Monday, January 27, 2014

HELLO! I find out I'm having a boy and I don't even blog about it?!

Yeah, I'm just about as flabbergasted as you are.. Except probably more so because you probably couldn't care less about what I blog about since it seems to happen once every blue moon. And it's not your blog or life.

But really, how do you have the most important/exciting ultrasound of your first pregnancy and then not say anything about it?! Well, here it goes.

Our official announcement of the pregnancy
Not knowing what I was going to have was sucking the patience out of me like a patience-sucking-dementor. In other words, it was awful. Everyday it seemed so ridiculous that I didn't know, that I actually started getting mad. It didn't help that I was planning for like a month and a half to find out on my sister Kaylee's birthday, only to find out that I wasn't going to be 20 weeks until the following week. So we rescheduled the appointment for the 14th, Cody's dad's birthday, and one extra week just about did me in.

Finally, it was the 13th, and I told Cody before we went to bed that the next day we would FINALLY know if we were having a boy or a girl.. and I told him to stay busy the following day so that he wouldn't go crazy, and I followed the same advice. So I get to work around 8, and get a call from them at about 8:20. They usually call the day before to confirm the appointment, and I had that call the day before, so I was wondering what they were calling for. Oh, yeah. They just wanted to tell me that they didn't have a technician scheduled for the whole afternoon, so having my appointment at my already scheduled time of 2:00 wasn't going to happen.

His adorable, tiny little profile!
Que jaw dropping to the floor, me almost in tears of fury and sadness. I'm finding out the gender of my baby, and have waited for this day for YEARS, and you're just going to tell me that I can't have my ultrasound done? She offered a 10:00 ultrasound, but being the Teacher now, I couldn't just up and leave my preschool class! I asked her if I could call my boss and give her a call back, and she said no. NO! She said she was going to call a few other ladies after we got off the phone and wouldn't be able to hold the appointment time. And then she said this, in such a happy, delightful tone, "We could also just schedule you a time this Saturday to come in!" Right away I responded with, "No, I've been waiting for this day for months, I'll just take the 10:00 appointment and hope I can make it."

I understand people calling in sick, and I realize that it takes some dang special skills to be able to read an ultrasound so you can't just put anyone in the job, but don't you have back-ups for situations like this? So I'm frantically calling my boss, calling Cody, talking to my boss again, and then calling Cody to tell him to cancel his plans because I was coming to pick him up in less than an hour.

Blue for boy, pink for girl. Obviously. I highly suggest announcing the gender by using food you love. Because then you get to celebrate the happy news, AND eat your favorite foods! 'Twas quite the delicious announcement!
We had planned to go after I got off work, and when we found out, we'd go up to my in-laws to tell Brian (since it was his birthday present to know first). Luckily, we already made the rice krispie treats that we were using to announce the gender the night before! After I was upset about them throwing off my whole day, I got really excited. I was able to find out 4 hours earlier!! They told me I needed to have a full bladder for the ultrasound, so I drank two whole water bottles... BAD IDEA! I had to pee so bad that it physically hurt to walk. I was convinced that I was going to pee on the exam table.

So we went into the room, and she was asking if we knew the gender, and if we wanted to find out today. Then she started looking in my belly with that fascinating machine, checking off her list of "must-see" body parts. Luckily, everything was there that she was looking for, and it was looking good! She got to the bottom part of the baby and said, "Oh! Here's the gender! This right here (pointing her mouse at the screen) is the umbilical cord, and this (moving the mouse to the right) is NOT the umbilical cord!

This is just his foot, although I thought about embarrassing him before he even comes out.. 


I already told you that I wanted a girl and I thought it was going to be a girl, but I could not have been more happy in that moment.. scratch that, I got happier. I looked to my left where Cody was sitting in a chair watching, and he had the biggest, most sincere smile on his face that I had ever seen. He was almost doing a "grinch-smile", you know, ear-to-ear.. That just about melted my heart. Cody wanted a boy so badly, and kept talking about all the things he'd do with him if we had a son. And all of those dreams are going to come true. The rest of the ultrasound was good, they printed pictures and then gave us a DVD of the whole thing! I had no idea they did that, but they recorded his heartbeat in there so I can hear that whenever I want!

