halfway through with the semester!

Hello Friends,
I know I don't update very often.  School and work have been very hectic for us this past month or so, but we're happy to report we're doing very well and being taken care of.  I am so happy to be past midterms, even though the projects and papers aren't slowing down at all yet.  I somehow managed 6 a's and 1 a minus, and kevin pulled a's and one b.  we'll see if we can maintain that through the following month and 10 days we have left til the 22nd of july!! We can't wait for that day- out of school til January and on our way to spend some time with my family.  It will be so great.  We are also getting more excited for our little boy to come.  At 25 weeks he was measuring at 27.5 weeks, so they said he may come a little early, but its obviously impossible to know for sure.  My official due date is September 14th- just three months away!  And I keep motivating myself by remembering I only have 9 classes after he's here til I earn my BA in Music.  How's that for a miracle.  Me with a music degree..ha.  Really I'm nowhere skilled enough for that, but we do what we can right?  One more week til the third trimester, then I guess the "i think my spine is going to break in half" feeling will be acceptable.  I don't have any recent baby bump pictures, but here is one from just before 24 weeks:

almost 24 weeks here- jack with his cfa cow

jacks profile at 25 weeks

Well, what else is going on.  Nothing.  School, work, baby stuff.  That's pretty much our life.  We went for a quick trip to utah to see Kevin's family during memorial day, which was a much needed escape from Rexburg.  Going to the Salt Lake Temple was amazingly beautiful.  We have the opportunity to teach the temple prep class right now, which has been a really good experience, so we like doing that instead of just school and work.  And I have a calling within the visiting teaching program so i've been able to work more closely with the relief society presidency, which has also been really great.
We love and miss all of you!

IT'S A.......

I'm sure all of you have heard the news by now, since I only update my blog like once a month.  But we are having a baby boy!!  We are so excited- we thought it was a boy this whole time, which made finding out so much better.  He's one special kid. I'm sure of it already.  We've decided on the name Jack for him, it means "God is gracious."  We thought we had the middle name set, but right now its not settled anymore, so I guess we'll figure that out by the time he gets here.  It amazes me how resilient little babies are.  I've had some health scares with him over the last few weeks (oh don't worry, he's been totally fine, no problem).  I've been sick as a dog on and off for the past few weeks.  I was having some really intense growing pains and cramps that we had to make sure we're contractions or anything, but the doctor confirmed he was fine- just growing fast :) 2 weeks ago he was about a pound, and he already feels heavy.  haha I know I'll take that back over the next 4 months.  Wow he's due in 4 months.  That's really not that long.  Then last night, what we thought was just "laryngitis" seemed to compound to a bad wheeze and I really felt like I was drowning.  This was the 3rd night we had dealt with this and i just kept thinking "if i could just sleep maybe i could get better!"  But alas, we ended up calling my doctor about 2 am who sent us to the emergency room.  They did a treatment to open up my lungs, diagnosed me with like three different things, etc.  And Jack?  Totally fine.  So this is why I'm updating my blog today...I'm actually home from school.  It was so nice to sleep a bit last night (even if we didn't go to bed til 430) I'm so glad we went to the hospital- I hate the panicky "I can't breathe" feeling.

Anyway- work and school are crazier than I expected this semester.  I've realized that moms are superwomen...but that means i may not be able to be as perfect at everything else.  I admit 17 credits and 12-15 hours at work and growing a baby is too much- I've finally accepted it.  Kevin's doing pretty much the same thing and spending all his homework time taking care of me with all my health problems lately.  We're trying to figure out what I can drop because I'm thinking its adding to the health stuff.  My husband is the best- he's so sensitive and patient with me, even when i get embarrassed how needy I can be.

In Rigby with a funny dog

My Cousin Ashleigh- she's 6 weeks ahead of me

baby legs

Profile

Its a boy!

this is 2 weeks ago- right at my half way point

my cousin Maci- her family surprised us with a visit and stayed a night :)

our drum line last semester

proving i can still drum...i was a lot smaller here though.

To Watch Our Incredibly Active Son Click Below:

Jack Jack



looks like that's all for now!  i'll update again eventually...

New Semester Here We Come!

So...I planned to do this at the start of the week- but our "break" has been busy.  We've both been working full time (well until i went home early today...something is weird with a nerve in my back/leg, and its super hard for me to walk around, pretty painful..a lady told me the baby is probably sitting on a nerve)  I've been having a couple weird health things this week.  I felt like i was getting charlie horses all over for a couple days- it was pretty miserable.  So i drank 83 oz of water and gatorade one day...and now i think my body feels much better!  I'm 18 weeks along now, so I'm excited to start feeling more "little flutters" or kicks soon.  I think mostly i still just feel muscles stretching.  But sometimes i'm like "what was that?? what that the baby???...."  Heres a picture from just over a week ago:

This was at 17 weeks about- right after I finished my last jury of the semester- that was such a relief!!

Now we are looking forward to the end of the month- in 2 weeks we get to find out the sex of the baby!!

School starts again on Tuesday.  Im excited about some of the classes...but kind of anxious about the semester.  I'm registered for 17 credits.  Somehow we'll make it.  Somehow by the grace of God (literally, this is a miracle) I ended up with 6 As, 1 A-, and 1 B- this semester.  And Kevin got all As and Bs too.  We finish school for the year at the end of July- with 6 weeks until our baby is due to come :)  We're taking a week to be with my family in home sweet home Cheyenne Wyoming for Frontier Days- then home to make final preparations.  Kevin will (as of now) be able to work full time in the fall- so I'll be able to stay home with the baby.  Then come january I'll be taking mostly online classes (in order to graduate spring 2012) and Kevin will be working and in school.  Busy busy!!

