Sick

Last night while trying to sleep, I kept feeling like there were feathers from my duvet stuck in my throat, so I started coughing & coughing. Today, I sounded scratchy-throated all day, and I coughed a lot. Tonight I ate some ice cream, and then while brushing my teeth started coughing again and threw up some of my ice cream in the sink!!! WHAT? But I don't feel sick...I just have to keep clearing my throat and it's driving me insane. Anyone know what the heck is wrong with me? I am hoping it's just some fluke thing from sleeping with the windows open and the swamp cooler running. Maybe it's some weird allergy? Hmm. Last thing I need is to get sick. Lame-o.

Sparkly Anniversary Gift

Tee hee hee! Look what Rooby got for me! Wow, I feel guilty even wearing this ring around town! It is so pretty and (wait for it...) it's actually real-- I've never had a ring that cost more than $15 except for my grandmother's gorgeous wedding bands. Anyways, it is a light green quartz stone with a white gold band, and a few tiny diamonds around the stone and on the side. It's so pretty! I am still in awe! I had to take a picture of it and post it for the world to see! He wanted to get me a gift that would last a long time, and that could be something for me to pass down to our kids. AWWW. We went out for dinner to the new restaurant in town (called "Texas Roadhouse") and we couldn't have had a better dining experience. The server was fantastic, and so was our food! Everything came out so quickly, and it was great. Can't wait to go back! Anyways, today makes 3 years for us being married, and it really has been a great 3 years. I love this guy so much...he really is wonderful. I am so happy to celebrate our time together, and also to bring this new little bambino into our lives soon!

Latest Doctor Appt

Went to the ol' doc yesterday. Baby & mommy doing well! According to Mr. Ultrasound machine, baby jones' estimated weight is about 4 lbs, 11 oz. --Good gracious, he's a porker! :)-- According to myth, I can expect his birth weight to double by the time he's born, which puts him at about 9 lbs, 6 oz. Wonderful. My goal was to grow an 8 pounder, not a 9+ pounder! But I'm hoping that the machine is OVER estimating. It also is saying that I'm actually a week farther into my pregnancy than I really am, which COULD mean that I could have the baby a week earlier! COOL. That, I hope, is TRUE. But ya never know! It's fun to wonder about it...

By some miracle of God, my weight has remained the SAME for the last month. Wow. This, of course, is fabulous news to me, but not so great news to the doctor. She was taking it so seriously, and asking me tons of questions about the way I eat, and I couldn't stop laughing b/c it is the first time in my life where I can really eat what I want and not gain weight. Trust me people, I EAT! Just to make a point, the baby has gained a ton of weight in the last month, so that's good. Anyways, she's asking me questions and Reuben goes, "You're not throwing up, are you?" (as a joke) but I think he freaked the doctor out even more. It was pretty funny! But she did advise me to get 4 servings of dairy and 4 servings of protein a day (I'm really hurting in the dairy dept.), so that is my new goal to work on. I made myself drink a glass of milk and have some protein for breakfast today. I will now try to eat at least one serving of protein with my breakfast, since normally I just eat some sort of carbs and fresh fruit. Now I'll add some eggs or ham...you get the picture!

The Belly

Hello! Well I've been trying to take a picture of myself for weeks now, and I keep forgetting to do it. By the way, that is NOT my belly button poking out--it's a drawstring on my pants. I love these pants! They are like t-shirt material yoga pants (though I don't do yoga!). I'm loving being pregnant right now! It's so fun! The best part is not having to suck in my stomach! I can be proud of it!

Baby Room Progress

Ok here are two before pics and two after pics. We painted the walls and ceiling in the room. The flash on the camera makes the paint look a bit "greener" than it really is...but it is sort of a brownish green. Almost army camoflauge-like. Not EXACTLY what I had in mind from the paint swatch, but it actually looks pretty cool. The name of the paint is "toasted walnut" from Home Depot. We are currently trying to figure out what to do with the sub floor, b/c the one in there now has been installed incorrectly by the previous homeowner. But once we figure that out, I think the bamboo flooring is going to look absolutely amazing in there! So exciting!

FINALLY got the Stroller & CAR Seat!!!

Well, we finally decided on our carseat & stroller. I got Roob to come with me to BabiesRus (which he hates, since shopping for anything besides tools is boring) and take a look at the carseat I was interested in. We had an associate take a few out to our car to actually strap them into the car, to make sure they "fit" before I purchased it. Well, according to her the Chicco brand carseat is allowed to ride in the car with the carrying bar in the upright position, which gave me the extra room that I needed to have it fit in my Subaru Outback! YEAH, I'm so excited! So that took away all the stress of having to find a new car in a hurry, especially since we don't have the money to buy another one. Woo hoo! I also clarified a few things with her on the carseats and baby weight (which I had previously misunderstood). Basically, if we bought the infant carrier with a 30 lb. weight limit instead of the 22 lb. weight limit (like MOST of the carriers have), we have a REALLY good chance of being able to keep our baby in that same seat his entire first year, or until he hits 30 lbs. Then, once he's 30 lbs, we can go straight to a forward facing carseat, instead of having to buy what they call a "convertible" carseat (one that carries the baby either rear or forward facing). So what I'm trying to say is that by choosing the 30 lb weight limit seat, we are hopefully avoiding having to purchase an EXTRA carseat (which runs at least $200. So that is what we did.

