Birth Story

Well it has almost been two weeks so I guess I should probably get this all written down before I start to forget the details of the day.  Sadly, as many of you know labor never started for us.  As sad as it was, we had the understanding that our favorite doctor would induce on Thursday, December 1st. 

Now before we get into this lets talk about birth plans.  As Lillie is my first child I had no idea what to expect, so we really never made up a birth plan.  Instead we talked between the two of us as to what I really did NOT want to happen.  Remember dear readers:  I am deathly afraid of needles.  

• Did not want to be induced.  I have heard that labor during induction is more painful and intense.
• Really didn't want them to break my water.  Have heard that this really hurts.
• Dreading an epidural, but understood that I would really want one.  Hello NEEDLES!
• Cathedar...really didn't want one, kinda hoped we could make it without one
• C-Section.  Uh, duh this is a HECK NO!  My mom had all of her children via c-section as her pelvis was too small to deliver.  Lucky her however, she was given a general each time so she never had to live through the whole being awake while they have cut into you. 

7:00 a.m.  Arrive at the hospital for our induction.  David and my mom came with me.  We had an awesome nurse who made sure I felt comfortable and explained exactly what would be happening.  Not sure if this was for my benefit or that of the nursing student she had following her around.  Soon after we arrived they started my i.v.  Poor David, he had no idea how afraid I really was.  We had talked about my fears, but he has never been with me during a needle attack.  As the nurse approached my mom realized that I was about to loose it so she offered to come hold my hand.  By the time David realized what was happening I was surrounded by nurses and mom, so he got stuck at the foot of the bed rubbing my feet.   Just after the i.v. was placed he had to leave for school as he had a test he had to take.  We had believed that our induction would be later in the day so he had scheduled his test for first thing in the morning. 

8:02  Literally minutes after David walked out the door in came our Doctor.  He checked everything and decided that it was time to break my water.  As this was our first and I was not sure how fast things would proceed (that and I was scared) I asked the doctor to please wait until my husband reappeared.  Doc was not necessarily excited about this but he did as I asked and left for surgery.  Pit was administered at this point and once again they encouraged me to get my epidural as soon as possible.  Once again, I felt that I should wait, kinda wanted to see if I could withstand the pain and maybe make it without one.  David was back with in the hour and we continued to wait.

10:45  Doctor returns.  David has left the room (to go to the bathroom) once again.  After checking things out we have finally started to dialate and have now progressed to a 3.  Water was then broken.  Didn't hurt at all, just felt really gooey.  It was then that we learned that she had had a bowel movement (aka she pooped) in the womb and there was a considerable amount of meconium in the water.  The doc and nurses remained calm and explained the complication to me and that we would have an extra couple of people in the room during delivery to watch out for our daughter.  He then placed what he called 'babies first toy,' a foley cathedar into the womb, which would flush out the bad water and replace it with clean amniotic fluid so the baby was less likely to breath in the bad when she was born.  At this point I asked for my epidural (unless you are the doctor then it is called a happy-dural).

11:00  A very nice epidural man comes into place the contraption.  Gotta say as much as I dislike needles, I really liked this guy, he gives great back rubs!  Didn't take too long and the epi was placed.  After checking for problems he gave me some meds and left me to continue along my way.  Give or take ten minutes later I started to cry because of a blinding pain in my right side.  The nurse ran and grabbed Dan the epi man and as he returned he said the now dreaded words, "it didn't work."  Back up the the edge of the table I went and he tried again, and again, and a few more agains.  Eventually admitting defeat a new epi man appeared and he tried four more times before we were able to successfully administer the epidural.  In all it took 12 tries and 2 hours to place...all while the contractions were getting stronger and stronger because oh yes, that's right, the pitocin was turned up too high.  Ooops.

Eventually things calmed down, the epidural is my new best friend.  Honestly, getting it placed was not that bad.  I was all for them continuing the poking as longs as they took the pain away.  After sending my support crew (by this point Dad, Mom, David, and Stacy who had just left for work) to get themselves some lunch my nurse returned to place the cathedar.  No fun stories there.  Then we sat and waited the afternoon away.  At one point the nurse thought were were at a 5+ and at 6:00 she left for the day. 

