One Big Update

I can't believe I haven't blogged in so long!
Not since my first baby appointment.
Well, my next appointment is actually next week.
It's where they're going to do the exam and check up on everything going on with me and with the baby.
I'm hoping it doesn't take too long.

So Brad and I went down to California for the week of Thanksgiving.
We originally weren't planning on going anywhere, but then I got a couple extra days off of work, so we decided to go down there since my brother was driving.
The weather was perfect and amazing the whole time.
My sister Laura and her family were also down for the whole week, so we got to spend plenty of time with Jordyn, Avery, and Peyton.
They'll all so cute and growing so fast, I can't believe it.
Makes me scared for our baby!
She's (or he's) going to grow up too fast!
We didn't do a lot while we were done there since we didn't have our own car to drive, but we were able to go to the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park with my mom, Laura and the girls.
This trip is actually the only time I took pictures the entire week. Haha.




I was hoping to put a picture of my belly in this blog (since I have seriously POPPED. Like, overnight I suddenly looked really pregnant!), but I put my SD card in my lappy and it said the card needed to be formatted and it erased my belly pics!
Oh well, I can always take more.
It's not like this bump is going away anytime soon.
I'm only 13 weeks, but I guess everyone "shows" at different times, so i'm just an early one.
Speaking of being different, my morning sickness as been progressively getting worse.
Yes, I said worse.
Then, to make me feel even less optimistic for the coming weeks, "What to Expect..." mentioned that for some women this far along, the morning sickness continues for the next couple months rather than weeks, for a very few women, this is only the beginning!
I think i'm in that lower percentile.
I've actually lost 6 pounds since my last doctors appt, but since my bump keeps getting bigger, I guess the baby is getting enough nutrients from somewhere.
All the extra fat i've been storing up for the last 20 years maybe? :)

I'll try to get a belly pic up soon.
As soon as i'm done with our Christmas cards!
I've already written our letter to send out with the cards, so those need to be printed, we need to take a Christmas picture so I can finalize our card, print those out, and then finish gathering up addresses.
I'm super excited to be doing this finally.
Growing up, I loved getting everyone pictures and cards and letters in the mail at Christmastime, seeing what family and friends that we didn't see or talk to much had been up to during the year. So fun.

Anyway, I've got a big paper to write due this Friday and then I will be done with this semester.
I only had 2 classes, and I completely gave up on one of them, but the past couple months have been too busy and stressful for school.
I will be so happy when it's over this week!

Our Little Odasso

I had my first prenatal appointment today.
Brad came along with me and we were able to see our little swimmer!
Because i'm already 11 weeks, an... invasive... ultrasound wasn't necessary, so they just squirted some gel on my belly and we looked away!
The little fetus seems to move around quite a bit and her/his little fingers are so cute!
Everything is looking good and healthy, so that alleviated a lot of my stress I think.
I'm such a hypochondriac you know.
Anyway, they didn't do an exam (draw blood, pap smear, all that jazz), so that will be in 4 weeks.
Here's a picture!
You can see it's fingers and big ole head!
I've got a video of it too, but i'm not sure how to upload it, so that might come in a later blog.
The due date is June 9th, so mark you calendars!
Haha.
I was thinking that maybe we could have the blessing around the 4th of July, so that way people will have time off work if they want to come!

Sick Days (from Blogging)

I've been such a random and sparse blogger lately.
I can never find the motivation it seems!
I was going to wait to blog until after my first baby appointment, but that's not even until tomorrow, so i'll just update a bit on how everything has been.
Then, tomorrow, I can blog about my fetus and post a picture and whatnot.

