Remembering A.C.

This amazing woman is my Aunt Carol (A.C. as she was fondly called).  The picture was taken at our wedding reception.  I am so grateful to Tania for taking it because she was a very special person in my life. She was so excited when she found out that I was engaged because I had been talking with her for years of how much I wanted to be a wife and a mother.  She heard about several of my heartaches and always made me feel beautiful and worthwhile as I was traveling the long road to finding my husband. 

On December 13, 2010, she was called home by Heavenly Father.  It was such a sad time and so sudden that I think we're still reeling from it.  We had had our family Christmas party about a week before and she was doing fine, but I received a call from my sister the evening of December 12th saying that she had a stroke that morning and was in the hospital.  We knew that she might never walk again and that she would never be able to live by herself again, but when we got to the hospital, we found that this would be our time to say good-bye.  When I walked into the room, I saw this beautiful woman confined to a body that would not respond.  She could hardly move, she couldn't talk, and she was having a hard time breathing.  The room was full of love as her family surrounded her, and I was able to hold her hand and tearfully tell her good-bye. She was able to turn her head towards the sound of my voice and I think she knew I was there.  I am forever grateful that Josh and I were able to go to the hospital and I was able to tell her how much I loved her!  I wasn't able to do that with my Aunt Gayle (her sister who had passed away earlier that year) and it still makes me sad.

Aunt Carol was a wonderful mother, grandmother, sister and aunt.  She treated me and my siblings more like grandchildren then nieces and nephew.  She loved unconditionally and always had time to listen.  She made beautiful porcelain dolls and could crochet, knit and sew better than anyone I know.  She was a true artist and it was so neat to see what new things she had created.  She loved having her hair and nails done and her favorite color was red.  She was intelligent and kind and made the world a better place by being in it.  She is very dearly missed and I am awed by the strength of my mom who lost two sisters last year.  I can't begin to comprehend how hard that would be!  And yet she continues to live life with happiness and joy and she knows she will see them again.  I love you, Mom, and am grateful to Heavenly Father for sending me to your family!

I was given a wonderful surprise at my baby shower in February.  As I opened the card of the last gift I received, tears filled my eyes when I saw that it was from Aunt Carol.  The card spoke of how happy she was for me and how she had met Drako and knew of his sweet spirit.  And I discovered a blanket she had made when I unwrapped the present.  I later found out that she had started it, but was unable to finish it before she passed away, so my cousin finished it and made sure I got it.  My cousin, Kathy, said that as she was writing the card, she was having a difficult time knowing what to say, but as she thought of Aunt Carol, the words came easily.  She said it was as if her mom was writing the card.  This was so special for me and the family members who were at the shower!  All of us were in tears after I finished reading the card aloud and we heard my cousin's story.  I will forever cherish that blanket and card and am so grateful for Kathy for doing that for me!

Better Late Than Never

Josh and I saved up enough money to buy new couches for Christmas last year.  Our old ones had been given to us for our wedding (which was very much appreciated) but had turned a dull gray instead of the white they were originally.  They had also been scratched by our cat and since we were getting her declawed, we thought it would be a good time to buy new ones.  So the weekend after Thanksgiving we went to the big sale down at Furniture Row.  We found these nice, brown couches and an ottoman to match.  We were excited when the salesman told us they would be delivered in two weeks.   

Well, those two weeks passed with no couches.  Another two weeks passed with no couches.  Christmas passed and no couches.  Finally, after three calls to the store from Josh and a refund of the delivery charge, our Christmas presents were delivered the week after Christmas.   

We're glad that we bought these couches and that they eventually made it to our apartment because they're very comfortable and look great.  As you can see, the ottoman makes a great table.  That was my pile of stuff when I was on bedrest.

Christmas ended up being a great time even though we didn't have our presents for each other.  We had received a much better present in that I was discharged from the hospital after a two day stay and that the baby was still inside of me rather than being born at 34 weeks.  I had been discharged on Christmas Eve after being admitted because the baby's heartrate had decelerated during my first monitoring session.  We were not entirely gift less though. One morning as Josh stepped out the door to go to work, he found an envelope on our doorstep.  Inside were gift cards to Wal-Mart and Smith's and some money.  We were shocked but very grateful to our anonymous benefactor since I had to stop working long before I had intended too.  Heavenly Father was watching out for our little family and we were blessed beyond anything we could have imagined!

