Thursday, December 10, 2009

Getting Ready for Baby

Sorry, about the lack of posts... preparing for this little one consumes the majority of my time when I'm not working. I just have to say that I'm sooooo excited to meet our baby girl. I feel like I know her already, but I am so excited to see her features and kiss her tiny hands and toes.
My pregnancy has been going well. I'm still able to work, but I've cut my hours back... more time for sleep! Of course, I'm feeling somewhat uncomfortable and I encounter back pain occasionally, but I know it will all be worth it.

Over the past few months, Steve and I have been preparing by taking a hypnobirthing course. The reactions that people have when I explain this to them is pretty funny. Some think I'm a little crazy and others are quite interested. To explain hypnobirthing in a very simplistic way, a mother uses self hypnosis (deep relaxation) to naturally birth her baby. Let's just say that hypnobirthing has completely calmed my nerves about having this baby... I'm so excited and look forward to a beautiful birth!

We have been very grateful for the generosity of our family, friends, and co-workers. We've had several baby showers over the past few months and I feel very blessed by the generosity of those around us. The nursery is pretty much done except for one project that my mom and I will tackle when she comes to visit.

A physical therapist I work with has been so generous... she sold us her crib, changing table, and glider for a very affordable price... thanks Mariah!
I spent many hours working on the curtains in her room, but I think they turned out perfect. I had the lights off so you can see the butterflies when the light shines through the window.
You can never have to many diapers! I have been stocking up on diapers using coupons and other great deals for the past few months which has caused a shortage on closet space!

And my philosophy... a girl can never have too many clothes. Baby girl clothes are just too darn cute... I think I have enough baby/toddler clothes for the next 2 yrs.I was able to find this adorable blessing dress for an awesome deal... My work threw me an amazing surprise baby shower... hence no pictures because I wasn't prepared with my camera! One big surprise at the shower was this seat belt diaper bag. Steve thinks it's totally impractical, but I absolutely love it!My friends at church threw a double shower for my friend Tara and I... it was so much fun! They went to a lot of hard work and it turned out perfect.

And of course amidst all of this baby planning, we had to decorate for Christmas since we won't be heading home this year. We purchased this beautiful tree... it was so much fun to decorate.
And how could I forget... I'm sure many of you want to see a prego pic before I wrap this post up. This was taken at about 36 1/2 wks. (sorry... it's a little blurry and dark).

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

U2 concert & Halloween Pics

A few weeks ago we rocked out to U2 (and Black Eyed Peas)... little baby included. My boss at work is awesome... he got tickets for everyone at the clinic & they were amazing seats (Thanks Doug!).The baby was bouncing around in my tummy... I hope it wasn't too loud for her, but I think she enjoyed it. Steve luckily took the night off from studying and was able to join us.Our camera has a pretty good zoom, so we got some close up shots. They are a little blurry because of the lights, but I think they turned out pretty well. They had this gigantic screen that was segmented so it could stretch/grow... kind of hard to explain, but it was pretty cool.



And of course... the long awaited prego pics... or should I say "super hero" prego pics. We all dressed up as super heros at work. I wasn't quite sure on what super hero I wanted to be so I just threw this together. Everyone thought it was pretty funny... especially the emphasis on my ever growing belly. I got the name "super-prego" for the day.
And here's another at 31 weeks (without all the glitter accessories).

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Updates at last!

So, it's been a while... I guess being pregnant has caused me to become preoccupied with baby stuff, baby books, coupons, shopping, showers, etc. So here are some updates:

This past weekend I drove up to Southern Utah for our yearly family tradition: The St. George Marathon. And yes, I registered for this race only to find out a few days later that I was pregnant (unfortunately there were no refunds or deferrals).

On the drive I decided to stop and see the Hoover Dam. I had driven across this thing several times, but I thought that it was time to finally get out and take a picture... I opted to avoid the tour and wait until Steve could come along to do the whole tourist thing.Although, I had no intentions to run the entire marathon (and risk going into labor), I still wanted to participate in the race. So at mile 23 I put on my number and joined my sister Abby on her last 3 grueling miles. Abby ran her very first marathon and I am so proud of her! I knew how tough it is to run those last few miles and I'm so glad that I was able to share that experience with her. I got off the course before the last 100 yrds. and gave her a pat on the back and said, "you made it, you did it Abby!" I always say that to myself at the very end of a race, but it was an awesome experice to cheer my sister on... WAY TO GO ABBY!Here I am at 27 weeks... people are finally noticing now that I'm pregant and not just thick around the middle. My brother Isaac and sister-in-law Megan ran as well. They got married 1 week before the race! I'm sure you can imagine how much they trained for this race with all the wedding planning... not much. In the end it's about finishing. NICE JOB Megan and Isaac! Here they are about a month before the wedding... what an adorable couple :) I flew up for the wedding 2 weeks ago. Luckily the weather was beautiful and we all had a blast at the reception (which really was an awesome PARTY!). Here I am with my sisters and sister-in-law Amy. It was so much fun to see all of my siblings since we all live in different places.
Angie and I in our cute navy dresses (luckily the dress was forgiving through the middle). Dancing the night away...

