Happy Birthday to Me!

Work is a ghost town today! Feel free to stop by & have a dance party w/ me in the lobby!

Weston's aced his husbandly birthday duties!

He texted me every minute leading up to midnight starting at 11:35. Score.

I was up that late because I napped A LOT yesterday. I did some serious gutting of our junk these past couple days & planned to organize & get it to look all nice & pretty, too....but then I remembered I'm pregnant & don't have all the energy I usually do to gut AND organize things in the same day.

SO I gutted. I love a clean & organized house. Step one is almost complete.  I will be finishing that in the next few weeks!

Ah, happy fourth of July! I did step outside to watch fireworks, though. I also drove up to the Traverse Mountain Outlets, too, to check out the Gap Outlet's amazing 50% off everything sale and got Weston a nice, soft pair of shorts. That poor boy can't own enough shorts. He has a low tolerance for heat.

All in all it was a seriously successful.

Our entire house lost power for a little over an hour yesterday, too, so I organized & gutted my shoes, too. I feel like a new woman.

It seriously feels amazing to not be nauseous, tossing my cookies, or too tired to even do my hair anymore.

I've also been so busy the past Saturdays of the past few months, too, so even once I started feeling better, I still didn't have any time on my Saturday/cleaning day to do anything. The next month is extremely busy, w/ more photography jobs/work & a couple more weddings!

He's so cute! He sent this to me at 11:50 last night! I would call him weird, but I love him too much.

He was really hyper & most likely had too much caffeine.

He also is very excited about my birthday.

I am excited to see him tonight after I get off work, I haven't had time w/ that boy since Sunday. I miss him.

He's been either working 48 hrs at the fire dept or 12-midnight at ERs. Our schedules royally clash. 

All. The.  Time.

Sometimes I forget I'm married, until our baby gives me a kick in the gut & I remember who gave her half of her chromosomes!

We're going to see Despicable Me & I am SO EXCITED.

Baby's First Photos

  I took pictures of our U/S pics on our fridge.

Our fridge is seriously plastered.

We have had 9 ultrasounds so far in the pregnancy, these 5 are the only ones that they printed us pictures, but we have seen our little girl so many times.

It's been awesome & such a reassurance!

This is her at 6.5 weeks!

9.5 weeks!

 14.5 weeks!

17.5 weeks!

She is measuring about 1.75 weeks ahead!  Keep growing baby girl!

via

This is what she looks like inside right now! Except I always get a little worried because on ultrasounds my baby looks much more squished in her ultrasounds than these online pictures show!

Pregnancy Survival Guide For Husbands

This book is our pregnancy bible.

Seriously.

A little bit after we found out we're expecting a baby I went to Barnes & Noble looking for THE perfect "Dad" book on all this stuff.

I read through a bunch of Abstracts, but wasn't loving anything I was reading.

Most of the books have validation points & basically try to calm the nerves of becoming a dad, etc.

Those were not the kind of books I was wanting to get him.

I wanted one to help him understand a little more about the pregnancy process & for him to be even more excited about the growing baby, too!  I found this book & honestly, it's been a LIFESAVER.

I research all day long what's going on with my body & where the baby is. This book has gotten Weston excited about all of that stuff, too. It covers a wide array of topics that are good for an expecting dad to know about pregnancy & what his wife is experiencing! It also covers how to understand some of the things he's feeling too. It's awesome!

It's been SUCH a good book & Weston has LOVED it.

Seriously, he laughs so hard while he's reading it. He doesn't have a lot of free time, but he squeezes it in if we are sitting on the couch relaxing randomly. It's really fun & he's constantly saying "Did you know...!?"  I usually do, just because I love learning about the human body & am obsessed with studying all this stuff while I'm at work. I love researching these kind of things, but it has been fun to be able to talk about it with Weston.

We got our copy on Amazon.com, but probably paid 2x as much as this amazon copy (I can't remember)

But you can find it HERE through Amazon.

Weekend Madness

On our LONG 1:10 hr flight to Mesa!

Have I mentioned I love the Provo airport?

And I love that we got to park there for $14 total for 4 days? Happy.

