in 8 months

I am a new mommy. So this is all very new to me. Its weird to try and think about how to explain how it feels.

when I walk up the stairs in my house to my room, I pass the soon to be nursery, I get chills. Just thinking about how in 8 months, a baby will occupy that space, is surreal.

When I am in my car and I look in the rear view mirror, its crazy to think that in 8 months there will be an infant car seat strapped in that will cause me to go 5 miles under the speed limit and scowl anyone going over.

When I look at my clean house, I realize in 8 months it probably wont be as clean.

When I plan my sunbeams lesson, I think what are we going to do when the baby comes? take it with us? get a new calling?

When I pick out a shirt to wear in the morning I think how many of my shirts are going to make it to be maternity shirts soon.

When I have nothing to do, I think about how when those moments come up in 8 months, I will have something to love and hold instead.

When Jason and I go on walks at night, I think who will push the stroller, him or I?

When I am at the grocery store I feel like I need to practice not putting items in the little seat part, because in 8 months an infant car seat will go there.

I think about doing all my craft projects and getting things ready for the nursery, but realize I need to wear a mask to spray paint and use non toxic paint.

When I eat, I wonder if what I am eating is good or bad for the baby.

When we drive past the Murray hospital I spend at least 5 minutes contemplating the delivery day and what it will be like.

When I kiss Jason good bye, I think in 8 months I will be doing this with a baby in my arms.

When we pray, in the morning, dinner and night, I think soon this will involve our baby, that we will need to teach these gospel principles to, and never waiver.

When I go to the temple, I think about if my temple dress with still fit when I am 9 months pregnant. I also think about how wonderful it is that I get to take my baby with me into the temple, for these short 8 months.

When I see my mom, I have a new found respect and admiration for how much she loves her children.

There really isn't much that I do, that doesn't involve some current or future thought about our wee one.

This is what our wee one resembles right now.

(PS. Which picture is a better graphic? I like the second one because it puts it to scale.)

The weirdest part about all of this, is when I think about the actually baby. Its there, it has a gender, a body, everything about it is decided. It is half me and half Jason. When I used to think about our kids it was a general thought about what they may or may not look like, and now its surreal because it already is decided. I have 1 child. It gets weirder by the day. :)

I was told that before you choose a baby name, you have to choose a fetus name. lol. So we call the fetus our wee one. I can't wait until our wee one gets here.

I am 5 weeks along, and have 8 months to go. But really, the countdown is by weeks. Each week I can't wait for the next week so I can google and research what the development looks like now. I have 35 weeks to go. It seems like such a short time period, but geeze its all the way into next year. This is our last Christmas to spoil ourselves. and the next Mother's Day and Father's Day, well we will be a mother and a father. :) chilling. Exciting. Perfect.

I need to make a look-forward-to-list of events to look forward to in order to not go crazy!

my next even is camping, we leave on 8/7 and come back 8/14 at which time I will be starting my 8th week. (wow that seems so quick!)

Next it would be our anniversary, 10/18 which is 79 days away, at which time I will be 17 weeks.

ugh this is too much, I am done. :) I will start again when we get to Halloween. lol

Thoughts comments concerns?

I love blogging.

I love that I get to stay updated on your lives without seaming nosey or having any awkward interactions at wal-mart where I see you and dont know if I should just wave or stop and chat.

But, I do find some blogs/bloggers annoying.

When they consistently post about the same thing, just in a different way.

(this does not include those blogging about kids, because obviously once the baby comes out its a lot more entertaining and cute to listen to :) )

Which is why I created my fitness blog, so I didn't annoy my regular readers who just want to know about my life, with just one topic.

Which has brought me to my question.

Should I create a separate blog for my pregnancy?

I mean, once I have the baby obviously I would post about that here, but are people/you REALLY all that interested in my pregnancy?

I mean great, I am pregnant, but do you really want to know the details?

If you don't, please tell me. I shall not be offended.

and if you do, please tell me. :)

Because really, as of now, I could post about this experience everyday.

and that might not be exciting to the 2 readers I have.

pregnancy update

I am due April 7, 2011.

it seems far away, I know. I will explain.

late June I had a positive pregnancy test.

then early July I started bleeding.

My Dr. thinks that I had an early miscarriage, or a chemical pregnancy.

and then got pregnant, again, in July.

so, I was pregnant for about 6 weeks, then not pregnant for 2 weeks, then pregnant again and am now about 4-5 weeks along in the second one.

make sense?

so I should have been about 8-10 weeks along right now, but I guess my body started it over...

so I am 4 weeks almost 5. :)

So the ultra sound today showed nothing, because its too early.