Kaylee had asked that morning when we were going to find out, and I told her we were just about to go  in. She told me to tell her the second we found out, but since it was Brian's birthday and it was his birthday present to know first, I told her she'd have to wait. But my goodness, she has impeccable timing! Not more than 2 minutes after we left the exam room, she text me saying, "Okay you should know now!! Tell us!!" (She just did that same thing this weekend with a package she sent.. She text me two minutes after it arrived at my doorstep!)

Cody and I have a name picked out, but I'm scared to put it on here.. for some reason that I do not know. We've already told a few people, and it's not a weird name, or a super uncommon name, I just.. I don't know. Maybe I'll say it on the interwebs at some point before he's born, but also maybe not. We love it though, so that's all that matters. Also, this is insanely true!


And also, you don't realize how many friends you have until that time either! So many times we'd come up with a name, and then remember that it was a friend's name, a friend's husband's name, or a friend's kid's name. We kept (jokingly) saying, "Gosh! Why do we have to have so many friends!"

We told Brian first, and had to wait 15 minutes to tell anyone else (his rules for his birthday present), and then we sent out a text to mine and Cody's families. Most of our family thought it was going to be a  girl, so I think they were all pretty shocked! Also, I learned that starting a group conversation with my family is hilarious, and I love them. We wanted to announce it to everyone else in a fun way, so we decided to cut up a bunch of blue things and blow up blue balloons and put them in a box. Then Cody hung it in a tree in our front yard, and we took pictures as we pulled the strings. It was magical and perfect, and I am so excited to have a boy.



Knowing the gender makes everything more real. I mean, growing a human is pretty real, and feeling the kicks are awesome, but now that we know it's a boy means that we can call him by his name, say "he" or "him" instead of "it". We can also picture things to do with him, how we'll dress him, and cry during the country songs about little boys and their dads.

My baby boy is growing in my body. Our miraculous bodies created a living something out of two little nothings. I can wait for him to come now because I know he's not ready to come out yet, but it's going to be a long, difficult wait!



His favorite activity this week is kicking my bladder, which, hello, doesn't that sound really fun? I'd do it too. I'm loving that his kicks are continuously getting stronger, and... drum roll....

CODY FELT HIM KICK YESTERDAY! We were driving home from his parents house and I told him to pull over right away. After he had a heart attack thinking of all the possible things that could be going wrong (which I kind of prefaced the "pull over" with my hand on my belly saying, "WOAH!"), he put his hand on my belly and felt a tiny kick, and then a big kick. Now that Cody can fell him, our excitement level is through the roof on top of our roof.

I love you little boy!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Round ligament pain

Ever heard of it? Well, it stinkin hurts! The round ligament attaches your womb to your groin, where your legs to connect with your pelvis. Since my uterus is growing really quickly, it's stretching that ligament and making it much easier to strain, like a rubber band snapping. So something as simple as a cough, sneeze, or standing up too quickly can cause a shooting pain on my right side down there. And ouch!

On a happier note, I've been feeling baby move a lot lately! It started a few weeks ago and I wasn't sure if it was legit, but now that I'm feeling it on a regular basis, I know I was feeling it! I would describe it as tiny tapping on my insides, like baby's playing an imaginary piano. It is the most wonderful feeling (: I usually feel it the most when I'm laying or sitting down, all throughout the day.

Here's the picture that I took last week.. I've been taking pictures every other week because you can't see much of a difference week to week in the pictures. I also don't feel like the pictures that I take of me actually look like me, haha. I feel bigger, and I look bigger in real life, and Cody thinks so too. But, whatever. Here's the 19 week shot. We might take another one this week, but we'll see.


I'm proud to say that I'm no longer taking as frequent of potty breaks anymore, but maybe that's because I'm not drinking enough water. If that's the case, I'm not so proud of that anymore.

