HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I love holidays & I love dressing up for Halloween!

I had a lot of fun making this one &

I finished it last night with lots of help from Weston!

Counting down!

Want to see some nasty cankles & swollen feet?

This is what my feet/ankles look like at the end of my work days.

Never mind the fact that they look piggy pink here, too? HAH!

It's sick, and also painful.

& I still wear sandals to work, bc I'm hot all the time!

 We were laughing so hard at this picture. Weston went & grabbed me some tums & laid them on my belly, so I took a picture. & he wanted to 'photobomb.' I've never seen such a smiley photobomber.

 Thursday night I had killer indegestion. I am so lucky not to get too much heartburn, I just get indegestion from EVERYTHING. Well, Weston loves playing doctor. He wanted to use his oxygen thing on me. but I had nailpolish on. So he put it on my nail polish-less toe.

 Friday night the view was spectacular. This fuzzy picture doesn't do it justice. It was beautiful!

 Don't mind the chunks of nailpolish on my belly. Can you see where our baby's hiding?

It's hilarious, my stomach is lopsided like this 95% of the time & it's her head pushing out. I love it so much!

(like my home uniform? Weston's PJs)

 I made these beanies for her this weekend. The gray one looks scratchy, but they're the softest yarns. I'm kind of a yarn snob. & I want to her to have soft things on her body!

We are down to a month till our girl gets here and I am so excited I can barely stand it. She may come sooner, which is unreal to think about! My hips & back are doing MUCH better this week, still! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will stay this way!  I think it's because she is breech and her body is too big to be down pressing on those joints like she used to be when she was head down & smaller!

We had appointments on Thursday & Friday of last week! We received all good news! We had our second non-stress test & she got a little strained a couple of times, but the nurse wasn't worried so neither are we! She thinks that when I was having a contraction it was pinching her umbilical cord & so her heartrate dropped a little bit. But since I'm not in active labor it's not a big deal right now! Our next NST is on Wednesday after our appointment. I hope it's not doing it then still!  We met with the perinatologists & got another ultrasound. HOWEVER, she said this one is too far along to get cute face pictures. Uhm, she's right. I am not sharing those ultrasounds, they freaked me out & her face looked squished & angry. HA! So, you'll have to wait to see her at birth. I can't wait to kiss her little nose & pouty lips!  She is measuring great & is measuring in the 64th percentile. SO, they will not bump up her date or anything. BUT we got our name down on the books for the 23rd of next month for the scheduled c-section. Unless she tries to come early. THEN we'll be having an earlier csection! I don't mind if she comes on the 8th or the 16th or sometime in there if she wants :) She's looking great & doing well!

10 things that are extra awesome to me right now

Things I am especially grateful for:

1. Maxi skirt

 It's my new uniform. & I only have one. Yeah, I rotate between the three outfits that fit me at work :) My coworkers are awesome & never say anything though. I love them. I kind of feel like the girl in 500 dresses. The one that gets made fun of for wearing the other girls' hand-me-downs :)

2. Weston got a job interview

We are so thrilled. I have been optimistic, but overwhelmed by the job hunt process. We had kind of picky criteria for the type of job he needed/was looking for.

We needed a job that would provide benefits as I won't be working anymore & we'll lose health insurance.  We also needed a job that would provide patient care/clinical hours that PA schools would accept. When he would find a job he wanted to apply for, he would contact the PA school he's been talking to & see if they would qualify that.  We were also looking for a job with semi flexible hours as he'll still be taking prerequisite classes in the evenings.

We haven't had any luck with jobs over the past couple months, but I wasn't worried until recently. I started getting stressed, it is always hard applying to jobs that simply have online applications & hoping to stand out from the crowd. Weston is awesome with face-to-face contact & employers love him & if he gets an interview, he generally gets the job.  He is a really good person & an even harder worker. They can see that.

This job he applied for is a medical supervisor at a plasma center in downtown Nashville.

We are so excited. They are requiring that Weston get his Tennessee Paramedic license, though. So, in the past 2 days he has done the complete process to apply for reciprocity with Tennessee. That application & $300 later he should be a Tennessee paramedic very shortly! We are thrilled! (Except not about the unexpected expense!) However, it's so worth it & this job opportunity will be a HUGE blessing. It will be just what we were looking for & it will pay him well, too. We are saving pennies & hopefully going to be able to save up a significant amount before we begin PA school the next year.

Which leads me to my next thing.

3. Generous parents

Weston & I have both been blessed with generous parents who do their best to help us.