The reason I even had an ultra sound scheduled was to check up on a cyst that I had on an ovary.

that cyst is completely gone, so they think it was an ovulation cyst, that burst, and released an egg, that then got fertilized etc.

So, its still really early in my pregnancy, but all signs point to it going great.

testing, 1, 2.

So I go to the OBGYN for an ultra sound today.

its the first time I am seeing a doctor since taking a home pregnancy test.

and yesterday I was so nervous that maybe I read the test wrong or something, that I went in to my regular doctor and had a blood test done.

Still prego. :)

Goals/pregnancy story/plans/pictures! wowza

So, I have some goals that I am going to try and achieve whilst being with child.

Feel free to send my supportive encouraging comments through out the duration of my lovely 9 months.

1. To not gain more than 25 lbs. during my pregnancy. That is the middle acceptable amount of weight for a woman to gain during pregnancy. I am hoping because I am so tall, I won't gain that much anyway.

2. To continue working out at least 3 times a week, for as long as I can, preferably up until 8 months. Not necessarily vigorous working out like normal, but light cardio, pilates and yoga etc.

3. Not drink any caffeine. This is fairly easy, but something I want to write down as a goal to make sure I hold myself accountable.

4. Tough one, to not drink carbonation. The more you expose you child to something in the womb, the more they want it as a human. So, no soda! I went almost a year without soda and then when I lost all my weight I started drinking it lightly again. But alas, the road as come to an end.

5. To have the nursery completely done within 1 month of finding out the sex. Cause I am THAT excited about it. :)

6. To not raise my voice or harbor negative feelings while my fetus is occupying my insides. They can hear it, and it affects them. I don't yell a lot anything, but I have been known to get emotional. :)

7. to not eat any fast food, and minimal eating out. I hate most fast food. the only thing I can really stomach is an Arbys regular plain roast beef sandwich. but honestly, I don't need the calories, and there is little to no nutrition for the baby in it. Jason LOVES to eat out, often, but I just can't handle feeding my fetus that much junk. I am sure I will start being a regular of the salad menu.

8. To not complain, about anything. Obviously pregnancy is hard, but its a lot harder the more you keep telling yourself and everyone else how miserable you are. You gotta fake it til you make it. I won't lie to anyone if they ask me about specifics, but I am not going to just start complaining about how tired I am, or how sick I have been, or how fat my feet are. its not needed.

9. To regularly document the pregnancy, at least weekly, preferably daily. I want to remember every little thing. Pictures every month. :D

10. To not buy any maternity clothes, except for pants. I have sooo many shirts that can be maternity clothes, because I used to be fat, and because a lot of styles not are big baggy type shirts. plus I think most maternity clothes are ugly, no matter how hard the makers try.

11. to not take any medications while pregnant, and heres the kicker, during labor. Yes I know, I am sure 90% of you think thats crazy, but I think its natural and what my body is made for. my ancestors did without and epidural, surely I can. I understand there might be complications or an emergency and obviously will do the best thing for the baby, but those aside, no medication.

I am excited for this pregnancy.

here are some details for you. and for my documenting goal. ;-)

How we found out.

Jason and I had been trying to get pregnant since a little after we bought the house. That was our goal, to buy a house then have kids. so we tried the first month, didnt get prego, the second month came and went and the third month I started getting frustrated, I mean, 14 girls get pregnant faster than this. talked to a few friends who all said it usually takes a few months. sigh. so at 5 months I went 42 without a period. Took a test and it was positive! Finally. :) now to spread the word. I know Jason should have been the first to find out, but I needed a good idea on how to tell him! So I called 2 of my BFF's and told them. Jason was at work. I raced around town trying to find a baby Jazz jersey. Stupid Jazz, since they are in the midst of changing their uniforms, there weren't any. So I settled for a Baby Jazz T-shirt. Wrapped it up, and taped the pregnancy test to to the tag. I got baby decorated plates, hats and other celebration party items. Made dinner, and when he came through the door I gave him the gift, he opened it, looked at me and in a soft excited/nervous voice said,"You're pregnant." we hugged, ate, then prepared to tell our parents. Yes, I am that impatient.

I quickly threw together some of our old childhood pictures of us with our parents and a little message at the end. :)

We raced to his parents house, played the video, chatted for 20 minutes, then raced to my parents house to play the video for them. His parents have 4 grandkids already, so it wasnt nearly as exciting as telling my parents. Its their first, and boy were they excited. They couldn't get it to soak in that they were going to be grandparents. Old farts.