So, pregnancy is worse than I imagined!
Although, I always thought I would throw up 2-3 times a day, but I only throw up 2-3 times a week, so that part is better than I thought.
It's the feeling awful all the time that is making me miserable.
My back is constantly hurting, if pants are even a little bit tight I can't stand it, I feel tired ALL THE TIME no matter how much sleep I get, and I am hungry constantly.
At first, I only needed too eat every 2 hours, which wasn't too bad and a thing of yogurt or a few crackers usually filled me up.
Now, I feel like I need to eat every hour, if not every 40 minutes, and little snacks no longer suffice!
I haven't gained more weight than I should have though, so I guess I'm not eating too much or anything.
It just seems like I'm eating every single thing in our apartment!

Apart from all of this though, I try to put a smile on and keep my attitude up as much as possible.
Of course, i've had my days where I just sit on the couch and watch movies and mope all day, but it hasn't been too often.
Work has been a lot more stressful lately, with me feeling sick and having to chase after and entertain 2 kids all day.
I've got all next week off though, so it will be a MUCH needed break.
Brad and I are going down to California with my brother and i'm really excited to spend some time not only with my family, but in the warmth of the desert!
Plus my sister is coming down with her family, so I'll get to spend some more time with little Peyton!

Well, tomorrows blog will be much better and more interesting.
I promise.

Bear World and other updates.

Brad and I have had some exciting days the last couple weeks.
First, while I was in California at the beginning of the month, I found out that we're going to be having a baby!
I'm still only 7 1/2 weeks along, so there's no ultrasounds or even a first doctors appt yet, but i'll be sure to keep you all updated!
We're pretty excited.
I feel so blessed lately and it makes me so grateful to the Lord.
First we find out about our sweet little child, and then last Thursday, Brad got a job!
I saw a posting ont he BYUI website for an early morning custodial position on campus and I immediately told Brad about it.
He went down to the office that day, and they hired him!
A girl came in the room right after him about the job and they told her "Sorry, we just gave away the last position."
Wow!
Talk about perfect timing!
The extra income is going to relieve so much stress, and since stress is the last thing I need right now, this makes me pretty happy.
So far, the pregnancy has been a little bit more suffering than joy.
Don't get me wrong, I am SO grateful, but i've got indigestion, extreme fatigue, morning sickness, and my stomach hurts ALL THE TIME.
But, this too shall pass, right?

This last Saturday, my brother Paul invited Brad and I to go to Bear World with him and some friends!
None of us had ever been because it's so darn expensive, but it was the last weekend of the season and half price, so off we went.
It was pretty awesome.
You can drive your car through the enclosure, or take a curator tour, or even both as we did.
While we were waiting for our tour to start, we checked out the baby cubs.
They were so adorable!
This is one of the female black bears.
We then stopped by the petting zoo. There was this goat that stood by this food vendor and kept licking the inside. Brad tried to get some food out, but I couldn't hold the goat away long enough!
Brad ended up getting some of the food out, but the goat ate the rest of it right out of the dispenser!
The deers in the zoo were free to pet, but this one was hiding behind a fence, so Brad fed it through the gate.
Bear World has two of these super rare white elk. One in 60 million is born white!
This is the fattest Grizzly bear there. I forgot what his name is, but he was huge!
These cubs are about 1-2 years old and they love climbing on these things! Looks like a heart, huh? Cute!
This black bear was so funny! He came over and sat next to the tour bus and we all threw food down for him!
This arctic fox was sleeping in the same spot, in the same position, the whole time that we were there.
They had french fries shaped like bears. Pretty yummy!