I hope to update again soon- thanks for all your love and support everyone :)

An Ode To Strawberries

Ok so i LOVE strawberries these days.  (this is why i chose the red font) I eat them all the time.  They're what i go for in the middle of the night when i wake up starving (i always eat exactly four, then i sleep peacefully).  They're my favorite breakfast... and if i do eat cereal i make sure to incorporate them.  I go through a box in like 3 days.  But a 3 dollar box of strawberries is better than a 3 dollar hamburger right?  Also- i just have to say they make the ideal snacking food during class, and as they get better and better as the season comes in- i think the jealousy of others is also growing.  
Speaking of growing...

holy cow.  it comes out of nowhere!  Just looking at the ultra sound for 9 weeks and then 13 weeks kind of blows my mind.  I can't imagine how fast this baby is going to grow after its actually born (btw- i can stop using the pronoun it in about a month.  :) yay.  we're supposed to find out the sex at the end of april)    

9 weeks

13 weeks

With the baby growing so fast- so am I.  I noticed an actual "through the clothes" bump right before 14 weeks, and by about 15 weeks I had grown enough that people are starting to say things to me.

14 weeks

15 weeks

It doesn't look like a huge difference in the picture- but trust me- it feels like it!  The most frustrating part is outgrowing clothes.  My jeans don't button comfortably (especially sitting down).  So I blew off all my friday night projects to go to Idaho Falls after work and buy a pair of maternity jeans.  I'd tried a pair on and love the feel so much better than the belly band (see, i have no butt...so unbuttoned and too tight in the front, they still fall off in the back too much)  This shopping trip i felt completely discriminated against.  All i wanted was an ever-loving pair of jeans!  No where had them!  Most stores didn't even carry a maternity line.  and if they did the selection was super limited (meaning they don't work for my chicken legs and lack of butt) and like 60 bucks a pair.  So yes, I get to go online maternity jeans shopping and guess which ones will fit.  Lucky me.  I'm waiting on my first pair in the mail now *fingers crossed*  I just don't understand it.  It's not like this area has a lack of pregnant women.  They're missing out on some serious funding.  A special thanks to:

Motherhood, Target, Old Navy, TJ Max, Sears, JC Pennys, Ross, Wal Mart, and Mommy and Me for ruining my weekend.  Get some jeans in already!

Now that I've finished venting...

There have been some good things.  Kevin already put together a dresser, changing table,and dresser for the baby.  He was just so excited to build things (i would occasionally hear tim the tool man noises coming from the back room).  The crib will just be holding some storage until the baby comes since it's already set up and taking up room. :) Kevin wants to steal the dresser since we don't actually have a real one.  But i won't let him.  our plastic 3 drawer thing from wal mart works fine. I want the nice one to match the nursery.  And so begins the spoiling and the "kids have better stuff than you have."  fine with me :)

yes. the drum posters are still there.

We also received as gifts "baby's first drum" and "baby's first chick-fil-a cow".  Both of these I am very excited about.  We hope this kid likes drums.  It's ok if they don't...but I'm just sayin... I don't know how well they'll fit in.... :)

my baby holding our baby's first drum

drum is full of little shakers and tambourines that look like cute little bugs :)

too bad i'm still craving this amazing chicken and have to go to utah to get it.  even more too bad is that last time we were in utah i didn't get any....

Other than that... school is wrapping up for the semester.  We have the rest of this week and next week and then a week of finals.  It's pretty stressful right now.  I'm not gonna lie.  It's the month of concerts and juries and that time of year music majors are even more swamped.  We're both working full time during spring break (which sounds pretty exhausting to me...not really like a break)  But the good thing is I won't have homework after work for a week.  Maybe I'll actually make dinner or something.  I'm so excited for a new start this next semester.  This one has been really tough and overwhelming for both of us.  Our schedule was way too overbooked and we didn't know we were going to be pregnant on top of that- but next semester I'm hoping we'll find a little more balance and a little more sleep (since we planned it knowing I was going to be huge and exhausted).  Once next semester lets out we'll have about 6 weeks until the baby is due.  Then I will have 2 semesters to graduation.  Luckily I'll only have some generals and some education psychology left (which i can mostly do online so i can be home more and still nurse when i'm back to school in the winter)  I should graduate July 2012 with my BA in Music with clusters in Instrumental Music and Education and School Psychology.  That day will be so great.  Kevin still has forever left, but that's alright.

Well I have a class in a half hour and a concert tonight- so I will try to blog again soon!

  

post two! i'm doing better already!

It's been a week since the first post- but it took me that long just to get the design set up! The blog is now officially open for business.  I'm really excited to be in touch with everyone again! :)

I'm No Good At Blogging, But I'm Better At It Than Homework

Hello dearest friends and family,
Well here I am, saturday night, the night I should be finishing up all those projects due Monday morning.  Have I started them, no.  What a perfect time to start a family blog.  I got a new email address so we're starting afresh blogging as well.  Don't expect me to post too often- just when procrastination is in full force.  We're going pretty well.  I'm still getting good practice at getting up several times a night (just preparing for when the baby gets here)  Whether it's to pee for the 500th time, eat gummy bears (the perfect 3am snack) or help Kevin dig through storage to find the humidifier so we can both sleep through his cold, I'm getting plenty of practice.  To see the video from the 9 week ultra sound, click below where it says "baby's ultra sound" :)  I will be 12 weeks as of this wednesday, so not too much longer in this first trimester.  I sure hope the 2nd is a lot better like everyone says!

Baby's Ultra Sound