people nor will we allow our children to become such.  So, those that were worried can rest easy.

Small Tiny Tim Christmas

Our Christmas wasn't really small, just the stuff under the tree.  We bought a new car, we're having a new baby and moving to a new place so we purposefully put little things under the tree.  I got a teeth whitener strips (Staci has already told me several times they're bad for your teeth so don't bother) and Wes got a new robe.

Wes thought long and hard about what to get me.  Christmas Eve we went to WalMart to buy candy for our mock ginger bread houses and we're about to leave and Wes says, "wait, I have to go buy you a present!"  I just laughed, my cute husband.  I don't mind, I think it's funny.  If we we weren't going to be having all of these big costly things coming up he assures me that he would have had something great (I actually think my gift is great); I think it just makes for good stories.

Wes' reaction to his robe, "I totally look like a dad."

For the baby...

Here is our most favorite gift for the baby (do you believe me that it's for the baby?). A big thanks to Ameri and "Santa" (and to Babies R Us for making coupons); we decided that the baby would rather have a great rocker than a really expensive crib, babies sleep anywhere right? Whatever the excuse, we love it.  It's taking up what little space we had left in our front room and I haven't even complained about it (don't worry, I'm complaining about a lot of other things)!

Ahhh the little things

Why do such little conveniences make us so happy? Can anyone guess what this is that makes me smile whenever I open the closet?  It's a grocery bag holder!  After 3 years of the grocery bags stuffed inside themselves on the floor of the closet and taking over everything, I made this holder.  I can't believe how easy it was (although maybe I should pretend like it wasn't so people will be impressed), a seam for a canvas tube, a little elastic and there, your life will be just a little bit easier (and a whole lot cheaper than the $20 holder from the store).

I've entered the Twilight Zone

I borrowed the first Twilight book so I could read it before I saw the movie.  Well, that was 2 weeks ago and I've just finished the 4th.  I don't know what it is about this book, it's weird, about vampires and wearwolves, yet I could not put it down.  It's been quite helpful during my many sleepless nights (because of the pregnancy, not nightmares about vampires) and I've hardly watched much tv at all.  I think about the story of them and I don't even think it's that great, but I COULDN'T STOP READING!  They're definitely addicting, I'm not really sure why.  Since I was late in getting started, I had the benefit of being able to move from one to another and not wait for another publication, so maybe that contributed to my obsession.   On a similar note, I didn't LOVE the movie.  I thought it was fine but I didn't leave really wanting to see another one right away.  I know some of you will disagree with me on this, but I didn't think Edward and Bella had any chemistry in the movie, definitely not like the book (I know you're going to defend it telling me they can't make a movie as detailed as books, but still).  I can now say I've supported a fellow BYUer, although as Wes points out, I didn't really support anything because I borrowed all the books, thanks friends!

With much reluctance... "baby" update

When even your dad says you need to send some pictures of your "big" self, I figured I should do something.  Here is a recent picture, can you believe I have 6 1/2 weeks left?  

Just an update on her, she's doing great; I'm still on "modified bed rest" but when I do what I should, I feel good.  

I've made a few more baby dresses but I'm getting bored with the same pattern so once I find another "easy" one, I'll make a few more and lay them all out.

Childbirth Class

On Saturday Wes and I went to a birth prep class at the hospital. I wasn't really sure about it to start with but I thought I would probably wonder if we didn't go- so we went. 6 hours, $150 and nothing really that I didn't know before.
To illustrate the stages of labor they had these cartoon pictures to show how you'll feel throughout; I think that this might give you an idea of how the whole day went.
They had the couples (yes, both of us) practice relaxation breathing. It was all I could do to not burst out laughing; in fact, a few times I did and tried to cover it up with a cough (similar to what we'd often do in sacrament meeting growing up). The whole time I'm wondering what I'm doing there. To close out the morning portion they went through a relaxation exercise. You know, the ones where you tense up different parts of your body and relax them, trying to be totally relaxed at the end. They had us lay on the floor... um, I'm 8 months pregnant, I'm not comfortable laying in my own bed with 8 pillows, do they think I'll be able to relax laying on the floor?? So they put on the relaxation music, the teacher got her soothing voice going and went through the steps. At the end they asked the husbands to try to do something to relax the mom, talk to them, massage our arms, whatever. Apparently the relaxation worked for Wes, I had to nudge him awake to relax me- then when he started to whisper in my ear I couldn't help but laugh and then I think we ruined it (as if it was working before).
We also had to watch videos of actual births. Yuck, no thanks. Not what I wanted to see. I'm all about the TLC "Baby Story" births. This, was not like that, nothing I needed to see (side note, what woman in her right mind would ALLOW someone to video and then show that to thousands of people?).
Anyway, the cafeteria food was good and I did ask one question about car seats so maybe it was worth it. We also got a certificate saying that we're certified to have our baby- good thing, I wouldn't want to get sent home from the hospital.