6:00 brought on a new nurse who was agast at the state of my room.  she cleaned the room up and prepared the baby warmer, stating that this was the real reason that the baby had not yet arrived.  As she checked our progress we were sad to hear that she would not consider us to be as dialated as previously thought, instead she placed us at a 4.  Not so excited by this news we continued to wait as we started to notice that the monitor was loosing the babies heat rated.  Continually moving the monitor and even holding it in place proved not to help, this is where the nurse started to worry.  What little bit of information we had was showing her heart rate as much lower than we wanted.  At first the nurse told us not to worry as this just meant that the baby was starting to feel the 'squeeze,' and that she should be here soon.  But as we watched the heart rate continued to drop and for longer periods of time.  At this point the doctor was contacted. 

7:00  Dr. Melendez arrived from the other hospital and checked the computer feeds.  He decided to place a monitor on the baby to better track her heart beat.  At this point I have cords and cables all over my body, made it very awkward each time I tried to move.  After placing the monitor the doctor told me he did not like how low the heart rate was and that if it continued or dropped much lower we would be rushing to the operating room for a c-section.  Not gonna lie, at this point in the game I started to freak out.  I remember shaking, alot, crying, and asking for strength.  David and my dad gave me a blessing of strength and comfort and away we went. 

As I entered the operating room I remember being very afraid that the epidural was not working.  To reassure me they kept pinching me and rubbing me down with cold towels.  Dan my dear anesthesiologist was there calming and talking to me, explaining what would be happening.  As they started the surgery David entered the room and sat on his 'throne' at my head.  My strength proved to be my husband as he did his best to be a calming force, he talked, he soothed, he shushed, he even sang to me and disgusted me with the fact that he got the words wrong!  When I called him on this he admitted that he was just trying to distract me from what was actually happening.  It was not long into the actually surgery before I suddenly yelled out that I could feel what they were doing and that it hurt.  Dan reminded me that it was just pressure not pain that I could feel.  I quickly assured him that, NO, this was pain and I know the difference.  At this point I started to cry out and swear, apologize, and swear some more.  Dan asked more than once if I would be able to deal with the pain, to which I asked how much longer would it last?  I figured if it was only a minute or two I would be okay, but if it were much longer I probobly would not be able to.  Crying I told Dan that I did NOT want to be put to sleep, to which he reassured me he did not want to put me under as I was a high risk for anesthesia. 

It was around this point that I heard the doctor comment that they were too the baby, they had her head and were pulling her out.  Silence followed.  Scared I asked why she was not crying, almost instantly after asking this she let out her cry.  David turned to me only to see his wife dead to the world.  Before he could get to worried Dan reassured him that I had been given a sedative and I would be just fine.  It was then that David was able to focus on our beautiful daughter and go with her. 

Eight minutes later I awoke, no husband, no baby, and almost completly sewn back up.  The doctor joked with me that he wanted to rename my child Elfaba, as she had come out completly green from the meconium.  I was told about how beautiful she was, her head of dark hair, and how I would be reunited with her soon enough. 

All in all it was a day to grow up, to confront all of my greatest fears, and confront we did.  David proved he would be my strength through it all and we have a beautiful little angel in our lives.  Sorry the photo is so horrible, it really does not do her justice.

Announcing Lillie Mae Dexter

Born:  7:46 p.m.

7 lb 6 oz.

19.5 inches

The Beginning in the End

Well, this is it.  One last night of just two, one last late night rushing around getting things done and enjoying sometime with my husband.  One last attempt at a solid nights sleep.  Today was one last trip to the grocery store without a care in the world, one last long relaxing soak in the tub, and one last sleeping in until 10 a.m.  With all of these lasts you would think that we were pretty depressed, instead we can't wait to throw it all out of the window, in fact, we wish that it would have ended a few weeks ago.  Funny ain't it?