Christmas Eve found us home but with no gifts wrapped.  Luckily we had bought all of our gifts for our families earlier in December and Josh talked his mom and brothers to come help us wrap them.  Kim came with ingredients to make us a yummy holiday dinner with all the trimmings and she and the boys got right to work.  It was a fun way to spend Christmas Eve!

On Christmas morning, Josh and I both discovered cards in our stockings.  We were going to fill each other's stockings that last week before Christmas, but with the hospitalization and bedrest, it didn't get done.  It was neat to see that we had both thought of the other, though, with those special cards.

We were able to go to my parents for their traditional dinner and opening gifts.  I had to stay on the couch, which wasn't too fun, but I enjoyed being around my loved ones and seeing my niece and nephew's faces light up with the gifts they received.  I didn't take any pictures, but my sister-in-law did and these are two of my favorites. 

2-year anniversary

This is only about 3 months late, but I want to blog about our 2-year anniversary.  Our blog has been put on the backburner the last few months because of everything going on, but hopefully I can get caught up in the next couple of weeks. 

For our anniversary, we had planned a weekend at the Castle Creek Inn in Cottonwood Heights.  I had taken our anniversary, December 17th, off from work and we scheduled my prenatal visit for that afternoon.  We figured it would be a great way to start our celebration-by hearing that everything was okay with our baby.  That visit turned out a lot differently than we thought (as explained in an earlier post).

We stayed in the Palace Royale room that night.  The first picture is what the room looked like and the next one is of the huge bathroom with a jetted tub.  It also has colorful lights that help to create a romantic atmosphere.  

We woke up Saturday morning and got ready to go to my aunt's funeral.  She had passed away earlier that week.  We had breakfast which was served in the dining room and was delicious.  We felt like royalty as the employees of Castle Creek served us two courses at our private table.  While we were eating, we met another couple who were celebrating their anniversary.  They had been married 25 years and had the same idea we did-to have a getaway not too far from home.  They were from Utah County. 

We had booked two different rooms and once we got back from the funeral, headed down to the Excalibur.  The inn was decorated for Christmas and I enjoyed the festive atmosphere that had been created.

Our room had been given a romantic feel as rose petals were strewn throughout and candles lit.  We also had a bottle of cider and the glasses were full of Hershey's kisses.

We were able to tour the rest of the inn that afternoon and saw all of the different rooms they have.  It's a neat place and I highly recommend it for couples just wanting to get away.  This next picture is what I found when I came back to our room after venturing through the inn to take pictures.  Josh had dressed up like a knight with some of the props that were in our room.  Silly hubby!

We enjoyed snuggling and watching movies that night with room service for dinner.  The next morning we enjoyed another yummy breakfast.  We had decided not to get each other gifts as the time together was our gift.  Josh did get me a beautiful card telling me how much he loved me and how he had enjoyed being married to me.  I made him a card telling him the same thing.  We had a great weekend and I am so grateful for the wonderful husband that Josh is!  I have been blessed more than I could have ever imagined these last two years! I love you, sweetheart!

One Month Old

On Valentine's Day Drako turned 1 month old. I can't believe it's been a month already! I've really enjoyed being a mom and have learned a TON in the last 30 days! Josh and I love our little man so very much and thank Heavenly Father every day for sending him to our family! I put him in this cute outfit to celebrate the occasion. His Aunt Sarah gave it to him and it's still too big, but he looked great in it.

Here is some fun information about the last month.

Drako Likes: 
-eating
-pooping
-sleeping
-looking at lights and people's faces
-pulling daddy's beard
-listening to music
-being held and talked to
-having his head rubbed
-snuggling
-blowing bubbles

He Dislikes:
-getting dressed or undressed
-having his diaper changed-although he doesn't mind getting cleaned up as much since we got a diaper wipe warmer
-waiting to eat
-being put in his carseat
-having the hiccups

Nicknames:
-bubba
-little man
-squeaker
-cutie
-peanut

Drako is curious about everything and whenever he's awake, his eyes are wide open and he's studying his surroundings. He smiles a lot and is awake more often now. He gets excited about different things and tries to tell you all about it. He's starting to make more sounds than just crying which is good because his crying is becoming more loud and insistent and he's not very patient (especially when he's hungry). He saw the doctor last Friday and she said he is healthy and gaining weight as he should be. He weighs 7 pounds 4.5 ounces.