The support of my parents in our endeavors is priceless to me. As Weston & I have been married we have had probably 1,000 life plans. The one that is actually unfolding happens to be in TN, but they weren't all that way. Some included the military. Some included positions in California & other western states.  Throughout every step they gave us heartfelt advice when we asked for it & were genuinely happy for us & supportive. I am really excited & blessed that Weston also loves & wants to go back to TN, but I am also thankful for my parents who have given us/me unconditional support & love.

Also, they have offered for us to live with them while Weston's still doing the school thing. WOW. Wow wow wow. More than we could ever ask for & such a blessing!

Weston's parents are also so generous & always offering a helping hand when we need it. We love them more than they know.

We have good examples of service & love!

3. Ultrasound Stuff

Today we get to see our girl again. I am SO excited. This has been one of my favorite parts of feeling like my doctor's office is my 3rd home after home & work :)

4. Generous friends/family

We have been given so many baby gifts that have really helped us get on our feet!

Thank you to those who have given us so many sweet & thoughtful gifts! We're surrounded by givers!

5. COLD WEATHER

I baked all summer. Not kidding. I literally felt overheated all the time. Combine pregnancy with the hottest Utah summer ever recorded. Whew! I was swollen & warm! This fall weather has been seriously welcomed with open arms by me!  I usually dread winter coming, but this winter, maybe since I won't be spending it in Utah, I am really looking forward to!  Don't get me wrong, TN gets cold, we just don't get pounded with snow...and the coldest it gets there in the winter is the warmest it gets here in Utah! I appreciate that it has all 4 seasons, but also that it's pretty mild in it's temperatures! 

Even with the cold weather I have still felt like a baked potato! Poor Weston is now the freezing one in our marriage. Hah. I turn the cold air on in the car still.

6. Holidays

I LOVE THE FALL!  The holiday season is my favorite! I just love any excuse to stay up late & play games guilt free!  We will be spending Thanksgiving with my family & Christmas with Weston's & I am so excited for both of those big events! This morning I decided on my Halloween costume, too. It will be awesome!  At least, it is in my head.

I am especially excited to share these holidays with my new baby.

I seriously cannot wait for her to get here. I am so anxious!  I can't wait to count her fingers & toes, to kiss her chin!

Weston has gotten to see a few more ultrasounds than I have, because they haven't printed pictures for us at the recent ones, but he said that she has his chin! I LOVE THAT! I told Spence when I wrote him this week & he said "Awesome, that's exciting about your baby's man chin!" hahaahahahah So mean. She'll beat him up for that when he gets home in May.

7. The Mindy Project & Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

I love these shows. So much. We watch Jimmy Fallon recordings, we don't stay up late to watch his show, but I'm excited for when he takes over The Tonight Show!  I am also really happy that Mindy & her pastor fiance aren't a thing anymore. He really bugged me.

8. ksl.com

I will miss this awesome site. It has the greatest classifieds section.

9. My I-phone

Remember this post? Well I love that phone that Weston gave me for my birthday. It is seriously amazing. I use it in so many ways. I'm sure there are things I had no idea that it could do. I didn't even know until IOS7 came out & I was reading instructions on it that I can/need to close my apps. I just figured out 2 days ago how to check time-stamps on my text messages, that was my only complaint about my iphone. That & I don't know how to make my alarms stop going off without actually turning the alarm off completely and having to redo it for the next day. These phones are incredible & has been an awesome resource for Weston & I to use while down in Salem!

10. Patient husband & friends
Poor Weston has been putting up with a lot. He was so good & always helped me get through the nauseous stage of the pregnancy! He enjoyed & loved the second trimester ease with me, too! And in the 3rd trimester when every ache & pain seemed to amplify, he has helped whenever possible, too. He is so sweet & makes sure we have lunches packed. He'll do the quick milk-run to the grocery store. He has done all that stuff. All the stuff I used to do. Well, except we've kind of always just thrown our lunches together. But seriously, he's amazing & I totally won the lottery getting him!

As far as my friends, I have been kind of in hiding since I've been pregnant. Not on purpose, I just don't feel up to much after work in the evenings or on the weekends, I get pretty wiped out. I have a lot of sweet friends reaching out & wanting to get together. I haven't done anything with any friends. I have to apologize to all of you. It isn't personal & I wish I had the energy to spend spare seconds with you. Thank you for being patient & not taking it personally!

Last week we found out my parents & baby brother were coming to town. I was so very excited.

My dad's been working in California so they traveled with him & stopped by our place for the weekend for Chase's fall break!

We had an appointment on Friday with the doctor & a non-stress test!

Everything went smoothly & our girl is looking good!  We have about a month left. I cannot wait SLASH I'm freaking out a lot.

My stomach was killing me that morning, so I took the day off from work & rested up. That night I had some serious contractions & was so happy they were actually happening. I was starting to think this baby was never going to come. I was feeling left out of the "Braxton Hicks" club.