Tomorrow morning at 7:00 we begin a new journey.  That's right, one of my biggest fears is now being faced, at 7:00 we are being induced.  My sweet little one will officially be evicted from my body.  Not going to lie, I am scared and yet excited at the same time.  Hope and despair come in alternating waves.  Currently we are floating back towards despair....but earlier today things were all rosy. 

Well I had planed on posting a lot more, but it is getting late and David has finished his assigned task so it is off to bed so we can attempt to get a good nights sleep....HA yeah right, like that's gonna happen.

Pregnancy

Well, this is it.  40 weeks of excitement.  280 days of wondering and dreaming, and yet....she is still not here.  I am going crazy!  In all honesty this has basically been a dream pregnancy.  I haven't been very sick, unless you count falling asleep at the drop of a hat a sickness.  Lost weight until the third trimester, now slowly gaining it back.  David has been very supportive of my every request and I know he is very very excited for her birth. 

He said the cutest thing the other day.  We were driving to our appointment when he turned to me and told me he is tired of being in 'baby limbo.'  He has been discussing this with a friend at work about how they as fathers just want their babies out!  They are tired of being pregnant and just want their daughters to be here.  I love how excited he is, how much he obviously loves her already, and honestly I can't wait to see the look on his face when he meets her for the first time.

Sadly I doubt she is coming today, and not tomorrow, prob not for who knows how long.  I started maternity leave on Monday, and am really glad I did.  This week has been wonderful, I have accomplished so much, spent time with family, and had 'me' time.  For the past three weeks we have been stuck at a one, and honestly I think I may burst into tears if the doctor says one on Monday.  We are basically as ready as we can be, not much more we can do.  Guess we should just focus on the approaching holidays and how to make them all that we can, all the while hoping each and every day that our little star will make an appearance in our lives. 

Ooops....sorry.

Well, kinda fell off of the face of the earth there for a bit.  Wish I could complain that I was just too busy.  Truthfully it is more like too lazy.  You see, in case you didn't notice, I am pregnant, and while most people experience morning sickness, I have developed something I like to call "Sleeping Sickness."  It hits anytime of the day and or night, and can affect a few minutes or an entire afternoon.  Most days I rather enjoy it.  The only problem I have found with this is thus:  Lots of sleep=messy/dirty/cluttered house.  Totally sucks. 

Other than that this pregnancy has been pretty great.  Had very few bad symptoms.  Our little one is very laid back and calm.  There are times that I don't like that particular aspect as I worry about her constantly.  Without fail, she will wait to just the last second to prove her existence and that she is just fine.  If I happen to be extra stressed and upset about something, it is these times that she makes her presence known, just enough to calm me back down.  David seems to think that she will be a 'pistol,' having experienced her calming presence I disagree.  Guess time will tell which she will actually turn out to be. 

Time Travel #4-The End

The Nursery....Or what will beome it at least.  From beginning to end.

The very begining.  This is from when we first moved into our apartment. 

The scary disaster that had become my sewing room.   Before

After the great purge.

Look a new chair!  Oh and my belly.  This is June 29th-at 19 (18) weeks (the number changed when we had our July ultrasound and they moved our due date.

A better view of the baby belly.

Daddy cleaning 19 years of dust.

Figuring out how to assemble the crib-sans instructions.

Removing the crib to add clear coat.  You would think we'd have thought to do that first before assembling inside.  Oh well, we were excited.

Time Travel #3

Family misc....

Sadly a death.  During a freak windstorm in June (actually on the day we found out we were having a girl-June 16th) my grandparents 50 year old pine tree fell over.  Now days it seems pretty bare without that tree at the entrance to their home.  At the same time, no more pinegum on our cars!

Discussing the tree in the garage.  We spend more time out there than we do in the house!

Lesson:  Sunscreen is our friend.  Sadly the blisters would get much  much worse as the days went by. 

Great turnout for Grandma Fox's 100th birthday. 

The Centurian herself with the daredevil daughter.

Adorable Grandpa irrigating.  I love this one.

Time Travel #2

Craftiness:  random acts of craftiness/homemaking (except that of the nursery nature-those are still yet to come in Time Travel #4) that have happend in the past six months.