Two Games- Two Very Different Outcomes

Oakton HS is the Northern Region Champs!! They are 2 games away from State Champs. This last week was supposed to be a tight game against the only team that gave them a run for their money during regular season play, but the score was 42-0 at half time and the final score was 52-14, not much of a competition on Saturday. As fun as it was to watch, it was frigid. It's not so much the temperature that made it so cold, the wind was bitter. I wish I could have taken a picture of myself sitting in the stands- 2 hats, long sleeve shirt, fleece, coat, boots, scarf= still freezing. What's also funny is that when I woke up on Sunday I said to Wes, "I think I've got some sort of rash or something because my face is all red and it feels kind of tight and dry." Wes' response, "you got sunburned." Sunburn was the last thing I was thinking of sitting there, heck, if I would have known I could get a tan I may have taken off the layers.
The dad sitting behind me took pity on me and asked me what I was doing sitting all alone; I told him I'm a coach's wife and all of a sudden I'm the knowledgeable footballer in the section. Yep, me chatting it up with the dads around me about stats, the last game, the next game, what colleges these kids could get recruited to. Wes would have been so proud. Oh, how far I've come in only 3 short years.
The next game of the day was a lot less thrilling (between the Cougs and the red team to the north). We can just leave it at that.
I would say though, that if we could only choose one to win- I'm glad it was the HS team.

Jury Duty

Disclaimer: Super long post that admittedly, isn't that exciting.
Ok, it's our civic duty to serve jury duty, but considering my present circumstances I wasn't all too thrilled about getting my summons in the mail. I didn't really think that it was something that you could get out of and plus, there was no where on the sheet that even gave you the option of calling someone to give your excuse, however good it might be. So I show up yesterday, kind of irritated but also a little curious. I have to walk about a mile (okay, not that far) to get to the courthouse from the parking garage, which has me preoccupied at the thought of going into labor from doing my civic duty, through the metal detectors (which, by the way, are much stronger than airport ones) and find the room, 5 minutes late. There are probably 200 people in the same room, just waiting with the same juror badge that I got in the mail. The girl at the desk tells me that they'll be in in a few minutes to tell us about the day. Well, a few minutes was an hour and 15 minutes, which is actually okay with me because I have to sit and let myself recover from the marathon I feel like I just walked. We watch an orientation video that talks about how this is no fun for anyone but it's the responsibility of a good citizen, yada, yada, yada. Then the court officer (I thought they were called bailiffs but that's not what they called themselves) comes in and reads a bunch of names and tells them what room to report to. I wasn't called. This happens 3 more times and I'm not called. By this time I've been there 2 hours and thinking that I might just get away with not doing it and leaving early, but on the last one, my name was called.
Me and about 60 other potential jurors go to the courtroom and wait some more. They call 20 of us to go sit in the juror box and on the front row for the attorneys to weed us out and get it down to 12. It's actually kind of cool at this point. Then the judge tells us that this is a 2 day criminal trial and they will break for lunch at 1 and it will start again tomorrow at 9. At this point I'm thinking about the parking garage again, out for lunch, then back tomorrow, lunch tomorrow...I'll for sure go into labor! I'm trying to get up the courage to raise my hand and tell them I can't commit to 2 days. I quickly change my mind though after seeing 2 people raise their hands to tell the judge why they couldn't do it, all in front of the tons of the people in the courtroom. The judge gives not happy looks, tells them to get over it and they have to serve; I'll just take my chances.
The two attorneys ask tons of questions about our potential biases, do we know anyone involved, could we be fair, etc. I didn't object to anything, just sat and nodded. They picked out several people and asked specific questions like their job, their family, whatever, they didn't talk to me at all.
Then they got the chance to eliminate people. I got eliminated! I didn't know whether to be excited about this because it solved my parking problem, or to be a little offended! They apparently thought I wasn't impartial. Hello, rude! I'm choosing to believe it was because the trial was about a teen charged in assault of another teen and being tried as an adult and I'm a middle school teacher?? Who knows, whatever, I'm a good citizen. We got to go home about 30 minutes later. Great. $30 in the mail for me. I have to go again next Monday; part of me wants to get chosen, it's like getting picked last for kick ball- I'm good enough!

