It's times like these...

When he's mimicking the cajun firefly on The Princess and The Frog and it turns into a bad brit with an underbite--complete with "-ello Gov-nah!",

When we're singing the jingles to Big Red, Juicy Fruit, and Doublemint gum as loudly as possible,

When I'm laughing so hard I want to barf,

That's when I remember....



I love my life.

It's a....

Well, what do you think?

Okay, you can cheat and read the top left of the picture.
Sure enough! It's a BOY!!!
The first Grandson on both sides!

Arm (and skeleton face)

Leg--Femur measuring at 18 weeks!

They also measured his belly and head and determined 17 weeks and 6 days. Tomorrow will be 18 weeks! Holy Moly!


Hand

Profile with little hand and arm. You can see his torso and knees too.

This is my favorite. You can see the detail of his face a little better.

He has all four chambers of his heart, a complete brain with all the ventricles, two kidneys, complete looking lips, and a complete spine! He's not looking like he's got any congenital defects. I also have an anterior placenta, which explains why I only feel him in my pelvis.

The new (probably temporary, you know how they move that stuff around) due date is July 27.

He makes me so excited! It's fun to now think about our little boy, not just our baby-whatever.

We're pretty settled on girl names, but haven't found any boy names we really love. What are you gonna be little dude? At least now we can start painting the nursery.

Yay for babies!

Dad's 52nd, Klondike Camp, Hotsprings, and Globetrotters

I have been a bad photojournalist lately. I bring my camera, but always neglect to pull it out. Oops.

My dad turned 52 on Saturday. We celebrated on Friday by going out to dinner. We usually take him out to Mikado, but he wanted some Thai food instead. We headed to Sawadee. It was quite delicious. One of the best Thai places in Salt Lake. I had to ask dad if he was pregnant too, he's so tenderhearted. He gets teary all the time. So sweet.

Ryan didn't come to dinner because he was at scout camp. They dug snow-ditches and one snow cave and slept the night. He was a little tentative before going, but ended up really enjoying himself. He didn't get cold, and spent the night listening to an owl hoot. It was a full moon, so I'm sure it was just glorious out there in the snow. Maybe he'll add a bit more to this if he feels like later.

When Ry returned home from camp (after pounding on the door several times and getting laughed at by the mailman--our doorbell is very quiet and I was in the basement watching some very important reality TV), we went with the OAC (Outdoor Adventure Crew--Laura and Andrew's club) (laurew? Andra? Laurdrew?) to Crystal Hot Springs up in Honeyville. Ry and I picked up Jordan on the way, poor Miquelle had a test that day. It was nice soaking in the hotpools. Though I had to keep paranoidly getting out and making sure to cool off. It's not recommended to elevate your body temperature when pregnant. Though it's related to neural tube defects and my little one should have all it's neural tube by now. If pictures pop up on facebook, I'll be sure to post them. It was a small "crew" that day, but enough people we had a good time.

Oh, I did get these nice blurry phone pictures in the car on the way back from the springs:
Woah! Didn't mean to post them so huge!

We owed Jordan and Miquelle a dinner for Jordan fixing our house, so we took them out to Olive Garden after getting back. It was quite tasty. We always have a good time with those two. It was nice to get Miquelle out, she's had a hard week with her sister suddenly passing away from a stroke. I hope we cheered her up a little! It cheered me to be with her.

Yesterday, we went to the Harlem Globetrotters. We had originally bought the tickets with Mary and Vince, but Vince caught himself a bad case of strep throat. :( Mary was unable to find someone to use the ticket, so she just came herself. It was lots of fun. I'd never been to the Globetrotters before. They sure are funny! Though I laughed the hardest at "Big G" (one of the mascots) face planting it over and over. It's just an inflatable wearable person, but it looked so hilarious to see a "person" smashing into the ground that hard!

Here, I found a video for you, but the guy we saw hit the ground 2x as hard as this one:


The basketball was lots of fun too. I think it'd be a fun show to bring school age kids to. It was fun for us big kids too.

The Globtrotters win--again!!

Baby Face

Can you see it's little profile? This is the one us silly nurses got last night. The midwife did a few more today, but we'll get lots of U/S pics on Tuesday when we go to my mom's office for fun. We might even find out the gender!

Did I say 13 Weeks?

We had mi familia over on Sunday for dinner. I was sitting next to my mom on the couch, when she reached over and started feeling my uterus.

"Are you sure you aren't having twins? You're feeling really big to me."

"What?! Don't say stuff like that to me, mom."

and the paranoia set in...

Last night I was working the night shift, one of the other nurses kept commenting on how I seemed bigger than 13 weeks. I told her what my mom had said, and next thing I know I'm laying on an empty patient bed with 5 nurses around and the unit abdominal ultrasound machine next to the bed.

We found only one baby in there-- whew!
The nurse was still commenting on how big the baby was. She kept asking if I was really sure of my due date. I thought I was sure. I mean I knew the first day of my last menstrual period, for sure.

