6 Years

Happy anniversary to us today!

We don't really have plans to celebrate today because we thought we'd have a newborn. So we're going to try to go out shopping and find something to commemorate the occasion. (Matching PJ's maybe? lol I have no idea what we'll buy.)



(These pics were all scanned with a crappy scanner, so I apologize for the poor quality.)

Final Appointment

No change in numbers from last week. :(

Arg.

I'm scheduled to be induced on Tuesday (my due date) if she doesn't come before then. I really wanted to go on my own, but I'm pretty much done having any hope for that.

Random Pictures

I just thought I'd share a few random pictures. It's been a while.

A perfect Sunday afternoon: playing cars with Daddy while eating a bag of chips together

I got out of bed the other morning and found them watching a movie like this. Aren't they so cute?

Pressing his nose against our glass door

My handsome boy

Thankful Thursday

1. My family is my own. This is something I've been thinking about for a while and it's really hard to explain exactly what I mean. So very basically, I'm just glad that my family is mine and I don't have to compare us to anyone else's family. We set our own standards for our kids. It doesn't matter what someone else tells me I should expect from my husband or my son because I know them like no one else does. I know this doesn't make much sense and I wish I could explain myself better, but there you go.

2. Pregnancy can't last forever. I think it's obvious why I'd be grateful for this right now.

3. An extra camera battery. That may seem dumb, but we ordered one a while ago and it just got here yesterday. I'm grateful it's in time for the birth so that we don't have to worry about a battery running dead.

4. Matchbox cars. What a nice, cheap bribe for Matty to be good at Walmart. $1 is all it takes to get a semi-peaceful shopping trip. His cars are without a doubt his favorite toys. (And you know you've got it made if he names one after you.)

5. Lisa. She was my college roommate the year Dan and I got engaged. She's always willing to talk on the phone for hours and listen to me complain. (Thanks, Lisa! I just wish we lived closer to each other.)

6. Being released. I was extended a release over a month ago as RS music chorister but it never got announced in church until this last week. I'm happy to finally feel like the burden is fully off my shoulders (even though they'd been using a sub in the interim.) It was nice that several people came up to me and told me how much they're going to miss the 5-minute music periods I did.

7. Photo Albums. I love looking through our old albums for no good reason. (I'm a very sentimental person if you didn't know that.)


What are you thankful for this week?

Today's Project

When I'm feeling well enough, I try really hard to do fun things with Matty before "Sister" gets here. (I guess I have some guilt that it will never be the two of us again.) So today we went to the library to pick out some movies then over to the craft store. We picked up some wood and made this today:


It's something I've wanted to do with him for over a year now and have just never gotten around to it. He loved getting the paint on his hands. Here's him and his dad after we hung it in his room.

Thankful Thursday

It's late and I really need to get to bed after getting almost no sleep last night, but I have yet to miss a Thankful Thursday and didn't want to start now. So here's my short list:

1. Clorox wipes. I'm stealing this one from Lisa's list. It's a great one. They make life so much easier.

2. A shared journal. Dan and I have been keeping a shared journal (you switch off who writes each night) since our 1 year anniversary. We buy a new one and start it on our anniversary every year. I've never been good at keeping a personal journal for more than a few months, but this way is great for me because I only have to write every other night. I love having it. It's great to have so much detail of our life together. I hope our kids enjoy it someday.

3. Progress again. I'm now a "tight" 3 cm according to my doctor today. I was hoping for more since I've had 2 weeks of awful contractions, but I guess it's something. One cm less to go in labor, right?

4. Popsicles. Banana and root beer flavored are my favorite. Not much else feels good on my tummy right now, so I'm really glad I have these in my freezer.

5. A caring husband. When I get sick in the middle of the night or have bad contractions or whatever, I know I can wake Dan up and he'll be there for me, even if all he can do to help is hold my hand. No complaining. He's a wonderful companion.

The Home Stretch (Mark)

It's now less than two weeks until d-day and I thought I'd just stick in an update. I went into labor with Matty on my own at 39 w 1 d, so it could be a lot sooner. As you can see, I think it's safe to say I've put on a few pounds in the last 9 months. ;) I only took ONE picture of me pregnant with Matty (at 38 weeks), so I've tried a lot harder to take them periodically this time.


