Prenatals

As hard as they are to swallow, I'm loving what these little horsepills have been doing to my nails, skin, and hair these last few months! I love how my nails have gotten so strong, they never break any more; I actually have to pull out the nail clippers once in a while because they get too long to type. This was a week ago, and still not a break:

Jason said, "look, you have wrinkly old lady hands!" as he took the pictures.And I wanted to show off this nailpolish I bought at the Women's Expo! The colors come in 2-sided botttles, one side the regular brush, and one side a tip the size of a ball point pen, so you can do tiny art. Might as well play up the things I'm loving about pregnancy!

Zulu War Coat

This is the cutest thing: an 8-year old boy named Phillip commissioned me to make him an army coat this week. Apparently he loves to play dress-up and this is exactly what he wanted for his birthday.

He sent me very specific pictures of the 1879 Zulu War coat he wanted, with a few variations. He even wanted to make sure that he could pick out the fabric and the buttons himself. It might not look so manly on my female mannequin, but Jason just wouldn't fit into this size 8.

Avatar

We finally got around to seeing "Avatar"over the weekend, and apparently Jason liked it so much, he Avatar-ed both of us. We're cool.

The Bump

I've had several requests for these silly pictures. I think its so funny how proud we are (and everyone else) of our incredible amount of weight gain. Most girls won't show even a tiny bulge until 15-17 weeks, especially if its their first. They say some tall women can hide their pregnancy well into their 3rd trimester. Some obese or really tall girls carry to full term and the office never knew she was pregnant till she left on maternity leave. Well, here are MY profiles, and I just don't know what to say.

5 weeks

12 weeks 13 weeks 15 weeks I thought that maybe I was having multiples, explaining the early 'showing'. Nope. Maybe I never worked out my abs enough, so I have no strong tummy muscles to keep him in. Maybe I'm having a really big baby. Or maybe I'm just 5'2, and there's just no where else for him to go. I'm hoping that's it. My mom (same height) told me how people would ask her if she was overdue, when she was only 6 months along, with me, her first, a 7 pound baby. Hence, I've slowly accepted the idea that I might look full term in a matter of 3 more months. Looking forward to it!

13

I think the first trimester is horrible in so many ways. You're so sick, but you can't tell anyone why. You have no belly to show for it, and you're scared to death every day about miscarrying. You don't even know if your baby is still alive b/c you can't hear a heartbeat until 10 weeks, and you have no idea if this is going to last the entire 9 months or not. I was feeling bad for not enjoying this more because I've wanted this all my life. But they really weren't lying when they said you'll probably feel better and get your energy back at 13 weeks! Its incredible! I'm actually interested in cooking again, I don't need a 3-hour nap from noon to 3pm everyday, and my diet isn't limited to strictly saltine crackers anymore!

Still, the wrong scent of chapstick makes me queasy, brushing my teeth makes me gag, and if I don't eat every hour, I'm in trouble. I've only had to take one 'sick day' from teaching, and I've only thrown up 4 times--my stomach will reject acetaminophen every time--so this baby is still practically medication free! I keep getting these incredible headaches that wake me up in the middle of the night, but there's nothing I can take, and it becomes a miserably long day. Any other headache remedies besides an ice pack on the back of my head?

We're Having a...

baby, yes, but keep reading. So I really thought I wasn't as far along as everyone said, partly because I was tracking my temperature every morning that month, so I begged my doctor yesterday for an ultrasound to clarify the due date. We went in today--I think its so cruel how they tell the PREGNANT women to come for their ultrasound with a full bladder--and its true, I'm only 13 weeks and 3 days, not the 15 like they said. New due date: Oct. 17th! I leaned over to Jason and said, "You know, my mom found out Derek was a boy at 13 weeks", and he said, "Can you really tell that early?". Our ultrasound-ist said, "Do you want to know? Because it looks pretty clear to me!" Sure enough, from several angles and positions, he's a boy! Just like I thought!! Really, we've both had dreams that it was a boy, and I just felt it from the beginning, so we didn't even worry so much about choosing girl names. We went through the baby books just looking for boy names and didn't even turn to the girl section. Lets just say our babies would have very different names if I were the only one choosing and Jason didn't have the veto power that he does. Oh I love little 'him' so much! I love how he'll be the "big brother" and watch out for the younger ones. I'll raise him to be such a good example to them, and to be a good first missionary. I really want to start sewing a white baby tux for a blessing outfit! The plan was to cut up my wedding dress for blessing outfits, but I don't think the meatball would like polka dots very much. They just scream feminine to me. (Ultrasound pictures in the morning when I get to a scanner)