Today I had an appointment at the midwives, and sure enough after about a millisecond of the midwife feeling my uterus and me telling both of those stories again I was back with jelly on my belly getting a view of our little nugget. Ryan was there this time, so it was really neat that he could see the baby.

Still only one baby--double whew!

But the midwife guessed I was probably closer to 17-18 weeks along. A whole month farther than previously thought! We're due end of July! No official due date yet because they have to do it by ultrasound.

Crazy! I whole month of my pregnancy gone like that!

It's funny to think that what I thought was my last "period" was probably implantation spotting. I never actually had a period before getting pregnant. Another reason why it's hard to determine a new due date.

That also means that when I thought I felt nauseous right away, it was really closer to when nausea usually shows up. That's why I've been feeling so good for 3-4 weeks now, because I've been in my second trimester for forever!!!

It's so weird, but I'm glad it's not the other way around-- that it's sooner rather than later. But I've lost a whole month of preparation I never knew about! I gotta get my butt moving. Which brings me to another thought--How the heck to you know what to get for baby? What do I need to start getting now? How do you pick things like strollers and car seats and cribs? I mean, I know all the safety requirements for picking things, but I've never had a baby before! How do I know what I want in baby gear and what will be annoying? I went into USABaby today and was totally deer in the headlights. Also, how do I save money on all that stuff? I don't have $600 to shell out on a crib. I'm still hoping for a babymoon to Glenwood Springs! Sometimes being pregnant is way too overwhelming. It's all stuff I've never really thought about before. I have no idea what I'm doing. I need to start gathering all my friends and family that have kids for advice-- long before any baby showers start happening. I've gotta stop blogging and go deep breathe before I hyperventilate.

13 weeks!

Hello second trimester!
I've already begun to feel a bagillion times better for the last couple of weeks than I have for the last couple of months. The nausea has vanished, and I have energy again! I've been enjoying getting back into my exercise routine, and actually taking care of the house again.
I feel so good I wonder if that little nugget is still in there.

The weight gain has slowed down a little, I haven't gained more than a pound since about week 9. I ought to get a move on with that I guess. I stepped on the scale for the first time on Friday and I was stunned to see that I had only gained a pound or two. I'm not even watching what I eat--I just eat normally (I'm American--I always eat more than I need to) and let myself eat things like ice cream and candy when I want it. We'll see what the midwife says on Tuesday about my weight gain.

Other second trimester developments:
-Round ligament pain. I got up from sitting the other day and doubled over again with pain in my low abdomen like I pulled a muscle. I also get shoots of pain sometimes while rolling over in bed. Then one day at work it was almost constant stabbing on both sides. Luckily it comes and goes.
-Bouncy veins. I've definitely upped my blood volume. I play with the veins in my hands and forearms a lot. I've never had such bouncy veins before. I think even I could get an IV in me. It must be nice putting IV's in pregnant ladies instead of brittle diabetics, people in shock, and old people.
-Hunger. It's not really that I'm hungry all the time, it's just that I'll eat and only a little while later feel like I could eat again. Ryan was amazed the other night when I downed a huge Tupperware of leftover "Oh Boy" and still ate a bowl of cereal, then later ate a bunch of chips.

I'm happy to be here in the 13th week. It feels good to know that my chances of miscarriage have dropped even more. It's still not setting in that we're going to be having a baby. I figure it won't until I actually give birth and then take a baby home. I'm anxious to hear the heartbeat again. My mom says we can come up to her office anytime and get an ultrasound. We've just gotta find the time!

YW handouts

I feel like posting some pictures of my YW handouts and things. It may come in handy to remember what things I've done. And I can show that I'm not totally lame and do some creative things now and then. :)

The lesson was on living the Gospel daily.
So I made "daily vitamins" with all the things we can do to live the gospel daily and stay close to our savior daily.

These are bookmarks I made for each of the girls with a quote by Marion G. Romney.

All made in part by my mom's Cricut. That thing was made for YW's.

Getting Good Use Out of the Baby Sling and Decreasing Baby's Chances of Being Allergic to Cats

He stayed for a good 10 minutes before deciding he was done being my baby.

My verdict on the sling:
-Super cute!
-I like having warm things snuggled to my belly.
-If I can get a squirming cat into this, I can totally get a baby in. A toddler even. Bonus!

Bell's Deli

There's a little deli just a few blocks from our house that Ryan and I have been meaning to go to, and finally today we did.

Most times we've passed by it's not very busy looking, so I was skeptical, but ended up really liking it!

Turns out it's owned by the cutest South Korean lady. She's super nice and runs the whole place by herself. She cooks, cashiers, and buses tables all herself. The place is very quaint, but something about it just made me happy. It's covered in wood paneling and is old looking, but clean. By the drinks there's a whole bunch of autographed pictures, not of celebrities, but of missionaries. Some of them posing with Ms. Kim or eating her giant cookies.