While I was in Utah, my friend Emily gave me an awesome baby shower. It was so much fun to see all of my friends on my short trip. Thanks Em for such a fun shower!
As far as preparing for the baby goes, I've gone a little crazy and have hit a "nesting" phase.
I am constantly looking for deals and clipping coupons. A few weeks ago, I got an awesome deal on this crib bedding at Babies R Us. I decided to decorate her room in light pink and brown with a butterfly theme. The room itself needs some reorganizing, so stay tuned for some pictures.

One more thing I thought I would share. So, our baby girl just LOVES music. I started to play the guitar for her and she just goes wild every time in my belly. You can see her poking and dancing around through the skin on my tummy... it's sooooo fun to watch. It's such an amzing thing to see how she reacts to things. She gets really active when I shower and take warm baths. Today I was lying down and I could actually push her from one side of my belly to the other. This whole experience is quite amazing... I can hardly wait to see our baby girl!

Monday, August 31, 2009

In case you didn't hear...

We are expecting a baby GIRL!!!
We found out about 2 weeks ago, but I've been so busy that the blog was put on hold for a while. This summer has been a little crazy, but we've had so much fun. Being in the Primary presidency has kept me pretty busy. Our primary president was out of town for most of the summer which made things a little hectic, but now that summer is nearly over things should calm down. We also did some camping in Flagstaff. Steve and I then went up to Utah for about a week. It was so much fun to see our family and friends. We had 2 family baby showers while we were there... can I just say that baby girl things are sooooo cute!!!!
More pics from our adventures to come...

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Summer Fun

So, it's been a while since I've talked about what Steve and I have been up to this summer. First of all, thank you to everyone who voted for my sister Abby.... she has moved on to the semi-finals in the summer music showcase concert. In a couple of days the voting starts back up again. Please continue to vote for her so she can have the opportunity to perform.... she's made it so far already. All of your votes are appreciated :)
Well, here are some updates from the past month or so. Everything is going well with my pregnancy. Although, I don't really look pregnant, I'm sure my belly will "pop" soon. I haven't gained any weight yet, but everyone reminds me it will come soon enough and to be grateful now. I am about 18 weeks along. We find out in 2 more weeks what we are having! My guess is a boy, but we'll have to wait and see. I'm feeling a lot better than I was early on. This pic was taken today... I'm actually wearing maternity clothes for the first time... the shorts are so much more comfortable than button up shorts.
Steve recently finished his latest wood-burning. For those of you who know Steve well, you are aware of his hobby for art. His free-time this summer has allowed him to enjoy many of the things that school kept him from doing (including playing his X-Box... I think he plays excessively, but I know he won't have another break for a long time).A couple of weeks ago, my two friends Lizzie and Kendra came to visit. We had a blast even though it was extremely hot here that week. I'm so grateful that even with the hot summer temps they spent part of their summer hanging out with Steve and I. Living away from home is not always easy and it was so much fun to have some of my close friends here. Thanks again Kendra and Lizzie!

Here we are at the Phoenix Art Museum (enjoying the children's exhibit)...About a month ago Steve and I went to visit my sister and her family in North Carolina. It was so much fun to see my two nieces... I miss them already. Here we are at an incredible Italian sorbet shop... it was soooo yummy :)Kayla loves her uncle Steve...We went and visited the Biltmore mansion... this place was amazing. I've never seen a home so huge! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.The kids enjoyed the petting zoo they had there. I think they were more comfortable touching the animals than me.After spending a few days in NC. Steve and I drove down to Charleston, South Carolina. Steve served his mission here, so he was an excellent tour guide. Here we are with one of the families he baptized. They are still very active members in the church. Everything was so green here... what a change from Arizona.We went to the Slave Market museum in downtown Charleston. You learn a lot more about slavery than they teach you in a history book.Here we are visting the pier...The weekend we were there, Charleston was doing a historical celebration and there were tons of old battleships in the harbor.It was fun to see all of the cobblestone streets... it's like stepping back in time. Many of the buildings are extremely old, but cannot be torn down because they are considered historical sites. The homes in down-town Charleston are very well preserved, but others on the outskirts of down look as if they are about to collapse.We went to Market Street. This is where slaves and other goods use to be sold. Now it is an extremly crowded shopping area where people sell crafts, art, and other home-made things.There were also many old cemeteries. I thought they were really cool because they reminded me of the grave yards you see in movies. We were able to walk through a few of them. Some of the head-stones date back to the early 1700's. Little did we know, mosquitoes were attacking us during this little adventure.After spending time in Charleston, we made our way up to Myrtle Beach, SC. We stayed at the most beautiful hotel (we scored an awesome deal on Hotwire.com!)Steve enjoying the ocean waves... it always makes me nervous when he swims out really far.
So far our summer has been lots of fun. It's so nice to have Steve around especially since I can't get as much done being pregnant (working usually takes up all my energy). School starts in about a month, but we are making one more trip up to Utah before things get hectic again... I'm so excited to see family and friends!