The trip to Mesa was so fun! We stayed with my brother-in-law's parents who I met about a month ago. They were the kindest hosts & truly made us feel like we were at home while there.

It was a very quick trip for the wedding.

We pulled into town around 11a.m. where my dad & brother picked us up & we went to the temple for Dani's endowment session.

After the temple we went to a taco shop for some grub! It was delish & we all got a little bit too full.

That night was the Groom's dinner which was incredible. Seriously, Sherie is great at throwing parties!

We had a delicious southern style dinner w/ a picture of Robert E. Lee on display even.

Everyone gave great toasts to the new couple & then before we knew it it was Friday.

We all took the morning pretty slow & easy.

I did my mom's hair & Sherie's friend came over & did our make-up.

Then I realized I was supposed to be at the temple for the wedding & had not yet done my hair. as in it was in a huge messy bun on my head.

I hurried & tried to tame my mane, then Wes & I ran out the door w/ our trusty chauffeur, Chase.

After the beautiful ceremony I tried not to die from the heat.

& then we ran back home to the Kent's where I scarfed some food down because I hadn't eaten all day!

Then I forgot, again, that I needed to do my hair...it was as though I was going to work, not a wedding.

I'm pretty sure I was smoking the reefer or something.

BUT, I got my hair decent & we ran out the door for pictures at the reception hall.

It was gorgeous! Danielle had picked out the most beautiful flower arrangements. I have not seen a more beautiful wedding!

Danielle was so happy & I love that her & Sean are so happy together! They make a killer pair & I'm excited for their life together!

They are on their honeymoon right now in the Virgin Islands where Weston & I also honeymooned & then they go to TN for their reception July 8th, then back to AZ to prep for med school where Sean will start on July 31! Yay!!!

Busy, busy! 

My pregnancy woes did not give me an ounce of trouble over the weekend, which was a huge relief, because I really did not want another ER bill. My goodness, our medical bills are draining us like you wouldn't believe.

And I can barely sit/stand for a minute at a time. My back has that killer pain where I guess the sciatic nerve is, but it doesn't send shooting pains down my leg like I hear sciatic nerves do. Bottom line, I was the most useless bridesmaid you can ever imagine. I sat the WHOLE time.  The WHOLE TIME. And then I left before clean-up. Everyone was so nice & understanding, but still, I felt bad.

Saturday my family left & Weston & I hung out w/ all the Kents! It was so fun to be there for Dani & Sean opening their presents! Party!

They got a lot of nice loot & then that night Wes & I took them to the airport!

The next a.m. the poor Kents were taxi service again & took us to the Mesa airport at 5:30 to catch our 7a.m. flight!

We slept the entire flight home, then slept through church that day & all afternoon & then went to bed last night a 11 still. I think we were tired.

I feel so rested today, though. Hallelujah!  Now back to the daily grind of real life!

Wedding Day

Happy wedding day to my sister!

My amazing mom made another incredible wedding dress!!!!

Her & Danielle designed it together.

Isn't it gorgeous?

 I am SO happy for them!

They are both so happy & I just love that Sean is in the family now!

 Dad being the "holder"

 Like our new stud jewelry?

 Our thoughts on the AZ heat....

 Dani has an awesome group of friends. We all had so much fun & the wedding party was gorgeous!

 Thank you deej for doing the mix-matched dresses. Ah, lifesaver

 The Groom's cake.

He loves dinosaurs & nature.

 Tring to save the bridesmaid bouquets from the heat.

   The outside display.

There was a ton of fruit & paninis.

It was a beautiful set-up! I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture once the food was put out!

 The table-runners. Lemon leaves & flowers.

 The beautiful cake!

 The popcorn barrels.

For any of you who doubted the Stolworthy love for popcorn.

The gorgeous reception hall.

 Momma & Me

 The brideeeeeee

Her bridals were GORGEOUS. I just died over them.

So deserty & so beautiful!

The morning after.

Wow it was an exhausting day & we hardly did anything!

Those Kents threw a beautiful groom's dinner & gorgeous reception!

They will be sleeping well for the next few weeks!