I am very excited to be pregnant right now because these good friends of ours are also pregnant. Jason and Ben served a mission together, and Ben has the cutest wife that is going to be a great matching pregnancy friend. I figure she is about 2 months ahead of me, so I will get a nice snapshot of things to come for me.

One thing is a bummer though. My little sister Hollie from this post will be going on a mission and will most likely be gone by the time the baby comes. Its the first baby in the family, so it won't be the same without her there, but boy am I proud of her for serving the lord like I wish I would have.

I am the first grandchild on my moms side to have a baby, but the third on my dads side. I went to a family party a couple weeks ago where my 2 cousins were who have had babies and it was so nice to here their advice and have them offer help, hand me downs, advice, etc. I love it. Odekirk's Rule.

Names!

We have the girl name picked out. Piper Ann. I am pretty firm about it so I highly doubt it will be changing. We aren't set on any boy names although we have tossed a few around, Dallas, Austin and Houston. Find a similarity? ;) Jason served his mission in Texas.

What gender are we hoping for?

Well, I hate to jinx things, but technically speaking the gender is already decided, right?

I want a girl. Jason wants a boy, but thinks it's a girl.

Obviously we will be thrilled with either, or both! ;)

Due Date?

Well, there isnt an official due date based off an ultrasound yet, but the doctor who did the blood test said the due date is around April 7, 2011. I am hoping its sooner than that, because that seems awful far away, but for now, thats what it is.

so I feel like this post is way too long, therefore I must end it.

:)

I will leave you with the first of 9 pregnancy pictures. July 2010. :)

oops...

I forgot to mention, and in case you haven't figured it out, I am Pregant. :)

I figure I am due the end of March or begining of April.

We are extremely excited. Our families are way excited also. :)

I am sure I will blog more about it later.

Tomorrow.

I am excited for the nursery, and let me tell you why.

if I could describe the nursery in 2 words it would be heirloom, and heritage.

Tomorrow I get to go to my Grandmas house and go through all her old baby items. From her mom, and her moms mom, etc. to contribute an emotional connection to the decor in the nursery, instead of just stuff.

I am excited to go through it, and hear the stories of family members I never knew.

It will be fun.

Never thought I would be interested in genealogy.

:)

I may post pics later. :)

My so-far marital advice

So I have almost been married 2 years.

wowza.

I feel, again, that makes me entitled to give marriage advice.

1. Never try to use the words," But it was on SALE!" as an excuse for why you bought something. They will respond with,"Honey, there are always sales, we don't need it."

2. When you have made a purchases, or purchases, never try to explain away your reasons for why you got it. They will not understand. So instead claim a disorder, a shopping disorder, say that you are very sorry and that it won't happen again, and perhaps tear up. They will then feel bad and most likely let you keep said item.

3. They will never clean the toilet. Even though they are the ones that can't keep the pee in the bowl, they feel that because they are the only ones that see under the seat, they are the ones who will care if its dirty, and since they dont care, they won't clean it.

4. If they have been working hard all summer to get the yard looking green and luscious, and you don't comment on it at least once a week, you will be in the dog house.

5. They will never understand why you collect frames. You bring home a new frame, he will immediately ask what is wrong with the 10 other frames you have down stairs. No matter what you say, he won't understand, so just explain that it was 1$ at the DI and it is a quarter of the price of the big mac he is eating.

6. Do not, under any circumstances try to explain what you are trying to do with a craft/project. They do not have the vision. They will ask questions like,"Why would you do that?" and," Won't that look funny?" As the project progresses he will see the beauty, but until then, tell him to go away.

7. When he is watching sports, and is complaining about the refs and their bad calls, do not try to be the voice of reason by saying things like,"Honey he is doing his best." or,"Honey but that was a foul." This will only bring evil into the house.

8. The TV, no matter the room, will now always take precedent as far as decor. Do not try to put a plant, lamp, christmas tree etc anywhere near the TV, for if you sit at a 90 degree angle from the TV you run the risk of blocking the bottom left corner of the TV, which is not acceptable.

9. If he sees a "dent" or "scratch" on his car, do not try and tell him it is not there, EVEN if it really is not there. He has it in his mind, let him say a few choose words, have attitude for 15 minutes and then let it roll off.

10. he will always want to get the generic brand. It is his wallet talking, even when it comes to pregnancy tests, he wants Equate instead of Clear Blue. Stand your ground here.