California, I'm coming home

So, I flew out to my sister Laura's place in NorCal this past Thursday.
I had some time off from work for harvest and Laura was due to have a baby on the 5th, so I decided to come out for a week.
I was flying out from SLC thursday afternoon, so I made from the 4 hour drive from Rexburg around 5 in the morning.
Around 7 Idaho time, my dad sent me a text message telling me that my new niece was born.
I was pretty bummed that I missed the birth by only 6 hours, but still excited for brand new baby girl Peyton Fay!
My mom picked me up from the airport in San Jose, with my 5 year old niece Jordyn in tow, and we went straight to the hospital.
Peyton is such a cute newborn!
You know how most newborns just look kinda gross? Lol.
Anyway, since Thursday we've just been hanging out and having fun.
I went to Ikea with my mom (who's been up here since Tuesday), my brother-in-law Ben took me to Chipotle, we brought Laura and Peyton home from the hospital, we went to Gilroy Gardens (a theme park in Gilroy), and last night we went to Red Robin (apparently it's their tradition when a new baby arrives.)
It's been a fun past few days, but it only makes me miss California and my family more and more.
Brad, can we PLEASE live in California after you graduate?!?!
The only real downside is that Brad wasn't able to come with me.
He still has school, so he couldn't really just miss a week of classes.
I miss him tons, but only 4 more days until I see my lover again!


I stole the first three photos from Ben.

One month!

Yeah, it's been a month since i've blogged.
Sorry!
A few updates since my last entry:
Brad didn't get a job from either of the interviews he had.
Luckily, my employers, Bryan and Jessica, looked at their budget and said that they should be able to pay me an extra $50 a month starting in October.
If that goes through, then my ENTIRE pay for a month will be going to rent.
So... gas, insurance (health and car), and groceries...
I'm not exactly sure how these are going to get covered, but we've been paying our tithing and I've been getting some extra babysitting oppurtunities, so I have faith everything will work out.
Even if we have to move somewhere cheaper and I have to sell my plasma twice a week.
Gotta love the poor married college student phase of life.

School is going pretty good for both me and Brad.
I'm falling a little bit behind in my history class, but I've got a week off of work coming up, so hopefully I can catch up a bit.
Brad is taking a fitness class and ran 1.5 miles on Monday.
Needless to say, he was super sore for the next few days.
Poor guy.


Speaking of my week off work... :)
Schools have a few days off in Oct every year for the Potato Harvest.
So, since Bryan and Jessica are both teachers, they've got those few days off too.
I decided to take that time to fly out to CA since my oldest sister is having her baby soon (due on the 5th).
Jessica's sister is flying out to stay with them for the week so that I can have even more days off than just harvest.
It's pretty sweet, so i'll be in Sunnyvale from 1st-8th.
I'm super excited to spend some time with not only Jordyn and Avery, but my brand new nice (who has yet to be named) as well!
The only downside is that Brad won't be coming with me since he still has school. :(
Hopefully he keeps the apartment clean. Lol.

Sorry there aren't any pictures in this post.
I guess I just haven't been taking many pictures lately.
I'll try to photographically document our life better, ok?

Sorry

I know it's been a couple weeks since i've blogged, but you know what? It's been a busy couple of weeks, so I feel justified. :)
I started work as a nanny over 3 weeks ago and I can't believe it's been that long!
I don't get paid super well, but both parents are teachers, so what do you expect? I don't mind though. The kids are really fun and they let me do my laundry over there, so once Brad and I move back to University Courtyard next Tuesday, we won't have to shell out 1.50 everytime we need to do a load of laundry.

Besides nannying, Brad and I have been trying to be better in the gospel I guess you could say.
We've been working on having FHE every Monday and putting into action the things we talk about.
Our first FHE, Brad read parts of an article from the conference Ensign about temple attendance, so we decided to make an effort to go to the temple at least once a week.
Our second FHE was about the effects of video games on individuals and on families, and Brad seems to be doing better about not playing games so much.
THis past Monday we read from the Sept. issue about food storage, so we decided that everytime we grocery shop, we'll pick up a little extra for food storage.
We've also been making an effort to pray together every night.
I feel as though our lives have been a lot more blessed since we've been constantly trying to do better.
For example, Brad has two job interviews!!
Well, one of them, at Taco Bell, he had yesterday and he'll hear back on Tuesday whether he'll get the job or not. The other interview is for an on-campu job and will take place next Wednesday. Woo-hoo!
I really feel that after 9 months of unemployment, the Lord is finally blessing us with work because of the efforts we've been making.
Thank you Heavenly Father!