Some days I really feel fine, almost normal, like I could go on being pregnant for a while still. Then I have days where I think I can't even make it through the day. Walking can be a huge pain. Bending over is ridiculous. My contractions have gotten SOOOO much worse lately and have become a real challenge. Sometimes they're regular but that never lasts more than 2 hours or so and they go back to maybe once an hour or two. It's gotten to be a real challenge to get any sleep at night. Between bathroom trips, insomnia, pain in my hips, shortness of breath, Matty waking up from nightmares, congestion (and a nosebleed last night), and contractions, you can see why sleep is almost impossible! The lack of sleep is giving me huge headaches, too. Just another bonus I guess.

I hope no one thinks I complain too much. I think these last few weeks are just really hard on one's body physically and emotionally. (My poor husband has to take a lot from me.) I have two friends who have told me things that have made me feel a lot better about having bad pregnancy days. Chelsea has said something along the lines of "Just because you wanted to be pregnant so badly, doesn't make pregnancy any easier!" That helps wash away some guilt since we have fertility issues and really DID want to get pregnant badly both times. And my old roommate Lisa has said something like, "It's okay if you get nothing done today. You're growing a baby and that's a lot of work!!" That makes me feel better about just sitting on the couch somedays while the dishes pile up and my house looks like a tornado went through it.

Just to end on a positive note, I'll add a few things I'll miss about being pregnant. :)

-I love never having to worry about sucking in my stomach.
-I love that I can get a chair anywhere I go because everyone will give it up for the pregnant lady.
-I love feeling baby kicks.
-I love that she and I share a relationship right now that no one else will ever have with her.
-I love wondering what she'll look like and be like.
-I love Matty talking to my tummy .
-I love taking her everywhere with me but never having to worry about if she's hungry or tired or why she's crying.
-I love the excitement I feel about holding her for the first time and watching Dan and Matty do the same.

Provident Living

Our stake conference was this weekend. Dan went to the priesthood leadership session Saturday afternoon and then put Matty to bed while I attended the Saturday night adult session. The whole theme of conference was provident living. We covered pretty much every topic possible on the subject. I really enjoyed it and was glad to see that we're doing pretty well but recognized things we could improve on, too. I must say that last night's adult session was actually fairly entertaining with lots of laughs (in addition to good information shared.) The funnest part of the night was when one of the Stake Presidency members was giving a powerpoint presentation in the chapel and said we were going to watch a skit from SNL and he hoped he'd be forgiven for that. He had been talking about getting out of debt at the time. Here's the skit that had us all laughing:

Thankful Thursday

1. Cereal. Sugar and milk in a bowl. What's not to like???

2. My OB. I was forced to see some stand-in doctor today and I really didn't like him. All he did was measure my tummy and listen to the heartbeat, and yet he was so rough!! I'm just glad I don't have to see him again and I get to see my regular OB next week.

3. My friend Jessica. She's watched Matty twice in the last two weeks so we could just get some ice cream or run quick errands. Matty adores her. I'm so grateful that she loves watching him.

4. Punctuality. I love it when people are somewhere when they say they will be. Lateness drives me crazy.

5. The Mountains. I love seeing the blue sky and snow-capped mountains out my window. It's just beautiful.

6. Hand sanitizer. When washing our hands isn't an option, we always have travel sanitizer. I'm sure it's saved us from an illness or two to say the least.

7. Tuna melts. Mmmmmmmm.

8. A Patio Garden. We only got a few flowers planted today. We'll get the tomatoes done another day. But I love having at least something pretty to look at outside.

So what are you thankful for?

For Aaron

This video is for Aaron from Matty. Aaron is one of Matty's cousins who lives in Georgia. He and Matty were like best friends when they came out to Utah to visit last sumer.

Happy 5th Birthday Aaron!!! We love you!