Now it's time for the TN reception! 7/8! Go to their reception at my parent's house!

It's been brought to my attention that I give tmi on my blog!

SORRY folks!

I guess I give graphic information about pregnancy stuff. Sorry, folks, we talk medical stuff at our house regularly & at my work...so I think I've become unaware of what is gross to people. MY BAD!

Basically, the pregnancy was a little threatened & we almost could not go to AZ for my sister's wedding.

Everything worked out, though, and with orders to 'take it easy' we were able to come...uhm...that's nice!

NOW. My sister's wedding was a DREAM. I will be updating on this later, I promise!

Have a great weekend!

TBT

to back to Mitch's adorable 23rd birthday Syd through.

& to probably the first time Siena let me hold her w/o crying

(I've seen her since & she let me hold her! My wildest dream came true! She's such a cute girl, check out her mom's blog here)

TBT

to back when I looked like a high dog/bear/sheep thing at Target.

But seriously

After coming to peace that this pregnancy will have more challenges than I anticipated. When Weston & I both got home last night we were able to calm our logistical fears.  Once I found out our little girl is alright, I had a huge sense of peace.

My next fears came along with missing my sister's wedding. I will be devastating if that was the outcome. I have prayed for peace with the Lord's will as well as following the doctors orders. My girl is worth any sacrifice. But just let it be known I will be competitive for most depressed person on the planet for a bit if I miss her wedding.  I also had a lot of fears about the logistical nightmare bed-rest would be.  I am the bread-winner. I am our source of income, our source of food, I am our source of insurance.  My measly paying job has offered us security that I have been thankful for for 5 years now.  

I have no idea what we will do logistically, but somehow everything will work out, I'm sure of it.

I had a restless night & have since had a peace that the Lord will bless us in unforeseen ways.  I am just nervous at the amount of sacrifice we will need to take. Please keep us in your prayers. If I get put on bed-rest this will be my last post for a VERY long time..since I don't have internet at home.

Just know that I am so grateful for our little girl & so excited that she was doing well. She waved at us in the ultrasound yesterday. Ah, she's so sweet already! I cannot wait to hold her & kiss her little cheeks and every one of her 10 fingers & toes.  She's so little & perfect.  I'm not sure w hy any of this has happened, but I know that with these challenges I will never EVER wish that I would trade in a normal lifestyle of non-pregnancy than an extremely intense pregnancy.  I am so so so excited for this baby. I also have an incredibly supportive family. I couldn't ask for more!

Sorry for the melancholy* going on up in hurrr.

*must be said in Mega-Mind fashion

Also, sidenote. sweet Weston surprised me by coming home from the library early & got a pizza! He cooked it in the oven & right as soon as it reached "perfection" he was pulling it out of the oven & it face planted on the bottom of the oven. That poor guy was devastated.

I just giggled & felt bad for him, knowing what that's like to want to surprise & do something really sweet & special for someone & then burn the entire birthday cake.

or dropping the pizza face down in the oven.

It was cute, but we scraped some of it up & smeared it over the top & then covered the all sauce parts w/ cheese from home. We had a little bit of the pizza & a whole lot of chat & it was a perfect night.

Not to mention I made it a point to go to target last night, just in case I can't go for the next 4 months.

Love you all!

Have you ever?

Read my sister's blog.

LaLaLa

Please go read it, because she's funny.

Plus, I'm obviously having an emotional week. I'm not sure what my deal is. 

Maybe I should take a pregnancy test?

Feeling Nostalgic

This weekend I pulled out the home videos DVD my mom made all of us kids.

She is incredible & transferred all of our VHS home videos to DVD. This took her a whole year.

My parents were VERY good at documenting our childhood, seriously.

We have photo albums FULL of pictures, scrapbooks of years 1-15 of my life & home videos from everything!

This DVD is called "The Hits: 88-93"

These are some of the funniest videos. My mom accumulated clips from home videos that we replay over and over. Here are a few clips from them

(Please ignore the terrible sound/picture quality of the videos I have posted. They are recordings from my cell phone of our TV)

This is from the pond by our house in Florida. We went to this park all the time.