Super news: baby has now been growing for 5 months! Congratulations, little soy bean! 5 months is a heck of a long time to be in a uterus! But feel free to stay in there for a few more months and keep growing real strong, okay?

We find out if baby is a boy or girl in three days!!!!!!! I still have no idea what the outcome will be, but I'm finally at the point where I'm super excited for either one! (Confession: I wanted a girl so badly for a little while, that when I thought about it being a boy I got really sad. How awful, right?! But, as I said, that feeling is completely gone now. If it's a boy, FREAK YEAH!! And if it's a girl, FREAK YEAH!) Any suggestions on how to announce it? Should I get all fancy or just type it out?

Cody and I have been trying to keep ourselves busy so we can stop thinking about January 14th, or most other baby related things because it feels like that day is never going to come! Cody keeps saying that it feels like I've been pregnant for 2 years already. I guess that's what you get when you find out at 4 weeks and 2 days. But we're both reading books to fill our spare time! He actually stayed up until 2am last night to keep reading, while I on the other hand, went to bed at midnight after our friends left.

Dexter is being even cuter than he ever has been. I'm really grateful that we've had him this past year and a half because he's taught me so much about loving someone other than Cody so deeply. He's really getting us ready to be parents.

Cody is back at school, much to his dismay. He hates school, but I'm proud of him for still going.  I'm teaching my own preschool class now and I love it! I love having the freedom to choose how everything will be!

Now that you're all caught up on our lives, I'm going to get ready for the day ! Happy Saturday!

Monday, January 6, 2014

23 Before 24

I have 6 months and 25 days until I turn 24, which completely blows my mind. When did I get so old?! I always associate me living in Utah to me being 21. Apparently time stopped when I started dating Cody. But I've also seen a lot of the "23 before 24" (or whatever their age is) stuff on blogs,  and I thought about doing one for myself this year. I already have a lot of goals that I really want to try to achieve either this year, or before baby, and if I'm already going to do those, why not just slap a few more on and have it an odd 23?!

So, here goes my list. We'll see if I make it to 23 goals.

1- Read two "just for fun" books, and two good books about motherhood, pregnancy, or something like that. (I just checked out "The Interestings" from the library, because the girls from A Beautiful Mess are reading it for their book club and I figured why not! So I'm giving that a try.)
2- Sew a triangle quilt like this one.
3- Teach myself how to knit and start making a blanket
4- Buy a cookbook
5- Become current (and stay current) with project life.
6- Complete six crafts that I've been dying to do. (Maxi skirt, soap dispensers, hinged canvas to cover breaker box, make jewelry holder for bracelets and necklaces, floor cushions, and one more..)
7- Make three (or more) things for baby or that will be helpful with baby.
8- Get in a habit of cooking more regularly (meaning at least 4 or 5 times a week).
9- Find and fall in love with a handful of new recipes.
10- Learn how to make bread!

11- Have baby!
12- Learn how to be a better wife, and practice it!
13- Never work after my work hours are over. 8-2 M-TH, and 8-1 on Fridays, and that's IT!
14- Stay up to date with my challenge of reading the whole Book of Mormon this year (maybe even up it to finishing before my birthday.. maybe..)
15- Take a picture of Cody and I (and probably Dexter) at least once a month. With the DSLR.
16- Try a few pregnancy work outs
17- Take Dexter on at least 3 walks a week
18- Not touch my phone or the computer when I'm spending time with Cody.
19- Paint at least 2 or 3 more paintings
20- Decorate my bedroom. We've only lived in this house for 2 years, it's about dang time it gets decorated!
21- Get a massage (I'm really excited about this one!)
22- Get new glasses (and most likely CONTACTS!)
23- Dye my hair darker (again, but better this time) and learn how to freaking style it!

Also, I love that I got home from work today and got to stay home! No more school is going to be such a dream! Now I just need to get going on this list and not just sit around the house doing nothing!