She had just finished a batch of cookies when we came in (smelled SOOO good), and gave me one right off the pan! Here it is in all it's half eaten glory:

The cookie was delicious! Mrs. Field's-esc.

(This photo app is so funny. If you center what you're taking a picture of in the view finder it's never really centered in the picture, and there's always more in the picture than there is in the view finder. I like it, It's a mystery how my pictures will really turn out.)

We got burgers (it does say they have the best burger in Utah above the front door after all), and they were really good! They tasted just like summer time fresh off the grill burgers. I really liked the fries. They're just like my dad makes them--fresh cut up potatoes deep fried. Ryan didn't like them until I salted them for him. And she has fry sauce! Bonus!


I decided we could go back. I like being loyal to little local places like that. Especially when the owner/operator is so stinking cute and friendly! Didn't get her picture though... :(

12 Week Bump

On Sunday, the dress I was wearing really made me have a baby bump. It pulls pretty tight across my hips and emphasizes the belly region even when I'm not with child. (yeah, it's a great feature.) So I had Ryan take a picture.

I had a little fun with Picnik and this photo.

From this picture I have learned that my camera totally sucks at taking indoor pictures (well, more I was reminded how much it sucks). And I am going to be taking the "official" baby belly pictures outside from here on out. I "turn" to the next week on the weekend, so I should always be able to get Ryan to take them for me. Next week starts them at *gasp!* 13 weeks! Can't believe it's the second trimester already!

Giardia is 23!

We went for our annual dinner at Spaghetti Factory for Jordan's birthday. He only goes there once a year and always on his birthday. It was lots of fun chatting with the fam, while stuffing our faces with pasta. Have I mentioned what a blessing it is to be friends with your family? I have? Oh. Well for good measure: It's so nice having all my best friends be my family!

Here's Jordan blowing the candle out on his spumoni. Well, preparing to blow that is. I barely got my phone out in time for any picture. So it's blurry classiness all the way.

Yay! Happy Birthday little bro!

New Fish Friends, and Old Girlfriends (not that they're old!)

After a while of cleaning and resting for the tank, we got some trial friends to see if we'd rid the tank of Ick. One is an African Algae Eater, and the other is a spotted goldfish. We've had them for well over a week now and they're doing great! And the tank stays so clean with only two fish!

We thought about naming them, we've never named our fish before. Ryan likes scooter for the goldfish. I say scooter is the Aquaman of the Muppets. (ha ha! Any Big Bang watchers our there?)

So say hello to Scooter and _____, our new fish friends. They were still acclimating in their little baggies when I took this picture.

They were out and swimming when we had a get-together at our house with my high school friends. Stacia was in town from North Dakota, so we all got together for 'ol times sake. It was a lot of fun. I miss them all so much.

I kiefed some pictures from Mara's blog:

With the men folk:

and the girls! (plus Lisa's oldest, Camry)

Good times.

The Conversation at the Midwife's Office

Midwife: "Do you want to be checked for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea?"

Me: "Uh, there's really no reason to."

Midwife: "It's part of our usual work up and I see you've never been checked before."

Me: "uh... will is cost me anything?"

Midwife: "You're insured aren't you?"

Me: "Yup. It's totally covered by insurance usually?"

Midwife: "Yeah, it won't cost you anything."

Me: "Then it makes no difference to me. I don't need it checked though."



So riddle me this Batman: I now have a bill charging me $33 for both the Gonorrhea and Chlamydia tests--each.

Next time I'll be sure to really put my foot down.

But hey, in case anyone was wondering, I don't have Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HIV, or Syphilis. Yay me!

TRX and Haircuts

Yesterday, Loufa took me to a TRX class at the Murray Rec Center where she does some of her SLCC education for personal training. When she invited me, I asked her what TRX was. She said it was hard to explain, but I should google it.

What I saw were some majorly ripped people doing insanely strong things while holding on to straps hanging from the ceiling. I watched the video, and I was like... uh, remember I'm pregnant? I can't do that stuff. Laura assured me that I'd be okay and she'd seen pregnant people in the class before. So I went for it.


It was actually really really fun! It was a good strength workout with easy to manage levels so I didn't over do it. I thought to myself, I want one of these! Then I remembered that I never succeed at working out at home, so maybe I'll have to attach it to a tree instead? :)



Yes, a beautiful palm tree on a beach.... sigh.



Today, I cut my hair. I've been letting it grow and It was just looking very not styled. I was really starting to hate it. I thought about cutting lots off, then chickened out in the end and just got a general trim.
The hair dresser always puts these alligator clips in my hair and it makes the curls on top really tall. It makes me feel silly. Of course, I cut them off in the picture. But I didn't want to post my re-try's. This one makes my skin look so nice, no?


So pretty much just my usual 'do, but a little less weighed down and much less frizzy. How does she get it to be so calm???