11.When women are depressed, they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. It's a whole different way of thinking. Explain that our way is much more practical.

12. When in a disagreement never say these phrases," You never listen to me", "thats stupid" or "I told you so." He will always counter with," well you never listen to me either", "its not stupid" and "no you didnt." It gets no where.

13. If you want something, feed him. When men are hungry, they get cranky and irritable. A hungry husband is less likely to agree to any requests or demands. If you need to discuss something serious, or if you want him to do something for you, check his appetite first.

14. When you need an unpleasant job done around the house don't ask your husband to do it. Instead, attempt the job yourself, do it badly and let him show you the "right" way to do it. He gets to be the hero, and you get to go relax.

15. Whenever you are deciding who has it worse, you or him, always play the," I have to give birth" card. Works every time.

more decor.

I decided to do some more home decor today. and to finish a project that is long over due.

like 2 months ago I got this sweet little side table from the DI for 15$.

I of course forgot to take a before picture, cause I suck, but its pretty easy to imagine. It was a yucky laminate wood.

I needed it for this empty sort of awkward spot.

(I have the cute kitties)

I tried spray painting it, but didnt sand it. Then realized, there is a reason people sand things. So thats when the project got put on hold, because I hate sanding. So today I sanded, and finished it.

Ta-da!

I got the sweet red lamp from the DI also, for 3$. eeks. I was so excited about it. Actually everything on that table came from the DI minus the lamp shade.

I want to have religious things in my house, but I don't like the typical things, glass little temples, pictures of christ etc. So this is one way I display my religiousness.

I quite enjoy this new little part to my downstairs living room. :)

Be glad...

It's rare that I post about religious things.

not because I am ashamed, or shy, but I feel its a pretty private thing.

but allow me to share today some things I learned.

First of all, I belong to this church.

Today I went to said church.

Alright, this story needs some back ground.

If you will remember from here, I really adore my young women. And yes, they are still MY young women. They always will be.

I know I was meant to be in their lives.

When I moved from Sugarhouse to Woods Cross, it was bitter sweet, and the only reason it was bitter, was it meant leaving these girls. I knew that calling was from God, and that I was meant to be there for them, and for me.

Fast forward to now, my husband and I were called to teach primary, Sunbeams.

sigh. I love children. and the first week it was great, the second week was ok, and then the 3rd week came.

There was something in me, that just didn't think this was really my calling. It just didn't feel right.

Since we are in primary, we have to be there for sharing time, and class time, which means no Relief Society/Priesthood, or Sunday School.

I felt deprived of spiritual nourishment that I so desperately needed. I felt like each Sunday I showed up just to babysit.

I felt a little slided.

We decided to go talk to the bishop, to tell him our concerns and suggest an alternative solution. To call another set of teachers and alternate weeks so that we could have the chance to attend relief society and priesthood.

We met with the bishop, and by the time the meeting was over my heart had changed, and I was humbled.

I realized, I was so lost that I wasn't getting my spiritual enlightenment on Sunday's that I had relied on, since I was going to Primary all day. But I learned something, I heard something, tell me that the reason the lord has called us to primary, the reason the lord has taken our spiritual enlightenment away by the means of relief society and priesthood, was because he needed us to learn to provide it for ourselves, during the week.

Ashamed to say, we have gotten in a habit of depending on Sundays for guidance and revelation, and haven't been very active in living it through out the week.

I have to admit, half way through the meeting I stopped listening to the bishop, because I was too busy listening to the overwhelming whisperings of the spirit.

Jason and I will plan our lessons ahead of time, together, and then after we will read the lessons for relief society and priesthood.

I was humbled today, I thought I knew exactly what the problem was, and the solution.

I knew nothing.

I know now.

I thought primary was the calling that all newlyweds have to suffer through, and I didn't think it was fair.

I learned, through the spirit, that is not the case. We need this calling, at this time, for many reasons, and I couldn't be more happy about it.

After our meeting we were set apart, and it couldn't have been any more of a confirmation that this was where I was needed.

I love my primary kids. I really truly do. They are the sweetest things, so well behaved, and have the most innocent and sincere testimonies around.

I love the gospel, and I love the moments where I am humbled. I need it. I am grateful for this calling, and for a bishop that was inspired to trust me with Heavenly Father's most precious children.

:)

To leave you with just how adorable my kids are, a couple weeks ago I asked them why we have parents. Little Shelby, age 4, replied,"I have a daddy so that when Mommy goes to the store, there is someone to watch me."

Oh how sweet their spirits are.