I'm Pretty Much an Accomplished Seamstress Now

I realize that you can't really see these very well but trust me, you'd be impressed (especially because you can't see them very well).  I think that all moms should know how to sew- I, however, don't know how to sew so I thought I'd need to teach myself since my motherhood time is coming in the next few months.  My mom is an awesome sewer but somehow I didn't pick up much in my formative years so I was starting from the beginning.  I found a pattern that said "Easy Sew" and I went for it.  I knew how to read the back of the pattern (I did learned that so maybe I wasn't starting from quite the beginning) and found the right fabric and "notions" (yep, I know the lingo) and it only took me 5 hours to complete this tiny little dress.  (I know that for some of you, an "Easy Sew" would be a mere 30 minute project but I was teaching myself!)  My plan to save money now is to find a little pattern I can use over and over and just buy different fabric for our BG.  This dress was the size small but I'm pretty sure it's big enough for a 1 year old; BG will have to wait I guess.  And, the elastic on the leg holes will probably be too tight but I figure I can adjust later.  I'm behind on all this stuff, but I'll catch up.  I also realize that once I actually have a kid, I probably won't be able to sit for 5 hours straight and just sew.

Cougar vs. Cougar

I put Cosmo on there because that to me is what a cougar mascot should look like.  The other two pictures are of the Oakton Cougars' mascot.  I've been trying to get a good picture of him at almost every game because I think he is so incredibly scary.  Not the kind of, "intimidate the opponent" scary, but the, "intimidate the audience" scary.  Yikes.

District Champs!

Here are 3 fuzzy pictures of Wes coaching. The first one is him yelling something, the second one is him giving a pep talk during half time (sometimes we can hear little snippets in the stands, he's usually got some inspirational message about eating an elephant one bite at a time or going out and knocking them in the teeth). The third one is of him teaching that kid next to him some stance.

Oakton's Varsity football team is about to finish the regular season 10-0, go Cougars! The freshman team isn't finished playing yet because they've had to reschedule games but while they're not undefeated, they're doing really well and Wes and the other 2 freshman coaches are doing a great job with the kids (everyone is noticing what a different feel the team has this year). They're now getting the Varsity team ready for Regional playoffs and hopefully they'll be in contention for the State Championship again (2 years ago they won). I can't believe how much time they spend, this has me rethinking my support of him ever trying to coach at a higher level (just kidding Wes, don't worry), but obviously their hard work is paying off. Good thing we couldn't go anywhere for Thanksgiving anyway because if they get through the first few rounds, they'll have practice Thanksgiving Day. I wish you all could come out and see him in action, it's like he was meant to do this, you can just tell he's loving every minute of it (even if he is shouting at the top of his lungs and vein in his neck is about to pop).

Mr. Do-It-All

Since I'm not able to go grocery shopping (or do much of anything) Wes has taken on most "household jobs," this includes all of the grocery shopping.  Yesterday I was feeling bad because our house was such a mess, we had no food and I was banned to laying on the couch by the doctor.  (Funny how relatively stupid things can get you down-messy house vs. healthy baby.)  But my great husband took the day off to get me, and the house, in order so I wouldn't go crazy staring at everything all day long.  I gave him a list of stuff we needed and he spent the whole morning going to 3 different stores (WalMart, Costco and the grocer!) and getting everything on the list (minus the ice cream because it was not on sale, which I'm really proud of him for, last time apples were on the list he spent $10 on apples at $2.80 a pound!).  He doesn't even complain.  I'm pretty sure that I would complain, I'd do it, but I'd probably complain about it, but he never does.  His days are pretty busy.  He wakes up at 5:45 to leave for work in order to get home by 3 to go to football practice.  On Thursdays and Fridays he has games so he's not home until really late and Wednesdays he has Elder's Quorum meetings and Mondays and Tuesday nights are reserved for everything else.  Somehow he still manages to keep the house, and me, put together.  I'm a lucky girl!!

I Think Wes Has a Crush on Sarah Palin

At least judging by the new glasses he picked out.  

I think glasses are super cute so his complaining about his eyes for the past year didn't bother me, secretly hoping he'd have to get some.   Hot stuff!