We went down to Utah last weekend for our niece, Riley's, 3rd birthday.
On the way down I discovered that my Aunt Kathryn was also throwing a big family pool party!
So on Saturday we went out to this Pirate themed pizza place for lunch and then went to the pool party, which was pretty awesome.
I love my family and wish I could be a little closer so that I could always attend these fun get-togethers!
On Sunday there was apparently no church because a temple was being dedicated, so we played with Riley's birthday presents and ate cupcakes and things like that.
Brad's sister Maria also drove all the way up from Albuquerque to come to the party, so not only did I get to spend time with tons of people on my side of the family, but Brad's as well.
It was a really nice weekend and i'm glad we went.

I'm sure you're tired of all my writing, so here's a few pictures. The first one is just of a picnic Brad and I went on and the rest are of me as a nanny with the kids.


I didn't want to do too many dishes when we got home, so we just ate hamburger helper and chocolate pudding out of big bowls.
Me and Kyah at the park.
She dug up an earthworm in the dirt.
And this is me holding it. Worms are so cool!
Sam and I.
Going down the slide with Kyah is pretty much Sam's favorite thing to do ever.
We built this awesome fort two days in a row and then crawled inside and watched Barbie movies.
We love to make crafts. Last Monday maybe is when we made these book holders. They're already a little ripped up and stuff, but they were super cute at first. Just some cereal boxes we cut up and covered in paper.
One day we made some country time lemonade and then I thought it would be a cute idea to use the empty bottle as a crayon holder. It was pretty late in the day and we only had about 20 minutes before Kyah's parents got home, so we made this super quickly.
Yesterday we made cardboard butterflies! There's onlt 3 in the picture, but we actually made another bigger one and then wrote each member of her familie's name on them. So the big one was Bryan, then Jessica, then Kyah, then Sam.

Yellowstone

Brad and I went with my brother Paul and his roommate Jason to Yellowstone this past Saturday!
None of us had been before, so it was quite the adventure!
We left Rexburg around noon, and it was only an hour and a half to get there, so we got to spend a good amount of time in the park.

Here's Brad and I on the drive. I didn't really think that it would be cold in Yellowstone, but it SO was! Luckily Paul had his BYUI hoodie in the back so I wore it most of the time, even though it's about 20 sizes too big for me.
It was pretty neat to see trees all fallen over all over the place! Most were from a big fire that happened a few years ago, but it was still cool.
Walking to see some little mini geysers.
This is bacteria! Gross, right?!
The Celestine pool is what this is called, I think. It was gorgeous. You could see right through the water.
I used to have this obsession with moose, and when I saw a matching pink/brown tee and cap combo with a moose on the shirt, I couldn't resist! (Sorry there's a seatbelt covering the cute moose)
This waterfall was way more pretty in person.
On our drive out of the park, we decided to stop at one of the many side trails and go on a hike in hopes of seeing some animals. Little did we know it was 3.5 miles uphill and we were all out of shape. Plus, we didn't see any animals.
Taking one of our many breaks.
There was a tiny little view of a lake, but this is the only view we had the entire hike. The rest is all just trees.
We were SUPER disappointed when we got to the top of the trail because we thought there would be something cool, or at least something to look at, but all there was was THIS! Absolutely nothing!
We passed this pond just entirely full of lily pads. It was gorgeous.
Sorry. The video of old faithful is sideways and I couldn't get it to flip up.



This is called a paint pot. All this goop just bubbles away. (Sorry it's shaky. Lot's of tourists were bugging me)


This is just some little gushing thing. It was spewing out grey stuff and looked neat.



All in all, it was super fun, although we only saw a few elk from a distance and one elk WAY up close on the side of the road, but no bison or moose or anything. :/
My brother bought an annual pass, so maybe he'll be nice enough to take us again?

This coming Saturday, maybe Lava Hot Springs? :D