My Mother's Day

I've been reading my friends' blogs this morning about how wonderful their Mother's Day was and feeling a twinge of jealousy. Mine was almost like any other Sunday. Matty's been a total challenge lately and unfortunately he didn't take a break from that just because it was Mother's Day. I spent much of the day trying to fight him to go where we needed him to or get out of things he shouldn't be into. Dan and I are both still sick and that didn't take a break either. And what happens when everyone in the family is sick including Mom? Mom still has to take care of everyone. So it was a long, hard, normal day right down to me cleaning up after everyone before bed and quickly running a load of laundry at 10 PM so that Dan would have something to wear to work today. I did get a gift from Dan and Matty (a gift card to spend on some flowers for our patio) but Dan had to fight a screaming Matty just to get him to sign the card. Arg.

Fortunately, there were a few positives to the day. First, my little brother Brandon received the Melchezidek Priesthood, and we got to be there. He is an amazing young man and we felt privileged to be a part of things. Second, my mom loved the gift we got her. Matty picked out some flowers for her garden and then he and she planted them together. Now they have flowers that are just hers and Matty's. She loved this idea. Third, while at my parents' house Matty had a wonderful time playing outside with aunts, uncles, and his cousin Emi. They ran around and had the greatest time. It was nice to see him get out some of the energy he's had pent up since I haven't been well (not that I could run around much anyway with this bowling-ball-of-a-belly.) Eventually, Grandpa got the great idea to get out the wheelbarrow and give Matty and Emi rides around the lawn. They LOVED it! It soon became our own little Mother's Day parade in the backyard. Matty got down his parade wave and they were high-fiving the spectators. It really was hilarious to watch and the highlight of my day. There were too many cute pictures from the evening that I had to just put them into a slideshow rather than show them individually. I took over 100 pictures so it was hard to even narrow it down for a slideshow.

Thankful Thursday

I totally forgot that today was Thankful Thursday. I feel pretty miserable from that cold/sore throat thing we have here, so we'll see how many I can come up with.

1. Progress. I found out today at my 36 week appt that my contractions aren't for nothing. I'm 2 cm, 75% effaced, and she's at -1 station. The doctor said she's really engaged in my pelvis and everything's nice and ripe for delivery. He thinks I'll go much faster this time. (Matty was 17 hours of labor from start to finish.) I'm full term as of this coming Tuesday!

2. The Baby Shower. I had so much fun visiting with friends, I'm really glad we had a shower. And all the gifts have helped out so much getting things ready for our little girl to come.

3. Money. I hate spending a lot of money at one time and preparing for a baby kind of makes you do that. I'm more of a saver. But I should just be grateful that we have plenty for our needs right now and not worry so much about it.

4. Ice cream. Feels good on a sore throat.

5. Matty hugs. He likes to give random hugs. I love them.

6. Sympathy. I'm glad I have friends that I can complain to. I don't have to be happy all the time. They let me know it's okay to have a bad day and be in a bad mood and they give me nothing but sympathy. Thanks!

7. American Idol. I enjoy the show. It's a little escape and something Dan and I can watch together.

My Own Top Ten

You know you're done with being pregnant when....

10. It takes you way too long to remember any word over 2 syllables.
9. You take comfort in the pain of your swollen feet at the end of the day because you at least know they're still there.
8. You cry because your husband brought you home a cookie from work.
7. You cry because your husband didn't bring you home a cookie from work.
6. Your bedroom looks like Babies"R"Us exploded.
5. You make so many trips to the bathroom at night, a catheter is sounding like a good idea.
4. You could make a pretty accurate map of the U.S. with the stretch marks on your stomach.
3. The idea of bending over one more time to pick anything up makes you want to just sit down and give up on the day.
2. During a mood swing, you make Simon Cowell seem look like a cute, cuddly kitten.
1. You want to deck the cashier and all he did was ask how you are today.

These are the best I could come up with right now. Some are a little exaggerated . . . but just barely. ;)

So what would you add to the list?

Hanging In

Still sick here. And of course Dan and I both have sore throats now. (We're very good at sharing as a family.) This illness really is pretty mild, but when you're pregnant and wiped out already, I think everything feels worse.