Seriously?

Just in case you want to purchase these, they are available on Zappos for $41. I've had a lot of time on my hands lately and I was looking for cute baby girl stuff, and look what I found. Too bad they're not available at Babies R Us, otherwise, they'd totally be on my list.

Registering

I would say that as far as first time moms I'm pretty savvy. I certainly don't know everything, but it doesn't scare me to hold a baby (you'd be surprised for how many people this is the case). So we walk into Babies R Us the other day to do some "registering" because we heard that's what you're supposed to do. They gave us a list of "must haves" (again, which I'm smart enough to know that probably 3 things on the list are really "must haves"), and we start through the store with this the little scanner gun.

Perhaps it's because we started in the pacifier department. That's right- DEPARTMENT. Isn't one pacifier the same as another (all you moms are thinking I have so much to learn, I know)? After about 3 minutes of looking at all of them and me rounding it down with, "this looks like what Jake used to have...." I finally told Wes we'll have to do some binky research and come back. If only it got better from there. Next we move to the diaper changing aisle. Of course I have had advice, everything from, "a Diaper Genie is the best thing you'll buy to...such a waste of money." I don't know. We scanned it just in case. Then we get to the swing aisle. Again, no idea, resorting to, "this one is cute..." We get to the clothing part, which since I'm having a winter baby I knew I'd need warm stuff. At least long sleeve onsies- do you register for onsies??

Suffice it to say that I'm sure we have tons of junk on the list but we get a discount on anything that is on our list after the baby is born so we went big to cover our bases. And, my confidence level has been brought down several notches after our Babies R Us experience, "savvy?" I guess not.
By the way, anyone who wants to buy us the $700 glider/ottoman, feel free.

1/2 Way!

My sisters and Kaity have been bugging me to put up a prego picture. This is the only one I have, it's from 5 weeks ago but it shows something I guess.

I'm currently 25 weeks (today!) and since I've been "off my feet" (I refuse to say "bed rest") for a week now I can say that we'll have to wait for me to get back to normal before any more pictures are taken.

By the way, I used to think, it wouldn't be that bad to have a vacation from work and a mandatory "lay on the couch all day and do nothing" order from the doctor. I'm here to tell you, it's not fun at all. The being off of work thing wouldn't be that bad if that was just it, but moving from the bed to the couch to the bed to the couch can get pretty monotonous. I've already told myself that from this point on, I will enjoy emptying the dishwasher and not complain about it at all.

Wes probably is getting sick of it too, he does do a very good job of doing whatever I ask though; maybe his job is even harder than mine.

Proud Papa

Maybe not super cute to anyone else but I snuck this picture of Wes looking at the ultrasound pictures for the hundredth time.  Some of you might say he's checking yet again that it really is a girl,  but I think he's just developing that long lasting bond with his new daughter....

The big 2-8

This is old, I know.  My birthday was more than a month ago but since I'm trying to be better about posting things I'll go back just a little bit.  With Wes' football he doesn't really have much extra time for anything and I knew that he had a game the night of my birthday so I'd be spending it cheering on the Oakton Cougars, which I was fine with.  (Despite the occasional "you're always busy on my birthday" sympathy statements.)  My aunt Nancy wrote in her birthday card to me a couple of years ago to make my own birthday because if I don't it will be disappointing (paraphrasing here) so I'd decided that this year I wasn't going to have expectations so that I wouldn't be disappointed; does anyone else feel like birthdays are not really fun because you hope that they will be extra  but since they're pretty normal (not bad) they're disappointing?  Wes surprised me with flowers at work and even emailed my teacher friend to make sure people at work said Happy Birthday.  Then on Saturday night he invited friends over for cake and ice cream, it was a surprise (well, it was supposed to be a surprise but he didn't tell one friend not to say anything and she told me).

Jessica Fillmore was nice enough to make the cake and since we didn't have any candles, Wes pulls the scented pillar candle from the counter and we make due.  

I thought it was great.

New Address

Making the switch. A few months ago Staci said that I need to make my blog cuter- "like Alyse's." I'd tried blogspot before but it is not as easy as our mac address so I quickly gave up. As most of you know, I'm not very good at keeping up on my postings and I've convinced myself that part of that is because I feel all this pressure to have each post be something meaningful- all this said, another reason to switch to blogspot is that all the posts are just in a long row and you don't have to do extra clicking-so...I can post more often because they can be really short. Does that make sense to anyone but me?