I was duck spotting. Obviously, I'm really good at it.

Here we were making get well cards for my dad's dad, Grandpa Dean, in Idaho who was ill at the time.

at one point in this video I said "If he dies, he'll go to heaven!" No one said anything... "Right dad? He'll go to heaven if he dies." "Yep, that's right!"

My poor dad.  I made an awkward situation at 4.

In this clip my mom was adding dots to my heart & had been saying over & over.

"Oh, I just love doing that so much. I just love that so much. I love doing that."

This clip I say "I just love doing that. You make me SO happy, mom."

This video always makes me cry, because of the emotion & passion in my voice. I love that clip so much, because I still feel the same way. I have the greatest mom. She is just so wonderful in so many ways!

This is Danielle at 6 months, I just added this video, because she was the most beautiful baby! Look at those beautiful dark eyes & lashes! Ah!

Plus this baby gets married on Friday!

I love the fat no-neck! TOOO cute!

In this one Danielle is doing what she did ever since babyhood. My hair & clothes advice.

We have a home video of us in our night gowns & we're decorating the Christmas tree.

I put on the Snoopy stockings as shoes and kept walking around showing everyone my boots.

Then Danielle says, "They don't match, Rachel"

& I responded, "I know!"
Here she is giving me a nice do.

I am really appreciating the headscratch.

In this video I'm owning the rocking horse. I was just over a year old. So advanced.

Watching these home videos makes me so nostalgic. 

Watching these reminds me of how fast time is flying by. How sweet my parents were to their little babies. How those babies in the video are getting married & having babies.

I also miss my sister a lot. We could watch the same home videos for days on end & love every second. Picking up something new & hilarious every time.

One of my favorite things I caught this past time is all the hilarious behind the camera talk the adults are having. Their observations of us are the best.

It makes me miss my family so bad. I haven't seen them in 7 months. I miss them terribly! I am sad to be leaving Weston's family behind, but I have missed my family so bad. I cannot wait to live close to them again when we move to TN in December. My heart is aching for that.

My mom & I are best friends. So are my dad & I. They are my greatest cheerleaders. My advocates always & they are so emotionally supportive of any endeavor Weston & I venture out on. I could not have asked for greater or more supportive parents. I love them.

And I miss having midnight chats with my mom face to face.

Our relationship has not become shallower at all while I've been living in Utah, it's gotten stronger & stronger. Thank goodness we live in the technology age. Phones make relationships able to grow from across the country. It is awesome.

I just miss my family a lot.

Emotional Roller Coaster

Ah. This whole pregnancy has been an emotional roller coaster. I spot every couple weeks. I spotted at 14.5 weeks & they had me come in for an ultrasound/cervical check.

I spotted this past weekend & decided not to be worried about it. We had just had an ultrasound on Thursday & I'm on blood thinners. My cervix had been fine just a few days before. Poor Weston is always so worried about his little baby & calls every time I spot, which is good, I appreciate that he cares so much.

My biggest fear is to lose this little baby girl. I've been hanging on a limb just making sure that she makes it inside of me until 24 weeks as a minimum. I hear that's when it's a higher viability rate.

I've been really good at having calm nerves about the spotting & cramping & I try my best not to think about it too much. but w/ the uterus malformation that I have I'm at an increased risk of second trimester miscarriage. I'm sorry, but that is not a miscarriage that is a LIVE baby in there.  I've seen her fingers & toes.  They're perfect.

Last night was awful. Weston got home from his hospital shift in the labor & delivery ward at about 1a.m. I was sleeping. I woke up at 3a.m. with horrible horrible cramping. I started getting worried, but wasn't bleeding at alll. Weston had fallen asleep on the couch eating a snack. I woke him up & he got me some Tylenol & we both went back to work. When I woke up this morning I hadn't bled at all either. Success. This morning at work, I did, though. Ah. My heart dropped & I called the nurse right away. They want me to come in for another heartbeat check & cervix check. 

Prayers would be appreciated, I'm sure all is fine, but I am really anxious.

This has been such a wonderful experience, but there have been a lot of scares.