Quilt class taken by mom and I at Gracie Lou's.  I love how the three different quilts are so different.  Shows the taste of each person.  Funnily enough I did all of the work on the two white quilts and finished the tan one for mom when she said she was going to throw it away.

 



I obviously did not drive the tractor but here is Dad n' Oaklie getting the garden ready for the summer.  This is the last time those Cherry trees will blossom as that land was sold too the Mall this summer.  Sad Sad Sad day.

My first ever Shephards Pie, or as my family calls it, Crapitory

Family sized Spanish Tortilla.  Yummy in my tummy.

One of the many works in progress, here is what it will look like finished.

My girlfriend Diana's Quilt.  She finished it right before leaving on her mission.  It was her first and she did an awesome job!

Making tomatoe juice.  David has become a pro now.  I even got to be the official seasoner.  This is a year for firsts.

Couldn't resist.  Mom telling one of her stories while waiting for the juice.

The previously before seen Dilbert.  sans Eyes.

The previously before seen Diaper bag.  Still excited it is 'finished.'

Time Travel #1 March

Well, I finally did it.  I caved and bought a new camera uploader cord thingy.  Here's the problem, I have not uploaded any photos since early March so you all are in for a bit of a photo bomb.  David decided that we should organize them a bit so I am breaking the posts into smaller 'mini' photo bomb stories for your enjoyment or torture, you be the one to decide.

Visiting the Dexter family in March.

David only wishes he had feet this big!  Just kidding.  This thing was awesome, its at the museum and is made out of license plates.  We were very amused.

And you thought you had gotten away without seeing one of these photos.  Still can't quite believe it myself, and when I took this photo I was hyperventalating a bit.  Neatest part about the whole thing is that we found out while visiting David's family at his Grandparents house.

David and Stephen at the Metal Zoo in FT. Collins.  This place is intense.  The guy takes junk and turns it into art.  I posted a few of my favorites.

Every time we drive by this I am completly amused.  It is a tree growing out of a rock in the middle of I-80.  There are even off ramps to it and signs explaining what it is.  This time I made David stop so I could check it out like a real tourist.

Diaper Bag

What do you think?  How does mine add up to the 'professional?'

Diaper Bag....CHECK!

For any interested this is My Favorite Things and I bought the pattern and fabric at Gracie Lou's in Salem Utah.
http://gracielousquilts.blogspot.com/

My Famous Husband

http://www.fox13now.com/videobeta/1e219723-010e-4ed0-b813-d8e427809dde/News/UVU-students-make-cr-me-anglaise

July

Lets see, where did we leave off in the updates?  July.  Lets see what happened during the month of July? 




Work:  Work was a complete nightmare during the entire month of July.  We were remodeling the Valley View Room, something which was much anticipated and now has taught me that I will never build/remodel my own place (at least if it means I have to hire a contractor).  We moved all of the 'necessary items' down to the food court and 'merged' business with them for the month.   Needless to say by the end of the month EVERYONE was glad to see us go.  David's work continued to be great.  He has a wonderful boss and co-workers.  He looks forward to going to work and gets anywhere between 38-50 hours per week which has been great.  I am truly grateful that he was able to get this job, especially at this point in our marriage where a little more financial stability is much needed for my sanity, or at least what is left of it. 


Family:  My family did not do much that I can think of during the month of July.  We had a BBQ for the fourth with the Cordners, that was a lot of fun.  That evening we went to Magna for the Dexter annual Fireworks extravaganza.  David's cousins put on an insane show where tanks battle it out and there are random explosions.  The excitement for the newly legalized areal fireworks spread to the family and we had those as well.  Granted they were not so much fun when one tipped over and erupted into the crowd.  All in all it was good to see the family.  David has two cousins that are also expecting children in the next few months.  Actually, one should already be here.  Life in the Dexter clan is always hopin and the addition of three little ones will be no exception.


