Prepping for Baby!

Well, I am pregnant! Have been for 7 months, and we are expecting on February 25, 2013. We are going to have a beautiful baby girl joining our family and we are oh so excited!

June 17, 2012

Since I haven't done anything for the longest time, I will just do a little recap:

We found out that we were pregnant on June 17, Fathers day and Mark's Birthday.  Our families found out a little while later, except for my brother, Alex who only just found out on October 24 when he came home from his mission.

We found out that we were having a baby girl in October, and announced it at a cupcake party with a few friends and family. (In the yellow sweatshirt--I had just finished playing a volleyball game with a few friends from work) This is me on the night that we found out that our baby was going to be a girl! I am 19 1/2 weeks along, hardly showing at all.


The pictures taken in the red shirt are from when I was about 20 weeks, still just a little baby bump showing.

At 20 weeks I had only gained 7 pounds, and now at 30 weeks, I am up 20 pounds. Baby girl has really been growing so fast! I can feel her move and jump around all the time. She usually moves the most when it is about lunch time and I am sitting at my office desk and trying to get close to the keyboard--then she will throw a few jabs upwards into my ribs. She sure is getting strong!

I also made this paper chain to count down the days till Baby Girl arrives. I think it was close to 150 chain links long, looping around the bedroom. Now we are down to two loops!

Other than that, Mark and I have finished our "Prepared Childbirth" class and so now all we have to do is make sure that we are ready for the big day in 10 weeks! It is so exciting, but man am I getting nervous and anxious for that day to come!

Catching up

Mark and I have been pretty busy these past few months. Mark has been studying so hard for him MCAT. We are 3 weeks away as of today. He is getting nervous, but I have full confidence that he is going to be so great!

This is me after my first day of work!

I started a new job on March 1st! I am having a great time so far, and have made some good friends there. They are all so wonderful and kind, and I am fitting in quite well-plus the money is absolutely worth it! Mark and I already spent all of my first paycheck, but we are eagerly awaiting our next!

We were called to be Primary teachers in our ward. We teach 8-9 year olds. They were pretty crazy at first, but since we added some class rules and goals, they have been able to sit in their chairs and Mark and I don't come home feeling like we didn't accomplish anything! I have also been working in our Stake Musical "The Most Wonderful Story of All." We had our first performance last night and it went well, so I have high hopes for tonights performance. But I will definitely be glad when it is over.

Other than a new job, apartment, and city, we are doing the same, and still getting settled down.

2012: here we come!

Before getting into things in 2012, I want to tell a little about our 1st Anniversary. We don't have much, but Mark was able to plan and organize our celebration with a trip to the temple at the same time, same place, and same date as the day we were married! It was so sweet, and we had a wonderful time! We also took a tour of the Gingerbread house display in the visitor center and they were remarkable. The one we loved the best was the one in the picture. Guess what movie it is from:

Mark and I have an apartment in Omaha Nebraska, and he has already begun classes. He is also studying hard for the MCAT, so I have quite a bit of free time lately. I haven't been doing much besides looking for jobs, but already this year, we have spent more time away from home than we spend at our new apartment.

We spent Christmas and New Years with my parents in Lincoln. The great part was Skype-ing with Alex on Christmas day. We were able to see him and hear him joke around just like always. He also bet Mark that his muscles were bigger, so they have a date set when Alex gets home to compare. Mark has been working out a lot more since he knows he needs to show Alex up in October.

We went to the zoo and got year passes, so we will be going a lot this year. The interesting things that we saw that day were: The cheetahs getting fed rabbits (or just playing with stuffed animals, as the family beside us told their daughter before running off), and a little risque action in the snake exhibit. 

We also spent a few days with Fayme and Ethan in Des Moines. I even got a free doctors checkup and found out I have an ear infection (no need to fear, I have got it under control now). This past weekend we went to St. Paul to be with Fayme, Ethan and Mark's parents. We spend time bowling, scavenger hunting, cooking, and talking. We had a great time, but we are also ready to get into a more consistent schedule.

2012 Here we come!

Our new car

This is an extremely old post that I am just now getting to posting, because this is the first time I have been able to get my pictures downloaded:

So, firstly, last weekend my parents and brothers came to visit and see General Conference, so we were all able to go to the Conference Center together for two (the boys went for 3) of the sessions. It was so great having them here, and seeing everyone.

But the big news is that Mark and I traded in his car and got a new (new to us, that is) car. We are so thrilled with it. On Sunday night, we went on a mini drive and just sat in the car and pushed buttons and opened windows and the sun roof, and looked at the moon. It was so wonderful, and we are happy to have a good reliable car now!

A small update on things past

Mark's parents and two of his sisters daughters (Celia and Izzy) came to visit us a few weeks ago for Thanksgiving. We also had some of Sylvia's (Mark's mom) siblings and their families over for the actual dinner. I will say that for my first Thanksgiving being married, it wasn't the calmest experience I have ever had. To be completely honest, I would not wish for that experience again, at least until we have a bigger kitchen, more chairs to sit on, and more cooking experience.

In fact, with all the baking our oven was on most of Wednesday and Thursday, which made it stifling in the basement and which probably escalated my stress levels. 8 pies (4 apple, 2 pumpkin and 2 cheesecakes), 10 lbs of garlic mashed potatoes, and 140 dinner rolls later, everything was set out for people to enjoy.

Turns out everyone decided to bring extra food (which was good, for having 30 people there) but also created tons of left overs! After everyone was gone, we had 6 pies still left in our fridge, and about 90 rolls left for snacking on.

The whole weekend with Mark's parents and nieces still there, we were eating pie for every meal and finding every reason to eat the rolls. We even had biscuits and gravy with rolls as the biscuits. Thankfully Izzy can down pie really well, so when they left on Monday morning, we only had one piece of each left in our fridge.

It was wonderful having Mark's family over, and getting to know his parents and Celia and Izzy better. I have definitely married into a wonderful family. I am so excited to get to know them more and more as the years pass.

Volleyball in the winter

So, Mark has a PlayStation 2. During the last 11 month of marriage, I have seen him play it 5 times. As we are packing, Mark decided to ask if we should get rid of it or keep it. I have never been one to play video games for hours at a time, or to work around the house by myself while someone else plays, so I figured, what a great time to just toss it.

He put a car racing game in, and asked me to play. I stink at driving from a remote control, so I was obviously not sold on keeping the game system with that horrible driving and losing every time.

Then, he said, "oh wait, I have a volleyball game," I laughed at him for having a game that you would sit during when you could actually just go out and play, but we played for a while and......I am hooked.

It is so fun! It is just another opportunity to play games with Mark and it seriously is TOO cold to play outside. So for now, we play a little volleyball during the day. It is funny to watch our little people fall over and run into each other, and even play without looking at the screen and hoping that we hit the ball.

Anyways, as far as other games go, I am still not convinced of the fun, but for now, the PlayStation stays.

Time for Change

Mark and I just recently found out (after a while of struggling and fighting for it) that Mark has residency in Nebraska and was accepted to the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He is graduating from BYU in December with a Psychology Degree and will finish up his last pre-meds at UNO.

So, Nebraska, HERE WE COME!

I am so excited! I can hardly wait to be closer to my family and his family and everything I LOVE!

There truly is "no place like Nebraska."