I think the real reason Matty's curled up on the floor right now has more to do with his not falling asleep until past 10 PM and waking up just after 6 AM. He normally gets closer to 11-12 hours of sleep. I'm looking forward to that early nap today. :) Hopefully it's a long one for both of us. My ability to sleep at night is diminishing all the time. At least once a night I wake up and cannot go back to sleep for at least an hour. I'm so jealous of people who go to bed at night and don't wake up til morning. I've only had a handful of those nights in my lifetime.

Poor Boy

Matty had a cough yesterday that I could hear getting worse. I knew we were probably in for a sickness. Sure enough, he woke up this morning all whiney with a stuffed nose. He kept complaining that his head hurt. He has a really small fever so I gave him some Motrin. He's really not that bad, but I just thought it was cute that while I was taking these pictures of my sick boy cuddled in the glider watching cartoons, he still wanted to smile for the camera.

Baby Shower!

Thank you so much to those of you who were able to come! It means a lot to me to have the support and love of my friends and family. I had a great time visiting with friends and I hope everyone else did, too! There were about 20 of us all together, but with it an open house style shower, everyone could come and go as they needed to so it was never crowded. Our friends and family were so generous and it really helped us out a lot getting ready for this little girl.

Here are some pictures of the fun!

Enjoying the food! (I honestly didn't know I looked this big! AHH!)

The pregnant posse: Myself , Shawna, and poor overdue Bethany

Trying on baby clothes

Opening gifts and chatting
One of my friends brought her 3 youngest including her 3-week-old baby boy. Matty actually asked to hold him! He loved it! What a great big brother he's going to be!!!

Besides all these amazing gifts (the stack of clothes is really quite high!), several people contributed to our double stroller fund. We're now $125 closer to our stroller!

Thanks again to every one who came and to those of you who would have come if you could have. I'm so grateful to have good friends. :)

(Oh, and if you have a craving for sweets and you live nearby, please come get some of our leftover cake! We don't need a 10 lb baby here!)

ETA: We've now given away all the cake. Sorry if you missed out!

Thankful Thursday

And this week's winners are:

1. Our new camera. We got a Nikon D40 this week and are having so much fun playing with it. Which of course leads to fun with Photoshop, too! (I love my boy's chocolate brown eyes.)2. Matty's sweet personality. I can't even begin to express how much I love him. He is typically very well behaved. He cares about other people. He loves to have fun and make us laugh. I just couldn't ask for a better kid!

3. A husband who loves me. Even though I'm demanding, selfish, and hormonal, he not only puts up with me but actually loves me! That's craziness!

4. Kites. We all went kite flying on Saturday just outside our apartment and had a great time laughing. I love spending sweet moments like that with my little family.

5. Being close to the temple. I don't get to go as often as I'd like or should, but I'm so grateful to have one so close. In our years of marriage, we've never been further than a 45 minute drive from a temple. That's a huge blessing.

6. Good neighbors. I just learned this week that we're losing our downstairs neighbors. They've been so good to us and I hate to see them leave! (We'll miss you guys!) Every night in our prayers now we're praying for good new neighbors, ones who will put up with heavy toddler feet and hopefully don't smoke or play loud music. This will be our fourth set of downstairs neighbors, and we're on our third upstairs. Your neighbors make such a difference in an apartment!

7. Our friends coming back to Utah. We're so excited to have the Mueller family moving back from Cali sometimes soon. Their daughter Kenzie and Matty were best friends. It will be great to have them home!

8. Chocolate syrup. It just makes things better.

9. Freshly washed sheets. Love the way they smell when crawling into bed.

10. My husband's muscles. As a programmer, he really doesn't deserve the muscles he has. (You can't get those kind of muscles just typing!) They're just one of those things he was lucky to inherit from his Samoan side. I'm grateful for them, nonetheless, because they sure made it easier on me last night as we were trying to rearrange our bedroom to fit the baby's bed. I couldn't have sat back so much if he didn't have those muscles. (Plus, it's good for him to actually earn them!)

I've loved seeing how much Thankful Thursday has spread! I've found it at least 3 degrees on from me, and I'm at least 2 degrees away from the start. I enjoy reading everyone's lists!