What his parents like:
-Diaper Genie
-diaper wipe warmer
-his bouncy seat (Drako will sleep in it even when he won't sleep in his crib)
-swaddling (it helps him to sleep better and will calm him down when he's fussy)
-bottle warmer
-taking naps
-Huggies Little Snugglers diapers (they have an indicator that shows when he's wet)

What his parents are learning:
-that having a baby means doing a lot of laundry
-that we take out the garbage a lot more often since having a baby
-to make sure his diaper is put on tightly and with no gaps. (otherwise you will have to change his clothes and your clothes and possibly the sheets on your bed)
-to give extra time whenever you need to be on time for anything (it takes a lot more time to get all 3 of us ready)
-to make sure the ring of the bottle is twisted on very tightly (or it will leak all over you and the baby)

And The Winners Are...

Christy Lively and Alane Benson!
Congratulations on winning the contest of when Drako would be born! Alane guessed the right day, but was off by about 5 hours on the time.  Christy guessed the next day, but was also off by about 5 hours, so both of you get a prize.  These will be mailed out tomorrow morning.  You both win a $10 gift certificate to Cold Stone so you can enjoy a yummy treat.  Thank you to everyone who guessed!

Our Precious Baby Boy

On January 14th, 2011 at 10:07 pm, we welcomed Drako John Woodland into our family.  What an incredible experience!  Because of the wonderful care from my doctor, our little boy was given the best chance possible and came into this world when he was full-term; at 37 weeks.  We had reached our "best scenario" goal and it was so worth it because he was healthy and perfect. I love the picture above that my mom took.  Drako was just sleeping in my arms, but it looked like he was posed for the picture.  My heart is so full right now and he totally has me wrapped around his little finger!

The story of his labor and delivery begins on Thursday, January 13th, at my last prenatal appointment.  My doctor had me go into LDS Hospital that night to be induced because my blood pressure and the protein in my urine had increased dramatically. The preeclampsia had worsened to the point that it was time to have the baby.  When we got to the hospital, a stress test was done to see if the baby could handle labor.  Pitocin was started so I would contract and then his heart rate was monitored.  If his heart rate dropped with each contraction, a C-section would be done that night.  Thank goodness he had no problems, and it was decided to stop the Pitocin and give me Cytotec which thinned my cervix and put me into labor.  I was also put on IV magnesium because my labs had come back abnormal and the doctor wanted to prevent the preeclampsia from turning into eclampsia.

Throughout the night, it was like I had one long contraction.  I was in pain all night-not too bad but enough to keep me from sleeping.  Josh and my mom were with me right from the start and I know they didn't get much sleep either, but I'm so grateful they were there to support me!  The next morning I decided to have an epidural and my doctor came in to break my water to help the labor progress.  She and the anesthesiologist came in at the same time and my doctor decided to wait until the epidural was in before doing her procedure. She should have gone first, because the placement of the epidural was a huge trial.  It took the anesthesiologist 6 times before the epidural was safely in place.  He said that the bones of my spine are very close together and after trying 4 different areas while I was lying on my side, suggested we try once again while I was sitting up.  He was finally able to place the epidural at that time, but it went in too deep, so he had to do it once more.  I'm so glad he was finally able to place it because the pain from him trying to was horrible and it would have sucked to have nothing to show for it.  It actually made me get sick and I ended up dry heaving which caused my water to break so my doctor didn't have to do it after all.  Once this was finally done, the Pitocin was restarted and my labor progressed.

The day went by pretty slowly as I continued to dilate.  When I was close to 10cm, the doctor had me turn onto my stomach because I was having bad back labor and this suggested that the baby was face up instead of face down.  After awhile of this, I was fully dilated and it was time to push.  The anesthesiologist came back in to give me an extra dose of medicine but this ended up dropping my blood pressure drastically and the baby's heart rate stopped being variable.  I also got sick again and Josh says I almost passed out.  I don't remember a whole lot about this time, just that the Pitocin was turned off and I had to be given medicine to stabilize my blood pressure and get the baby's heart rate back to normal.  Once we were both okay, the medicine was restarted and I was finally ready to push.  The one good thing about the extra dose of pain medicine is that both of my legs became completely numb and I didn't feel any pain until just before the baby was born.  The weird thing is that I couldn't move my legs and other people had to hold them up for me.

I started pushing at 7pm and had a wonderful team of people to coach me.  Josh and my mom were there, as well as my mother-in-law, Kim, my sister, Becky, and my good friend, Tami.  Each one helped me soo much as the pushing progressed and I am very grateful they were there!  After I had been pushing for an hour and a half and the baby hadn't come, the doctor told me that I could go another hour and a half and then a C-section would have to be done.  This made me try even harder and the Pitocin was increased to get my contractions closer together.  As time progressed and 9:30 came, I started to panic. I had been working so hard and the baby still hadn't come and I really wanted to be able to have him naturally.  My great support team got me through this difficult time and using a vacuum to assist with the birth was suggested.  My doctor agreed to do this but told me that she didn't think it would work. 