My family rolled into town around 1:30 a.m.! Whew it was late. We were going to go to bed, but I couldn't not say high when It's been 3 months since I last saw any of them!

Weston was dying of exhaustion.

He took a little nap though & had some caffeine assistance, though.

The next day my mom & I stopped by the quilt shop in Salem that we love!

My mom was driving all day on her big 5-0 birthday!! So we went out to lunch the day after at Brick Oven.

My parent's favorite place! We had a lot of fun! Except I'm just remembering now they never sang to her. Boo on you Brick Oven. 

Afterwards we went to Riverwoods & walked through the shops! 

That night we watched BYU kick around the scrappy Georgia Tech team & then taught Weston how to play Settlers of Catan. 

We played games the rest of the 24 hrs we had left.

We had so much fun!

I always love when my family can visit! Even if it's only for 48 hours!

My mom comes back out in a month for D-Day & I am counting down. I told her it will be fun to actually have her in town when I don't have to work. That's never happened.  We will actually be able to spend time together besides just the evenings!

I am also really excited to live near them again.  I've really missed my parents & they're my greatest friends.  It has been 6.5 years since I have lived within 2,000 miles of them. I feel long overdue.  I'm so lucky that Weston loves TN & that he is open to moving to my homeland.  I can't wait to be back out there & everytime they visit I am reminded of how excited I am!

Weston is a little nervous about finding a job, we haven't had luck yet. Any Tennesseans knowing of a medical related job, please send the info our way.

I am really nervous about having a baby. I've started becoming more anxious about it lately. Ah, I don't know what I'm doing. But I know we'll figure it out. & I'm so lucky to have my mom be able to come stay with me & help me.  She is seriously awesome & a great support to me in every way!

I love my man!

Weston is the greatest guy to be married to, want to know why?

When you're pregnant & feeling quite whalish, he'll swear to you that you're beautiful! He will help you at the drop of the hat. He is really fun to be around. He makes me laugh all the time. He has a complete heart of gold.  He has cooked a lot of dinner in the past 8.5 months & always tells me how much he loves cooking.  He is a professional sleeper! No matter how much I toss & turn, he doesn't wake, this makes me feel a lot better that I'm not disturbing him! He stubs his toe on our bed frame. Almost every night.

He is really light-hearted. He is a hard worker. He's a total hottie.

This weekend we got to go visit his parents. It was such a fun trip. We always love our time down there & love being in their rural area.  The boys went & got 3 trucks & trailers full of wood on Saturday while the girls stayed home & quilted & chatted & cooked. We had so much fun!

They were gone for almost 8 hours doing hard labor & he came back with that huge beautiful grin.

 & a tear in his pants!

 Really life has been good, I just always feel guilty because Weston has had to carry so much of the weight of things that I used to do! The pregnancy has been a challenge, but a much greater blessing. I love feeling our girl kicking & stretching. Every ache & pain is a reminder of our blessing. I love that we have a baby on the way. I love that she is going to be here so soon! I cannot wait till she's here & am counting down the days.  These aches & pains will make her arrival THAT much sweeter. Weston has been so sweet. Without asking he brings me water with a straw for when I'm laying down, he reminds me to take the million vitamins & pills.  & anything I need he'll get. Sometimes I feel bad mentioning if I'm cold or warm, because he'll be up in half a second to get me a blanket or to ask our landlords to turn down the air. He is so sweet & such a supportive husband!  I am so blessed & really love being married to him! This whole experience has concreted that even more in my mind!  I love that man & all the hard work he puts into his school work, literal work, his race training, taking care of me & into our future!

 

Conference was so great this year, don't you think? I missed some of the talks on Saturday, though & am excited to be able to go back to read them!

Costume Hunt

I love dressing up for halloween! Fall is so fun because it's so full of holidays! & things made out of pumpkin. I LOVE PUMPKIN!

I've been trying to think of a fun halloween costume for work. I dress up every year, but this year, I am putting the pressure on myself to be something awesome. Who knows if/when I'll be pregnant on Halloween again!?

I came across these on pinterest!

1. This makes me feel funny | 2. Easy... but boring | 3. Same | 4. Funny & gross | 5. Hilarious, would be good for when we go out at night | 6. YIKES | 7. Hilarious, but so not BYU Honorcode approved

Have you ever been pregnant on halloween or seen good pregnant Halloween costumes?

Counting down the DAYS!

We are now just 7 weeks away from the entrance of the world's cutest baby.

Want to see what full-time work & 8 months pregnant looks like? Maybe I'll put up a picture sometime, but it's not pretty. 