Ohio is for Lovers

Last week I had an absolutely wonderful time in Ohio on my Spring Break! I wanted to bring Jason with me, but with finals this week, it was such a bad time to miss school, study time, and group project meetings.

Easter dinner--notice Spencer scowling at the potatos I made :) The little kids say I 'ruin' everything I make by adding vegetables or spices or weird ingredients, like red wine vinegar and cream cheese to mashed potatoes, but the older kids love it.

With all of mom's kids finally in school, we really got to play all day together. After I went through mom's boxes of maternity clothes, we did a little more shopping, had lovely lunches and pedicures...

...and went to a Presidential Lecture with Greg Mortenson, author of "Three Cups of Tea".

Its a very inspirational book that I finished that morning, just in time.

And my parents took me to see the touring Broadway cast of "Mary Poppins"! It was practically perfect! Darling, and 'Mrs. Banks' was my favorite.

We talked all week, and Mom told me what its like to be a Bishop's Wife, and I asked her every question I could think of about pregnancy, delivery, and being a mom. Labor & Delivery nurses are so very knowledgable. I told her that planning a baby is almost as fun as planning a wedding. Either way, what fun anticipation! Thanks for a super great week!

Houston!

For the past year, literally, Jason and I have been praying and fasting and hoping for two things: a baby and an internship. It was frustrating when we both felt like we were doing all we could and still letting the other down. Month after month, as things would fall through, we learned a lot about patience and strengthening our trust in the Lord. We really tried improving on spritual matters like better scripture reading and more temple attendance, hoping that once we could show the Lord that we were trying to do our best, that He would bless us with our desires. And of course, I knew that both our wishes would come true at the same time, and they did! Our baby is healthy and Jason got a paid internship with Alta Mesa Holdings in Houston! Thank you, Jeff, for all your help! We're so excited for an adventure and the opportunity to spend some time with the Gutke family this summer! The plan is for Jason to head down begining of May, while I have to stay and finish up teaching the school year, and join him in June. One hot and humid summer, coming up!

Our Jumping Bean

I got to see my baby last night!!! It was incredible! (PS--I'm Spring Break-ing in Ohio for the week while Jason focuses on finals at home) My mom, the Labor & Delivery nurse, has the 'in' with the equipment and the staff, so we were able to hook up a mini machine and get some pictures! When we first found the little one, he/she was jumping around like a bean, then settled for a minute or two, then started playing with its arms and hands by its face. So incredible to watch. Our little one is real! With our unproffesional eyes, we could just pick out the head, body, legs, and beating heart, so gender determination will have to come later. Stay tuned on that one. If these make any sense to you: I'm so in love.

Etsy

April 1st marks one year since starting up my Etsy account!

http://www.dearmistergable.etsy.com/

I'm so glad one of my high school friends told me about it and encouraged me to sell things through this website. In the last year, I've made $1,709 on things I've sewn and sold, and $1,227 of it came from sells on Etsy (subtract some of this for shipping costs and minimal etsy charges). I've sold to Colorado, Michigan, Washington, Idaho, Georgia, California, Maryland, Ohio, and Virginia.

It has really been a fun low-effort hobby! I've still been trying to figure out over the last year if I want to specialize in something. This year has been all about getting rid of clothes I made in high school and I don't wear anymore, clothes I've made recently and didn't want to wear more than once, or making random orders that others have requested--pirate coats, pioneer dresses, prom dresses. I think I could do a lot better if I specialized into a few things generic and non-measurement specific. Of course, Jason, being the businessman, tells me everyday how I could sell more and make more money :) We'll see, I may find myself with loooots of time on my hands this summer. Give me any suggestions you've got!