Once the vacuum was hooked up, Drako started to crown, but then the suction broke and the vacuum came off.  The doctor quickly did an episiotomy and was able to grab the baby just as he was going back inside.  She then gently helped to deliver him and gave him to the special care nursery nurses who were close by.  When my water broke, there was meconium in it and the doctor was afraid that the baby had inhaled this.  I was worried about him, but as she handed him to the nurses, he started to cry.  What a beautiful sound!  I knew he would be all right because of this and all I could do was cry because I was so happy. 

Josh was able to watch over the baby as he was being taken care of and others from my support team stayed with me as I was being fixed up.  The baby was taken to the special care nursery because he was whimpering and they were worried that one of his lungs wasn't transitioning as it should, but about 10 minutes later Josh came back with the baby in his arms.  Drako was doing fine and was then able to stay with us.

What an incredible time this was for me!  Giving birth was such an amazing experience and all of the pain was worth it because our son was healthy and breathing on his own!  Love for him has totally taken over my heart and I thank Heavenly Father every day that He sent this special little spirit to us!  It's so neat to be a family and I could never show enough gratitude for this precious gift that we have been given!

Family Pictures

The first weekend in November, Josh and I had new family pictures taken at my grandparents' farm.  This was also the time that I stepped on a nail, so our session was cut short and we didn't get all of the poses that we wanted.  We are happy with what we did get and I'm going to post some of my favorites here.  The day was perfect for picture taking and the fall colors turned out amazing.

That's my grandparents' house in the background and we're sitting on one of my grandpa's tractors that is 40-some-odd years old and still running. 

We thought it was so neat that the deer came out just when we were taking pictures!

Preeclampsia

My blogging has been pretty sporadic lately, but I thought I'd take the time to explain our not-so-fun pregnancy complication.  Some of this will be a repeat, for which I apologize, but I want to give you the entire story. 

For most of my pregnancy, everything went fine.  All of the prenatal appointments showed that I was progressing as I should with no problems and Josh and I were so excited to soon welcome our little boy into our family.  Then we went to my 33 week appointment and my blood pressure was high.  My doctor was concerned about it and ordered labs to check for preeclampsia. This is a condition that only happens in pregnancy where the mother's blood pressure is high and there is a high amount of protein in her urine.  In the mild stage it doesn't harm the baby, but if it progresses to the severe stage, it can harm the baby and the mother. 

My doctor rechecked my pressure before we left her office, and it had shot up to 151/101.  This guaranteed us a trip to the hospital for extended monitoring.  We spent about 2 hours at the hospital that night, while the baby and I were monitored and labs drawn.  They came back normal, but my doctor was still concerned and I was put on bedrest.  I could no longer work or do anything around the house-all I was allowed to do was lay on either the couch or bed and get up to use the bathroom or get something to eat. I also had to do another test, this time to check my urine for protein, and was given strict instructions for when to return to the hospital.  My doctor let us go home, but I think it was only because it was our anniversary that day.   

We were able to enjoy our anniversary weekend, I completed the test, and we saw the doctor again that next Monday.  The test had come back okay-I didn't have enough protein to be diagnosed with preeclampsia-but I still had high blood pressure and all of the same instructions applied.  My doctor also had me start coming in twice a week to do monitoring and I had to see her once a week.  At the first monitoring appointment, later that week, my blood pressure remained high enough that I was again sent to the hospital.  Once I was there, I started having contractions and one lasted for about 15 minutes and caused the baby's heart rate to decrease to 80.  The nurse rushed in and gave me medicine to stop the contraction and his heart rate came back up without problems, but I was to be monitored closely for at least that night and was given the first of two steroid injections to help mature the baby's lungs if he was to be delivered early. 