At first I wasn't too sure about the color scheme on the fabric, but it's growing on me and now I think it's dang cute! It's pretty bright and fun! Roob really likes it, which also makes me happy. And it was nice to have him there so I couldn't turn into the ever famous "Captain Indecisivo." (for those of you that don't know, that is my nickname that Roob has given me since I can NEVER make up my mind about anything). :) hee hee. Oh I almost forgot the BEST part! I had some coupons for the stuff, so we ended up saving $40 on our purchase!!! That is freaking cool. I love saving money!

Baby Room Fabric, Singin' Time, and the Mom

Earlier today I went with my mom to the fabric store to pick out fabric to make a baby quilt, bumper pad, and throw pillow--maybe even a small window valance. We found some really great neutral colors...and nice combination of red, chocolate brown, cream, black, and tan prints. So cute together! (as you can see in the picture, although it's hard to see the actual detail of the prints, but at least you get an idea of the colors I am doing). I bought everything, and mom's job is to make it all! (I think I got the better end of the deal!) Hee hee I'm so excited about the baby stuff! It is going to be the best most darling present ever! Anyways, after that we went to Chilis and I had the yummy broc/cheese soup and a dinner salad. She had the SW Eggrolls, which are divine. Then we split a naughty dessert. All in all it was a fun day. She spent the night here last night b/c we drove up to Idaho yesterday to personally drop off a job application for her with Idaho State University. It was good to see the campus, and I think it just made her want to stay where she is even more :) She has some exciting possibilities in the religious education department, so we're hoping that works out since it's such a perfect fit for her.

I've been feeling pretty good lately, and so far have managed to avoid the dreaded stretch marks on my tummy! (hate to say that out loud). The crazy thing to me is that this baby could be here before Halloween, and that seems SO soon! So yeah, I'm getting excited but I'm also really nervous! It's a bit overwhelming. But of course I am thrilled to be pregnant!

Tonight I was asked to sing at a dinner party for our area's county Republican party. The people hosting the event go to my church, so they've heard me sing a few times and asked me to do the National Anthem. (Yikes! Tough song to sing if you're not Whitney Houston!) I've sung it once in public before, but I was still nervous....though totally flattered that they asked me. We (Roob and I) got there quite early, and even though it was held outside in a beautiful yard with lots of trees and shade, it was still quite warm outside for me and my prego self. But eventually it all began, and I got to get up and sing using the band's equipment (yeah they had a band). I sang acapella, and I thought I did a "good" job, though not my best. Well, apparently those in attendance thought it was "great." I had a couple of the band members come up to me and rave about my voice (wow) and also a few county legislators. I even had the state rep.'s wife go out of her way to come sit at my dinner table and tell me how much she enjoyed it, and that she asked where I lived, so when she needed a singer she would remember me and look me up! AWESOME. So of course my head is now swollen all huge with all these nice comments about my voice, and it just makes me want to sing and sing and sing. I was even gracious and accepted everyone's compliments without negating them. So I'm still on a high buzz about this evening, so I had to type about it. I really do wish I had more opportunities to sing. It's so fun!

Roob was so great, too. We were able to meet some of the legislators, and he was able to carry on some intelligent conversations about some big legal issues going on right now in our area (I'm so clueless). But I was so proud of him and his knowledge. It was really great. He is definitely the "on top of political things" person in our family!!!

Me and Meredith--Two Preggos!

My brother Michael was in town, and we met up for lunch at Chilis in Salt Lake City. He took this picture with his Blackberry. Thought I'd post it for y'all to see. For those who don't know, Meredith is my brother Nathan's girlfriend.

Latest Prego News

Well I had another prenatal appointment today. I had to wait FOREVER (about 2 hrs) to get in, which is frustrating, but it's becoming the norm. I suppose when I'm the one in labor and the midwife is at the hospital tending to me, all the waiting I'm doing now will be worth it to have her there then. I'm trying to be understanding!
I got tested for gestational diabetes (blood sugar test) today. They made me eat a 50 cent plain Hershey bar and also drink 8oz. of either apple or orange juice. Then an hour after that, they prick your finger and run the test. I was so nervous! But, alas, I "passed" the test and all is A.OK. Phew!
I also had to get my shot to prevent my rare blood type from attacking the baby--and I didn't even FEEL it! Awesome! I said to the nurse, "are you sure you did it?" That was better than expected! I believe I'll get one more shot after the baby is born just to make sure I'm good there.
Kathy (midwife) recommended that I start asking around and trying to find a pediatrician that I like. That will be a task! I wonder how I will meet them and determine that? I'm sure they're not up for actually "meeting" with me! Hmmm...well I'll get started on this, I guess.
The other major miracle is that I've only gained .4lb in the last 2 weeks. That's amazing! I am soooo happy about this news! Woo hoo!

Sisters' Retreat 2007

Well, here's a few pics from this year's annual Sisters' Retreat. It's my mom and all her sisters, and their daughters ages 14 and up. You can tell mom was sure having a blast during karaoke night! ha ha ha I think these are too funny! There is a group shot of all of us, and also an outside shot of Uncle Joe's Cabin in Heber City (or should I say LODGE? It is HUUUGE). Joe is Reuben's uncle. He was gracious enough to let us use it for nothing! What the??? My aunts/cousins took way more pictures than I did, so when they send them to me I'll post some of those.

We had so much fun! We sang karaoke, Roob took us out on the boat one afternoon, we hit up the Park City outlets, cruised main street, and survived some serious thunderstorms (unusual for Utah). We also just cooked meals together, played lots of scattergories, and just chit-chatted. It's so nice to see everyone each year! But this year Eydie couldn't make it, so we missed her.