I usually don't write about this heavy stuff we've experienced, but I just want it documented for me to look back on & remember.

A girl is on the way!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

This is how our baby was chilling yesterday. Hello, darling....

My boss was thrilled though. She's a yoga instructor & apparently our girl is doing a yoga stretch.

This also happens to be a stretch Weston does at night....

Also, her head looks huge. Good glory, help me. 

But the tech said that her body is bigger than it looks, just that she's all curled up!

Also, just like the entire pregnancy she continues to measure ahead of the estimated due date.

A week ahead! Either she's advanced or she's a Valentine's baby!

TMI?

In case you have not caught it, our baby is a GIRL! 

Looks like sugar & spice & everything nice at our house!

I cannot wait!

I wanted a girl SO bad. Now that I'm getting my daughter we can have as many sons as a man could want, but I just needed my little girl!

Weston is SO excited, too. He cannot wait to meet his baby girl! I cannot wait either. Seriously, I daydream about him being a dad. Do not tell him I told you, because he likes to act tough, but he is not. He is a total softy.

EVERYONE in my family has girls first. Dad's side, Mom's side. It is just the way we do.

Love it. Love it, love it.

I told the tech when we were going in that if we did not find out that I was going to go into a deep depression for 3 weeks until our next ultrasound...

She made a big gulp. Pressure's on, girlfriend.

She put the wand on my stomach & said. "Oh man, she's totally curled up in a ball, this is the worst possible position she could be in."

She started poking me, I laid on my side, this girl was NOT moving inside of me!

I have been feeling her moving around like crazy for the past couple weeks.

That little tease!

So, Weston decided she was napping.

Except she'd move her arm or her foot & her feet moved from right next to her head to up in the air like the picture above! Ah, she may have been difficult but the tech worked her magic & found out it's a little girl we're expecting! No judging if we later find out she's a he or something. hahahah It was not the most ideal photo conditions.

However she has the sweetest little face & hands & feet. The tech took pictures of them all, she was so nice to us. Somewhere between celebrating all the way through the hospital, out through the parking garage, & to our car, I dropped one of the pictures. I'm not sure which picture it was, but I am still sad about it. 

RIP picture of our baby.

But we have about 10 others. Our fridge is plastered w/ lots of different ultrasound pictures of our little girl.

K, now getting serious.

You know what's crazy? As we were trying to get pregnant I just felt like there was a little someone just waiting in heaven to join our family & I knew it was a little girl. I felt it so strong & I'd cry to Weston about it.

I was frustrated that she was supposed to be coming, but that it was not happening yet.

We got pregnant & I told myself I was going to make no predictions of what our baby was.

When it was our little girl, I knew it was the one we've been waiting for. It fit perfectly.

She fits perfectly & I am so excited to welcome her to our family. 

She is already so loved & so anticipated.

Now to find a name.

You can throw ideas out there if you want.

I have my top 3 favorites that are staying secret under lock & key, but picking names are hard!

I swear she won't have a name until a few hours after she's born.

Anyways, we are so excited I cannot even put it into words, I just thought I'd share some of this.

Love you all & thank you so much for your constant support & love!

We have the best family & friends.

Forreal.

Thanks to a coworker my "follow" button is back!

Feel free to start following my blog! The button to follow is in my left column.

TBT

In front of the house I lived in when I was a little person

I am blessed

For all the check-ups I've had, I have been calm & haven't had nerve issues since about 8ish weeks! So, just over 2 months hah. But yesterday I was nervous. It might have been the lack of sleep from the night before, but I was just a little nervous. I had been having lots of cramping, just like I have the entire pregnancy & was just really anxious to hear the baby's heartbeat!

We had the appointment & I forgot to ask about this horrible lower back pain I've had for a couple months now. It comes randomly & it's just sharp horrible pain that I feel like I'm just going to tip over from.

The appointment was quick & easy & then Dr. D took out the Doppler & put it right on my tummy & WOW the heartbeat was instant. Neatest thing in the world. Wow. The baby's heart is beating strong at about 150 bpm. We were so elated.

We're so excited to see our little bean in an ultrasound tomorrow.