In the middle of the month we
July 23rd we were able to celebrate our two year anniversary.  Someone asked me if we were out of the hard part yet and honestly I don't know.  The first year of marriage we were so polite and cautious of causing problems that we each bottled everything inside.  The second year was the exact opposite.  We are ourselves and snap whenever needed.  I prefer the second as bottling led to a lot of resentment and problems.  I would rather we snap over the small things and get over them before they become something even bigger...you know?  Anyway, David made reservations at the hotel we went to for our honeymoon.  I love this place it is luxurious and not expensive, close to everything and easily assessable.  We spend Saturday in Park City shopping, and can I just say the baby made bank!  Sunday we checked out of our hotel and spent the day at the zoo.  David had never been to Hogle Zoo before so that was fun, just blasted hot.  After that we headed home and slept the rest of the day.  It felt wonderful to relax and be pampered and I will admit I wish we could go again, and again, and again. 


For the Twenty-Fourth we spent the day with my family, kind of.  We attended the Fiesta Days parade, booths, food, relaxed in the cool basement, more food, saw the community theater version of Hairspray, and then went home to crash.


 Later in the month the Dexters had their three year Dexter reunion.  This included family that I had yet to meet.  You see, the Dexters, unlike my family, are spread from California clear too Tennessee (about six months ago I could have said Germany...but that distance has now been bridged).  It was fun to meet everyone, especially my doppelganger.  David's cousin Orion married a really nice girl named Kayde.  That's right there are two of me!  I still claim to be the original but he says that she claims the same thing.  David's family all came down for the reunion and spent a couple of nights at our place.  Let me say the addition of five extra people in a small two bedroom apartment was quite the feat.  We were able to drive up each night for the family firesides before returning to the daily grind.


Baby: As previously stated we found out in June that we were having a girl.  It was not our 'official' pronouncement of gender but we were excited none the less.  July 11th we went in for our twenty two week ultrasound/anatomy check and gender analysis.  Well, we learned a few things, and changed a few things.  During the ultrasound the doctor was impressed with her strong heartbeat and how perfectly formed she was.  Thank you, thank you apparently I know how to bake 'em.  He had a bit of problem actually getting a shot for the gender, but when he did it was golden.  We definitely have a little girl on our hands, there were no if, ands, or anything else to complicate that matter.  The only issue came up when he started measuring her for growth.  Our little tatertot is in the 3rd percentile, technically she is below it and that is a big concern.  If she is really measuring that small it means that something is wrong and he wants to send us to a specialist.  I explained to him how we received our due date and he left to look at our past ultrasound.  When he returned he said that she was actually measuring true to the past ultrasound and that he feels that our due date is off.  At this point I was very relieved and did not care that he was pushing us back about a week.  Really, she will come when she wants to come.  So as of now we are not really expecting a tatertot, but a Turkey!  David had no idea how true it would be when he told me one day my 'turkey timer' would pop (belly button) to show us when she is done baking.  Hopefully that is still a ways off however. 


Early in the morning on July 28th I lay as I felt our turkey kungfu fighting with my insides.  I noticed that these kicks were particularly strong and so I grabbed Davids hand and placed it on my stomach.  Until this point he had never felt her move and I was still in awe that anything of the sort was happening inside of me.  Well he felt her alright, it was awesome.  I am still pretty excited but we can't get her to do it to him often as every time he places his hand on my stomach she becomes completely still.  I think its pretty funny.


Well thats about all I have for now, and you don't want to read anymore so I will update August next time (hopefully a lot sooner too!)

The epic long saga of June

After a few insane weeks it looks as if life is almost back to 'normal.'  Honestly it has been so long that I don't even remember what normal is anymore.  I guess that is a good thing as life is about to be turned completely upside-down once our little one arrives. 

After two weddings, a road trip, and a bit of food poisoning, I think everything is going great.  This second trimester has been interesting.  Didn't have many symptoms before, save exhaustion, and they seem to be even fewer and farther between. Time to catch you up on what has been happening the past couple of months:

May:  My cousin Marielle got married.  Mom and I were in charge of the refreshments at her wedding.  All drama aside it was an amazing backyard wedding and the food turned out gorgeous.  Mom pushed herself WAY to hard and was in bed the next day.  I was there along side her and we slept the rest of the weekend away. 

