Graduation 2012

 He did it! Kudos to my spouse for graduating! In retrospect, I have to say that my major was never on the same level of difficulty as his. He picked a tough one, but it will pay off in the end. It already has--he starts his new job tomorrow! He did awesome.

 I didn't get a lot of pictures unfortunately, but it was your typical graduation ceremony. It was good closure to our time at BYU-Idaho and in Rexburg. We've cleared out of Rexburg and somewhat settled into my parent's house while we wait for baby girl. We've found an apartment/town home that we really like that just might be where we will be moving in a couple months.

Life without school seems like a foreign concept to us, but we are really looking forward to it. Lots of changes in our immediate future. Kind of crazy. So, graduation took place Friday (which also happened to be the first snow we have had in a long time). Saturday I went to work for the last time [sad day] and Daniel and his dad finished up cleaning up the apartment and moving everything to Idaho Falls. After work we had a delicious dinner at the Sandpiper. I think Daniel was more excited for dinner than the whole graduation ceremony.

Baby Shower

 My darling Mother and Mother-in-law and my pal Kelsey went to town on planning an adorable baby shower for me and baby Sophie. I always feel so overwhelmed when people show so much love and kindness at these types of things. The fact that it was for my unborn child made all the more emotional. I did, however, manage to not cry--although I was close.


The theme was "My Favorite Things" so Mom made all my favorite treats....
Homemade Caramels, Cocoa Bean Cupcakes, Fruit dip, and homemade Snack Mix.

 For someone so tiny, Sophie sure merits large presents. :) I received the largest packages I've ever seen. It was so fun though. A huge thank you to everyone who came and/or sent gifts. We were sufficiently spoiled and I felt enormously more prepared after this. We didn't have much to begin with.

Lara~Everyone wants to make homemade wipes now. :)
Marci and Erin~ I cannot tell you how happy I am you picked a stroller for me! I couldn't decide, so I am so pleased you did it for me. And I love it!
Dianna~The diaper genie is awesome! What a great extra convenience.
(Wish you all could have been there) :)

Kelsey E. & Alexis snatched up Carter and Ruby as soon as they could. Who could resist?

 I may have been upstaged at the party by Lara's six week old baby boy Carter and Kelsey's four week old Ruby. They were kind of the life of the party.

Marva (my mentor from my time working for Corporate Deseret Book) made it for a short while--She was in town for the opening of our new store. I was super happy she could come.

 Mom had me play her own made up game called "Fill the Diaper Bag." Kelsey asked me questions about babies {how many diapers they use a day, when they start teething, how much they sleep, etc}and if I got it right {which I didn't the majority of the time unfortunately--some of those were tough questions!} then I got to pick an item out of a basket to help fill my diaper bag. It was pretty cute. And it was fun to hear answers and suggestions from all the awesome moms that came to the party.

Lori, Nancy, Kelsey, Alexis

 One of the items for the diaper bag was a homemade book of pictures of Spencer so Sophie can get to know him. He is very concerned that she loves him when he gets back from his mission.

Grandma checking out the pictures of Spencer

 Baby girls seriously get the cutest clothes ever. I have to laugh though, because if an adult wore some of the stuff we put these babies in it would just be outrageous.

Mom and LeAnn

The amazing quilt my Mom made for Sophie (and a matching one for baby Ruby)

Everyone had a laugh looking through my baby book

Audra, Kelsey, Lara, Norma, me, Mom, Alexis, Kelsey, LeAnn

We had too much fun chatting and hanging out so we didn't get to the craft Mom had planned. She had all the fixings for making adorable headbands, but that's okay. She and I have got together a couple times and just had fun making them whenever we have time. This baby better love headbands because she will have just a few....

34 Weeks and Good News

I feel like I am starting to look more tired too....

Here we are at 34 weeks. It's finally starting to feel close...almost scary close. I prefer to just not think about it too much.

Daniel has one week left of school! And starting next Monday, he has a job! It all seemed to happen so fast. Two weeks ago he interviewed with this company Brad Hall and Associates--they are an oil brokerage type of firm (once we figure exactly what they do, we can try to explain it). He felt pretty good about the interview, but said he wouldn't be shocked either way...The following Thursday (over a week later) while we were getting ready Daniel said he had dream that he got the job. I was surprised when Daniel showed up at at my work hours later to get the car and tell me he had a second interview. Needless to say, hours after that he came back while I was still at work to tell me they offered him the job and he had accepted it.

I cannot expressed how truly amazing this blessing is. To know that the Monday after he graduates Daniel starts his career, is more than I could ask for. We have many friends and family members who are struggling to find work. It is nice to know that we don't have to stress making a major move with a teeny baby. All this waiting and not knowing what was going to happen to us after graduation has easily been one of the most stressful things I've had to deal with in a long time. I'm supremely glad its over. Now we can focus on preparing for baby. Did I mention that's only six weeks away?

Update

26 Weeks

30 Weeks

 So here we are. This week marks 33 weeks, so it's about time for another picture. I will get right on that....

Anyways, its been a stressful and exciting semester for us this fall. I've been fairly moderate as far as pregnancy symptoms go. Just increased sleepiness (which is surprising since I am a naturally sleepy person anyways) and varied appetite. Sometimes I feel like eating, sometimes not so much. Really I don't have too many complaints about being pregnant. It is just kinda awkward getting increasingly large and lately I get so winded I can hardly have a conversation with someone without getting short of breath. My emotions lately have been a little more sensitive due to lots of things outside of just being pregnant, but that it is to be expected I suppose. I was dying to have our baby here a couple weeks ago and now I am seriously freaked out about going into labor any day...Really not looking forward to that part.