Time has been ticking so slowly trying to get to that point!

We're hoping the tech will just check the gender while we're there, even though we're not there for the anatomy check! The last tech 2 weeks ago would not check for us!

I am so tired today I can't even think straight. We didn't wake up till 7:30, which is 15 minutes AFTER we were supposed to leave. Gah.

I feel like the walking dead today, but am still flying a little high off the baby's heartbeat. Just anxious for tomorrow & bedtime at 8p.m.

A he or a she?

Crossing our fingers that we find out on Thursday!!

Anyone have an idea?

I sure don't!

A mini-me?

via

A mini-Weston?

via

Currently Annie is playing on our lobby TV. I'm in heaven.

Seriously, singing these songs brings me pure joy. I still haven't convinced Weston to watch my Walmart $5 copy of it yet. He's never seen it. Hmph.

Plus, my poor coworkers, the daddy Warbucks' song is currently on. I'm scaring them all.

Introducing the magical scarf:

This is part of my uniform.

By uniform, I mean, one of my every-other-day-at-work outfit I wear.

Yesterday I probably got 10 compliments on it between coworkers & other wal-mart shoppers.

 Thanks for the boost everyone!

In other news, last night consisted of this:

The IV that I didn't think was necessary that I got to wear since 11p.m.

I was glad they took blood from it, otherwise that sucker was for nothing.

He was grumpy gills most of the time

He was concerned...but mostly tired hahah I felt SO bad & tried to convince him to go home to get sleep, but he wouldn't. The poor guy has so much to do today, too. We have an OB office visit & then he has 2 exams to take and about 3 math assignments.This kid can't catch a break. But he will in December. He just has to keep owning school till December!

We were really tired.

I had some weird symptoms around 10ish & finally called my OBs office just wondering if it's something to be concerned about. The nurse thought it could be a blood clot relativity & that she thought I needed to be checked out right away. I hadn't called Weston at this point, because he tends to be a worry wart. But I decided it was probably a good route to go since the nurse thought I should go in. Weston was nearing the end of a 12 hr L&D shift at the hospital. He had a REALLY great time working in Labor & Delivery. He was very surprised he enjoyed it as much has he did.

Anyways, since urgent cares were already closed I headed over to the hospital & he met me down at the ER. Convenient that he was already there.

Well they got us in right away & told us they'd take us back as soon as they could.... then ambulance after ambulance came. Oh my goodness. We were SO tired. Weston had been working hard all day & I had been up since 6a.m., worked a full day, then went & did wedding errands w/ my in-laws for my sister-in-law that's getting married in August. I got home & at dinner & cleaned up a bit, then went grocery shopping. To say I was fully beat was an understatement.

We were in the ER till about 3:30 then headed home.

'why am I still here?'

Slash, Weston was sleeping in his chair and I was just sitting on the gurney looking around the room waiting to get released!

Sleepppppyyyy

First item of business. The yummiest chicken sandwich of my life.

My dentist gave me 2 movie ticket vouchers and a $15 gift card to Smashburger.

SCORE.

Thank you, dentist!

Anyways, last weekend we finally got around to using those movie tickets & we saw Star Trek. It was amazing.

This week Weston & I took a few minutes to take a break after I got off work & he finished class & before he hit the library for the night.

We used our Smashburger card.

I got the avocado chicken burger.

UHM it was amazing.

Weston got a spicier beef alternative & loved it as well!

Our tummies were very happy with that meal! Best of all? Our total was $15.08

Just because I don't think my last picture showed my baby bump very well & I think it hid the actual bump because it didn't look like a bump to anyone, here's a new one. This dress is more fitted & shows it better.

4 months, baby!

We have the possibility of finding out the gender on Thursday.

To say I'm freaking out is an understatement. I'm so excited, I can't even stand it!

Time flies when you're having pigs!

Has it seriously been a year?

Golly, this boy's becoming a man in Mexico.

Or maybe a smaller man because he keeps getting parasites.

Gross.

I miss him so bad & am so proud of him!

I cannot wait till he gets back next year.

I'm giving him the best gift of all.

A child to spit-up on him.

You're welcome, Spence!