June:  David started his new job with a local restaurant called Communal.  This is a huge blessing.  He was getting maybe six hours a week.  Don't even get me started about that one.  Truth be told he is taking a full load of classes this summer to bring up his GPA in order to MAYBE get an internship with this company with the end goal of making a good impression and getting a job.  Well....he just skipped a few steps and got the job anyway.  He loves it.  The guys are great.  Most of them are LDS and married which allows for them to all understand each other and get along great.  Unlike many other kitchens it doesn't tend to get lewd or vulgar in its joking (at least not that I have noticed or that he has pointed out.)  Communal is a part of Heirloom Restaurant Group, currently they own Pizzaria 712 (my personal favorite restaurant!), Communal, and Heirloom Catering Co.  David says there is talk of even a possible bakery in the future.  From things I have heard from past employees this company is run by two chefs who worked up at Sundance.  They decided that there were no good local restaurants.  All Provo and Orem seem to have are 'box' straunts to eat at.  After tasting their inventions I agree and agree whole stomachly!  I love these guys.  They make everything on site, buy locally and support other local business doing the same thing.  With their plans for growth in the area we are hoping that this could turn into a career.  Check them out.   They are different but you will not regret the experience.  

On other news the Dr. did not allow me to go to girls camp after all.  The venue was changed last minute, which would cause me to do alot of hiking.  He was all on board with me going camping but completely against any hiking.  I had to agree with him, I have never been known as a coordinated person.  It turned out that not going to camp was actually a good thing.  My cousin Abbie got married the first weekend of June.  We went to St. George for her wedding.  It was amazing.  Proves how powerful the sealing power really is.  After the ceremony and luncheon we did a bit of shopping and watched as my aunt and uncle said good by to their oldest son and his family.  They are moving to Texas for medical school.  Afterwards my uncle took us to his office and took a peek at our little one.

All little bitty of our Irish step dancer.  The entire time we were doing the ultrasound the baby did not stop dancing its little legs around.  It was really neat.  My younger brother Todd was able to be there, and that was a neat experience to share with him.  We got a couple of good shots, no this is not my prostate as the photos would have you believe.    After our wonderful time at the office we headed out to dinner and back to grandma and grandpa's for the night.  The next morning we enjoyed a huge breakfast prepared by grandma and headed on our way home.  

Seems the drive was what tried to do me in.  I have never had problems with motion sickness of any type, but somehow I could hardly handle the four hours it took us to make the trip.  We no more made it to mom and dads before I had to rush in and loose what little lunch I had eatten.  This continued for the rest of the day.  Poor David was a trooper and took care of me like no one else.  Come to find out Todd got sick later that night and it was decided we had gotten food poisoning, and that David just has an iron stomach.    

After this it seemed to be one thing after another at work and the rest of the month just ran on by.  Another fun side note was the 2011 Shop Hop.  Mom, David and I went to as much of it as possible.  David seemed to win a prize at the games at every store (which worked for me as the prize usually got handed to me) and I ended up winning $100.00 to my favorite quilting store Gracie Lou's in Salem.  Mom was pretty mad about this but in the end she calmed down as she also won $100.00 at the Corn Wagon (because I put her name in when she wouldn't...hehehe). 

During all of the ShopHop insanity we decided that we MUST know the gender of the Dexter to be.  We were able to find an independent ultrasound tech who could fit us in for an appointment.  It took her a woppin 10 minutes....IF that and we had our answer.  ITS A GIRL!  Now lets just hope that gender doesn't change before our next ultrasound next week.  Fingers Crossed.  Sorry it has taken so long to post.  I have a ton of pictures and seem to have lost my uploading cable...oops.  I kept telling myself when I find it I would post but as an entire month has passed by with out so much as a how do you do, I couldn't wait no longer. 

Heartbeat

Well a month and a few worries later I was able to go in for my next doctors appointment.  This past week my stomach has been feeling very sore, and I have been experiencing sharp 'gas'-like pains.  You know like when you have had surgery and they have pumped air into your body.  Yeah, NOT fun.  I arrived a bit late to the appointment so I was put straight into my room where the doctor came in and tried to find the little heartbeat.  It took a while.  He could not find it at first and I was slightly worried.  Could those pains have been the beginning of a miscarriage?  Another part of me worried that he would not find it because I had to much fat blocking the way. 