Daniel is due to graduate next week! It's going to be such a relief to have our schedule back to ourselves for a few weeks before baby Sophie comes. He is trying to find work in Idaho Falls so we don't have to move right away or right after she's born, but pickings in that town are pretty slim. We are waiting to hear on a job he just interviewed for, so we shall see.

About a month ago we took a preparing for baby class at the hospital in Idaho Falls where I am planning on delivering. Really my hope from this class was just to get to know the hospital and their procedures and feel comfortable with where things are. It was a really long class though. 9-3 one Saturday. The first half of the class was kind of a waste of time. They talked about nutrition and other "no duh" type of things that I figure any pregnant woman should know. Then they took us up to one of the rooms, walked us through how the general procedures go, how they do an epidural (which I thought was pretty interesting), and after that everything they talked about back in the classroom were things I was interested in--relaxation techniques, recommendations for labor positions, C-sections (just in case), and the ins-and-outs of various stages of labor and delivery. Even though it was a long day, Daniel and I were fairly pleased with some of the info they gave us.

However, our main incentive for going was that they give you a free 4D ultrasound if you take a tour of the hospital after the class. Worth it--I think yes! After some scheduling nightmares we finally got this little profile pic of our baby girl:

This is a picture of the picture they gave us, so the quality is awesome! :)

Her arm looks freaky in this picture, but I assume that's just how the ultrasound picks up her skinny little arms. She was a little difficult to get a picture of since she is already head down and in the proper birthing position and she had her cute little arms crossed right across her face and chin. She looks like she will really like being all swaddled up. We brought my mom to this ultrasound and I think she really enjoyed being able to watch her up on the TV screen. We even had them double check she is a girl. She is pretty perfect if you ask me.

Work is getting a little too tiring for me so I have officially put in my two weeks notice. Working retail during the holidays is exhausting for anyone. Working retail during the holidays while 33+ weeks pregnant is crazy if you ask me. I sleep whenever possible, and Sundays I usually end up taking multiple naps. Not to much I am deathly afraid of working myself in labor while at work...not my ideal birth plan. It will certainly be weird leaving Deseret Book after 4.5 years. I have had a lot of wonderful training opportunities with them and it really was the best job to get me through college. I am really looking forward to moving towards staying at home and being with baby.

The next couple weeks are going to be crazy, stressful, and exhausting, but then we should  be free to relax a little for the holidays. We are really looking forward to having Erin, Jason, and their girls in Idaho Falls for Christmas so that will certainly be fun.

Well it's nine o'clock and I've had two naps today.... I think I'll go to bed now.

Kelsey's Onesie Shower

The Fruits of our Craftiness!

 My dearest friend Kelsey is having a baby next month. We never would have thought we would be having babies three months apart, but yet here we are! She is also having a little girl named Ruby Charlotte. So for her shower I threw her a onesie decorating party. I raided my mom's craft room and my mother-in-law's craft room for all the supplies, but eventually everything really came together.

 My mom came as our craft expert and assistant and made a super darling onesie. Her's looked much more professional than the rest of ours, of course.

My first pregnant picture

 I forced Kelsey to let me take a comparison shot. It's what I have to look forward to in a few months!

This is only a portion of the crew--but hey, we do good work!

Kelsey buried in her Love Sac of presents.

The Inspiration Board

The Supply Table

It all turned out pretty cute. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. I was really impressed with what they all came up with. We have so many leftover supplies I think I might be crafting onesies for everyone I know.

Baby's First Picture

Hello World!

My First Mother's Day

Some things are like clockwork. When the clock stops, it causes some apprehension, a little excitement, and even some nausea. The week before Mother's Day I found myself clutching a coupon for a pregnancy test and standing in line at Walgreens. Heck, I even bought a can of soda to chug down to ensure I could pee the requisite 5 seconds. I wasn't about to be the reason this thing wouldn't work. After we came home, I did the deed. While waiting, I threw my head into my pillow, unsure of which way I wanted this to turn out.

Moments later, our future changed. Thankfully it wasn't one of those tests with line/dash hieroglyphics. I don't think my heart could have handled waiting to decipher pregnancy code. So there we were, future parents. A crazy, but still intangible change in our lives. There were tears, hugs, and a little jumping up and down. We couldn't be happier. However, we wanted to to wait until Mother's Day to tell our families.

Three days. That's a long time to lie to your mother's face. And I imagined her reaction in every possible scenario, but her actual reaction exceeded my every expectation. The night after we found out we bought two tiny onesies that said "I have the best Grandma." We wrapped each of those in matching gift bags paired with extra positive pregnancy tests (I was far more confident in my abilities the second and third go-around.)

Daniel instigated that our mothers open their gifts before dinner on Mother's Day. I was so nervous I could have just let the moment go by without saying a word. The instant my mother recognized what she was opening a onesie she exploded in squeals of delight. I've never seen someone so happy. My dad shed a tear or two and my in-laws were equally thrilled. For the rest of dinner my mom periodically broke into a smile that forced her to laugh. She just couldn't contain it.

16 weeks later, here we are. We just found out that it's a little girl wiggling around in there. I fortunately haven't been very sick and my stomach is just starting to puff up like a balloon. Things are really good. And we can't wait for January 18th.