Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

It's a girl!!! 

We had an ultrasound yesterday and I was debating how we wanted to find out/announce it (because with Pinterest, there are just too many options). Finally I settled on the silly string reveal. Michael's sister Annie was called by the ultrasound tech during our appointment and was told the gender. The images were put on a flash drive and we had to exercise restraint not to look at them. Then, we arranged for our families (those that are in the area) to meet up at Nielson's Grove Park in Orem (where we got engaged). I bought silly string that had the same can but different colored caps in pink and blue and gave them to Annie upon arrival. She uncapped the right ones, handed them out and after counting down, everyone sprayed us with PINK silly string! 

I was so stunned by the strong chemical odor and having silly string in my face that it took me a little while to realize that the stinky light stuff all over me was tinged pink. By then a few people had already commented about it being a girl that I think that was really what tipped me off first (and I'm saying this more for my own sake of remembering). We took some pictures and said hello to family on skype and then a couple posed pictures and said goodbye. As everyone got in their cars, I hugged Michael and started to sob. We had joked enough about my intuition being right and Michael had teased enough about it being a boy and not a girl that I had willed myself to be excited to have a boy and gotten SO prepared to see blue come out of those cans. I was in shock. Michael comforted me as we went to Costco to grab some food before our 2nd Hypnobirthing class. There were no more boy jokes and he was the sweetest and most sincerely excited I'd seen him in a while. I surfed pinterest for the next few days rekindling my love of ruffles and bows and was over the moon once I'd gotten over the shock. Next time, I won't let myself get too excited one way or another.

So dearest KayleeBear, we can't wait to meet you!!!

Life, Love and Lemons

So life has been at it again and even though if you asked me what I do all day, and I couldn't really tell you, it seems like things have gotten busier when in reality, I'm sure things have chilled out but pregnancy brain has magnified my emotions and an overdue library book or a medical bill seems like world crisis and I just want to stick my head in the sand.

I mentioned in the last post that life kept throwing us fun stuff despite the pregnancy announcement, so I guess I'll go back and elaborate.

After Michael left and I started getting sick before and during work and needed to get someone to cover my shift a couple of times. That added with the very strict time-off policy, and I wasn't in the best place for scheduling. There was a lot if drama involved but more importantly, the girl I was a guide for, would be graduating soon and I took that opportunity to put in my 2 weeks notice. She graduated and I left on a great note with a deep love for the girls and the wonderful support they have at The Journey True Path program.

Since the beginning of the year, I'd only been working part time so my day to day schedule hasn't changed much. But now I have a different mindset in terms of what my priorities *should* be at home. I've got a huge list of things I want to do (like clearing out our stuff and getting her nursery ready and getting all the baby gear we need- yikes!) , but we'll see how much actually gets done.

As far as cravings, I have been craving everything citrus. Lemon drops are a particular favorite. And sour gummy worms. And sour jelly beans. And the funny part? I never liked sour candies that much before this. When my brother Scotty and I used to take piano lessons, our teacher would give us music money for practicing and stuff, and Scotty would use his to buy warheads and would dare me to just take a lick. I wouldn't because I couldn't and then Michael mentioned warheads and I suddenly wanted some! Aaaanyways, I also drink a lot of orange juice, especially for breakfast because it also tastes the same coming back up :P

Finally, I just wanted to say that I've had a bit of a rough week emotionally. Some stuff happened that made me take a long look at life and my marriage and my perspective on things and I have to say that no matter what happens in life, I am grateful for my marriage in the temple, my husband and that we can be together forever. Knowing that, helps put me in the mindset that no matter how hard life gets, or how crazy the trials we face become, we have our entire lives to work on it and that we get to be together for eternity. I am so excited and a little scared to bring this little baby into our family, but I know that with the Lord's help, we will make it.

Here I was today after church at 15 weeks.

Babies, Barbies and Barf

So, I kinda figured the world would do a dance when we announced we were preggo and that life would suddenly make sense when I hit that milestone. Alas, life has gone on and brought the usual stressors with it; but I'll save that for another post.

So many people have been saying that the 2nd trimester would be so much better. So far, I think they were high. I've had just as much nausea and morning sickness as weeks 10-12, if not more since I decided to give up my off-brand version of zofran.

But in my personal opinion, if I am planning on a natural birth, I need to suck it up and handle headaches and nausea with natural remedies (not to mention the added benefit of avoiding those fun side effects that come with pharmaceuticals that snowball into needing to buy more bottled solutions). Thus, my best friends have become cold packs, essential oils, ginger snaps, gum and my amazing hubby making me quesadillas and (pause writing to toss this morning's smoothie - at least it's another one of those foods that tastes the same coming back up ;) getting me any food I desire from the store on his way home from work almost every day.

Announcing an Addition! And some overdue Appreciation ;)

We're PREGGO!!!!!

To some of you who know a little of our history, you know what a miracle this pregnancy is. So for the rest of you, I'll explain.

I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome about 2 years ago but have been dealing with its effects ever since puberty graced me with her presence. Thankfully, just a few short months after we got married, I was referred by a co-worker to a Nurse Practitioner named Esme Anderson who practices at a little clinic in Orem called, Athena Women's Clinic. Esme was the answer to our prayers. In addition to PCOS, she ran a panel of about 20 blood tests to help us figure out what exactly I needed to fix hormone and nutrient wise. I was also diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, low progesterone and various vitamin deficiencies.

To make a long story shorter, we spent a year and a half trying to get my body to function right with diet, prescriptions, and supplements. Some months were better than others but getting pregnant was not possible, physically or emotionally.

Provo Girls' Book Club

Hey Provo Friends!

I've created a girls' book club and need more members! We will be meeting once a month to discuss book and have some pot luck munchies. Check out the goodreads group for more info. On Wednesday (March 7th) we'll be meeting at my sister-in-law's house (near DI) to discuss Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. If you want to come, feel free! If you've read the book, great. If not, come find out what it's about. I'll be passing out our new book, Blink by Malcom Gladwell at the meeting or just let me know if you'd like one of the copies and we can figure out a place to meet up or I can possibly just drop it off at your place.

Provo Utah Girls Book Club's currently-reading book montage
1 member One book club died and left me with a bunch of library book club set reservations so I'm starting a...

Books we're currently reading

Chains
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Start date: February 1, 2012

View this group on Goodreads »

Turkey, Bunions, Christmas & Family!

So much for 2 posts a month. Sorry about that- but I'm sure you all understand how crazy things get during the holidays.

A lot has happened since October. To sum up, I am no longer working, Michael officially passed his last classes and is completely finished with school, I had bunion surgery, we had two wonderful Thanksgiving dinners, I turned 24, Michael's parents drove up to Utah for Christmas and my brother Scott got home from his mission in Switzerland!

Since I'm guessing that's not a sufficient update, I'll go into a bit more detail.

October 2011 General Conference

While doing last minute prep for my talk in t minus eight hours an some odd minutes, I stumbled upon a General Conference 'Meme.' What the junk was a 'meme' and why wasn't it called a questionnaire or survey?! Well, I can't really answer the latter question, but the answer to the former can be found here.

Reading all the answers from other bloggers, did send me in the right direction for my talk. Thus, I decided to write my thoughts down in the form of a blog in order to be able to narrow down the options and pick my topic. So here goes.