Eventually he found my heartbeat and then a strong rapid fire baby beat appeared.  It was at this time that I remembered that I wanted to record the event as David had not been able to make it to the appointment.  The doctor readily agreed and grabbed the camera for me.  Thus started the search again.  We tried the same spot, moved a bit, moved to the other side, and tried again.  No luck.  Every time we would get close and hear a little something the baby would move away.  By the end the doctor and I were both laughing at the fuilty of attempting to capture this beautiful sound.  Sadly David was not able to hear the heartbeat.  However, we do know that we have a mover on our hands.  Hopefully we can see that on our next ultrasound.

In other news:  School ended the last week of April.  David got great grades and is pumped to begin his next semester in the culinary program.  I on the other hand am a little nervous about how I will be able to handle him working and going to school when I have a new baby to deal with.  Oh well, that's life I guess.  This month things at work got out of control on David's front.  He finally caved and applied for a new job.  (I have been begging him to do just this for months.)  Lucky for him he happened to catch the owner for our favorite restaurant group Heritage Restaurant Co. at Communal.  He was interviewed on the spot, asked to come back for a second, and quickly asked if he would mind a working interview.  Long story short, he got the job!  He starts the 6th of June and is WAY excited.  In all honesty this is our dream job.  If he can work with this company and they are as good as we have heard, he may be able to work his way up and we can stay in the valley.  I'm praying for just this. 

Ta DAH!

I did it!  I was able to finish scanning all 200+ photos for my mom's crazy projects.  I can't really make fun of her projects though as they are all good idea, just mean a lot of work for me.  We are scanning a whole bunch of old family photos for a digital photo frame she gave my grandma for her birthday (in October...oops) and then I was volunteered to make a wedding video for a lady she works with.  Granted the video is going to make me money so I should have jumped on this and had it done by now.  What can I say, exhaustion makes a great excuse? 

The past month has been insane.  Between barely being able to put one foot in front of the other once I get home from work, helping push David through the last bit of classes, try to tie up a few loose ends for work and home, visit with out of town (and in for that matter) family and friends, work work work, SLEEP, and an attempt at seeing my significant other...yeah its been a mite crazy.  The sad thing is I have spent HOURS on the computer and much of that on blogger, stalking other people...just not updating my own.  Yes I am guilty and I am here on Easter Sunday asking for your forgiveness. 

We were able to go Friday and see our little Tatertot.  I am currently convinced it is a boy (that way I am right, or pleasantly suprised when it is a girl).  I have had a hard time with this the past few weeks and feel as if I am a horrible mother.  While I have been trying to eat better, and have stopped drinking the nectar of the gods, Diet Coke, the whole experience still seems very surreal.  Does that make sense?  I have little to no symptoms (which is great don't get me wrong), unless you count actually listening to my body and its fatigue, I am loosing weight (15 lbs and counting)-which is nice, and had yet to have a real doctor confirm it.  So here we are at the doctor on Friday, we meet our new practitioner, great fellow, and are able to see said tatertot.  Well, I saw him, saw the heartbeat, and...well it still does not feel real.  I'm currently wondering when the sense of surrealism will wear off and I can come to terms with reality.  My guess is in about twenty or so years.

Our current Due Date is scheduled for November 18th.  Which means no black Friday shopping for me.  Cool thing is we will definitely have something extra to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, even it its a bit late.  Even neater is the idea that IF (BIG IF) we go early, we could have our baby on 11-11-11....I wish.  Doc says everything looks normal and good so we will keep praying for that.  He sees no complications and I hope to keep it that way.  Either way our little tatertot will soon be here to make a whole lot more complicated. 

Cutest thing.  David just asked me at how old does a child need to be before going to Disneyland.  Awwww I have a keeper.  So excited!

Well...its official...we have an IT!  All 10 weeks of it.  My favorite part of the little jelly bean look'n object is its adorable legs stickin up.  More later, gotta finish scannin stuff for a huge family/etc project.  I WILL get these finished today!