Some days I get out of bed early enough to get ready, but most days I wake up with just enough time to brush my hair & teeth, apply some powder & mascara then jet out the door.

Teddy Bear gets to be the lucky one to test out the safety & protocols of our baby gear.

So far he's given it two paws up.

I cannot wait for our little girl to come! I am so anxious to see her on the ultrasound a week from today.

Seriously, guys, I'm freaking out. It's been way too long since we've seen those chubby cheeks!

She's getting really big.

Also, you know those pregnant women you see & have judged for waddling.

I used to be a judger. I would think, ew, just walk normal.

Well, now, I'm that waddler.

It is not for the reason that I'd always assumed they waddled for, though.

I waddle because my back/hips have a pinched nerve & the only way I can walk without getting shooting pains is to walk with my feet pointed out. Honestly, it's the most un-sexy walk you've ever seen.

Recently, I've developed a gorgeous limp that comes every once in a while with vengeance when my hip is trying to pop out of the socket, that one is a new one that started last week & is a little more embarrassing simply because it's more dramatic. Sometimes it hits so bad I think...hmm...okay, if my hip pops out of the socket is this a good place to collapse? hahahah 

It also makes me fear going to the grocery store alone, simply because I don't want to cause a scene if that were to actually happen. That would just be embarrassing.

It's serious stuff, people. Waddling is no joke.

I remember the night we found out we were having a girl I begged Weston to go to Baby's R' Us so we could go look around. He gave in & I had SUCH bad back pain that I could barely walk. (that night when we were home was the first time I was unable to take a step bc of the sharp shooting pain)

Anyway, I wasn't very big then & I remember one of the clerks laughed & said I wasn't big enough to start having to walk like that. I did a fake polite laugh & secretly wanted to punch her in the face. 

"You don't know me, you don't know my life!" (Baby Mama, anyone?)

So, anytime you see a waddling lady & you judge, think twice, bc karma is seriously not cool.

Also, I don't know if I ever boasted about it before, but my first 8 months of pregnancy were seriously a breeze as far as emotions. We had a couple scares, but you know those jokes made about crazy pregnant ladies? I, luckily, wasn't one of them for that long.**

Well, I've noticed my emotions have picked up full speed.

I am emotional over everything.

Also, I think I need to go to ABS Anonymous. No, I'm not addicted to working those obliques, I'm talking about A Baby Story.

I've probably watched 4,000 episodes of it. Seriously, now I have to delete ones off of DVR simply because they're re-records of ones I've already seen. It's that bad.

After the baby's born, I cry. Every time.

Sometimes I want to sob.

I'm so happy for that couple.

I have to admit it is healthier watching a baby story when you're actually pregnant rather than when you've been trying to get pregnant for over 2 years. The tears are a little sweeter now.

But seriously, guys, I need an intervention.

Anyway, poor Weston gets to deal with an overly emotional wife, now. & midterms. & his future job. & his future grad program. & ...&...&..&... Sorry, Wes.

Also, I've felt lousy for about a month w/ intense congestion, sore throat & ear aches. It never got more severe than that, I never got a fever & my lymph nodes never swelled up. So, I never stayed home from work & I never went to the Dr. for it. Well, Sunday I just didn't feel good, so I stayed home from church & we decided to go to an instacare clinic just to fix it, bc I was sick of feeling sick.  Well, first of all, unless you're dying or have something "really cool" popping out of a joint that it shouldn't be, instacare clinic workers will act like you're a huge burden. Even when you are the only patient in their entire office.

Turns out it was allergies. ALLERGIES. What the?? How do I not have allergies in TN & have them in Utah?? Chalk another one up for my need to be back in Tennessee.

So, we were off to Walgreens for some Claritin & some nasal spray.

I feel like a million bucks now.

EXCEPT, for Monday  night when I accidentally took a sleeping pill instead of my allergy pill (they look the same) & then I slept through work the next morning & felt like a complete drag the whole next day & my ear aches & sore throat were back. I didn't realize it till Wednesday night that that is what I'd done.

Lesson learned: Always read pill labels or else you could sleep through work. Or die.

I admit that was stupid, & luckily it's an OTC sleeping pill that is pregnancy safe. 

Don't worry, though, I learned my lesson.

**PMSing is another story

**NOTE FROM THE EDITOR** Life is so good & I love being pregnant! & I'm seriously happy every day & so happy waking up to a squirming baby in my belly! Despite what these whiney posts sound like, I'm totally good! I have been coping with not being able to move, & just relax at home after work in the evenings! But sadly I do have to walk from point A to point B (aka from my work chair to the bathroom) & consequently have to be seen waddle-limping in public. I can deal with the pains of it just fine, I just don't like doing for audiences hahah