March

Wow what a month! I did not realize that I have not updated in an entire month. Oops. Lets see what has happened?

• Beginning of the month: I finally went to the doctor. As expected there is something wrong. I really like this guy, he explained things to me and actually listened to what I had to say. I even let him take my blood and did not cry, or faint! Instead I agreed that we needed to set up an appointment for a scope to the tummy and sadly a colonoscopy as well. My only requirement was that we wait to do the scope until May as I did not want to take anymore time off of work. This kinda confused him and eventually he agreed as he gave me yet another medication. We will see how that helps.


• Middle of the Month: SPRING BREAK! We went to Cheyenne for spring break to visit David's family. It was great. We were able to relax and spend time with the family as well as sight see and visit a bit more of the city while we were there. During this time we started to have a strange inkling that there might be something about to change in our lives and decided to follow up on our thought. Surprise, surprise, the test was positive. We should soon become a family of three on November 18th, 2011. Totally not expecting this one. Read what happened at the beginning of the month....yeah. I am supposed to be having surgery not poppin a baby! The sad part is I had just decided that I did not want to get pregnant as I would feel like a single mom with the way David's schedule is going as of late. It totally sucks. Oh well. Things happen on someone elses plan not our own right? The plan was to keep it under wraps until Easter....yeah, come to find out we are really bad at keeping secrets. We spilled, and fast. It took about a week and the cat was out of the bag. Hence my post. I have been abstaining from posting as I knew my fingers would become traitors and tell you.


• End of the Month: I is tired. How bout you? Slept for 14 hours straight this weekend and still just want to rest. Looks like its going to be a fun eight months.

Parade of Homes

As tradition states February brings a wonderful trip with my Mom and younger brother Todd. Normally the youngest sibling, Brent, comes but he up and abandoned us to go on a mission for the church....selfish huh?!? I look forward to this trip every year, sadly it almost got canceled due to the weather. David put his foot down and told me no matter what we would be going. Part of the drive this time was to be gone while our tub was re-caulked. Over time the caulking was separating and mold could be seen in the back.

The vacation was just what the Dr. ordered...well not literally but she would have if I gave her the chance. The time spent in the car was my favorite part of the trip. Mom and I spent the trip down talking about everything under the sun, while the drive to the different houses held a lot of joking, teasing, and general bonding. I would not trade that time for a million dollars.

After we returned we settled back into the sludge of life. Sunday my mothers great-uncle passed away. I do not remember him at the reunions but we did go visit his wife, Aunt Kathleen, before Christmas and I really felt for her loss. I took the day off to attend the funeral. I rode up with Grandma and Grandpa, enjoying their banter back and forth. After we went to dinner I ran an errand and came back to go through family history pictures with them. It was one of the best three hours of my life. I need to sit down and write out stories for each of the pictures they told me about. I have been thinking, as I have SO much free time (don't know if that was sarcastic or not), there are a lot of crafty type things that I want to start working on....build upon my talents so to speak. Here is the current plan:

1. break the week up into different days. CHECK.

2. assign one project per day. Example: Monday-Sewing, Tuesday-Cleaning, Wednesday-Family History, Thurs-Sat...keep empty cause you know I didn't do anything the previous days of the week.

So far this plan is working out to my benefit. I am now in the middle of three quilts, have played around on Ancestry.com and have watched a plethora of t.v. House work...well it still needs some help.

David has been hard at work in his culinary classes. He finished the first class with a solid A-. This semester he leaves for class around 5:30 a.m. for this second block., attends class until 12:00 when he heads home to do a little homework until he has to work or pick me up. I return home to do whatever needs to be done and finally see David around 10:00 p.m. when he gets home for the night and we crash. All in all the weekend is our only together time and is therefore jealously guarded. When times get tough I just think to myself...it could be A LOT worse, we are living a very comfortably, and it will all be over in two years. December 2012 can not get here fast enough!

Well this is about all I can think of on our updates. Hope all is well in your lives and will hopefully update soon.