We spent a pretty much sleepless night in the hospital and I had the same tests repeated.  This time the urine showed that I did have preeclampsia-my protein levels were now high enough-and I was given another night of monitoring in the hospital.  I received the second steroid injection, labs were repeated, and we were told that if my blood pressure got any higher or the labs came back abnormal, I would be induced the next day-Christmas Eve.  I would be 34 weeks along.  Thank goodness my blood pressure dropped a little and the labs came back normal, so we were once again allowed to go home.  Very strict instructions were given for when I should come back to the hospital and I had to monitor my blood pressure at home and text my doctor with the readings throughout the weekend.  I saw her the next Monday and things were stable at that time-my blood pressure stayed the same and repeat labs were normal.  My first monitoring appointment was also fine that week so I continued on bedrest, in anticipation that the baby would come at 37 weeks, on January 14th, unless anything further went wrong.   

Our second monitoring appointment, which was on December 30th, netted me another extended monitoring session at the hospital.  I had another contraction that dropped the baby's heart rate-it wasn't as bad as the first-but it caused the doctors to be concerned.  After another 2 hour stay, we were released, and I was to continue as before.  At my next prenatal appointment, my blood pressure was higher than it had been-it was 148/104-and there was more protein in my urine from a quick test done, so we went through the same, old routine again. My labs were drawn and I had to do another 24 hour urine test.  We were told that if anything came back abnormal, I would be induced.  The labs came back normal, thankfully, and my blood pressure hasn't gotten any worse, so I am at home while I write this.  I had another monitoring appointment yesterday and that went fine, but there is still one more thing that could take me back to the hospital and have the baby come early.  We're still waiting for the results of the urine test.  If my protein levels have jumped into the severe range, little Drako will be joining our family later this week. 

Neither Josh nor I have slept well the last couple of nights, in anticipation of what will happen.  I don't know if I'm more nervous about not having the baby, or of having the baby.  I know he will do better if he comes now, because he's had more time to grown and mature, but it would be even better if he could get to 37 weeks and be full term.  On the other hand, these last few weeks have been some of the hardest for us and Josh and I are about ready to say "that's it, we're done" and have the baby be here.  The waiting and not knowing and ups and downs of emotions are really hard to deal with!  I hope none of you have this complication in any of your pregnancies!

Baby Contest

I think it's time for another contest.  Sorry it's been so long since the last one!  This time it will be guessing when our little boy will be born.  The time has been narrowed down considerably though, so it makes it easier.  My doctor will induce me on January 14th, when I'm 37 weeks, unless things get worse, and then she will induce me sooner.  So he will be here sometime within the next two weeks.  There will be a cool prize for the person who wins.  Josh and I had guessed later in January, as had our neighbor, so we're all out of the running.  Good luck everyone! :)

The Week of a Thousand Years

Have you ever had a week that just seems to go on forever? That's how this last week was for Josh and I. Last Sunday, the 12th, we received a call that my aunt had had a massive stroke and was in the hospital.  She wasn't able to walk anymore and would never be able to live alone.  Josh and I headed up there to see her and found that it was much worse than that.  She couldn't talk or hardly respond, and the doctor had come in just before we got there to say that she would be leaving this world soon, so this time would most likely be one of goodbye.  I was stunned by this!  It was so sudden and we had just seen her a week earlier at the family Christmas party.  How grateful I am that we went to the hospital that night! Amid my tears, I was able to hold her hand and tell her how much I loved her and thank her for all that she did for me.  She did move her head towards me, so I think she knew I was there.  She passed away the next day.  She was an amazing woman!  She was so loving and kind and was more like a grandma than an aunt to me and my siblings.  She is dearly missed!

With the passing of my dear Aunt Carol, our anniversary plans changed.  Our second anniversary was on Friday, the 17th, and we had booked two nights at The Castle Creek Inn to celebrate.  The funeral was planned for Saturday, so we knew we wouldn't get all the time together we wanted, but figured it would still be a wonderful weekend.

Friday rolled around and I had the day off, but Josh had to work, so I worked around the house for awhile and then he came home and got me so we could go to our prenatal visit.  At the visit, my blood pressure was high.  It had been high two visits before, but the last visit it was fine, so we hadn't worried about it.  We went through the visit and the doctor ordered lab work to check for preeclampsia and then rechecked my blood pressure.  It had shot up very high at that time, so we went directly to the hospital to be monitored.  We stayed for about two hours at LDS Hospital while my blood pressure and the baby were monitored.  The labs were done there and once the results came back, my doctor came and talked with us.  The labs were all fine, but my blood pressure had stayed high the whole time we were there.  Not as high as it was at her office, thank goodness, but still higher than it should have been.  She said that I had preeclampsia and explained all the possible complications that came with it.  She also said that from now on, I was on strict bedrest until the baby came.  She sent me home, but I think it was only because we had hotel reservations.  I had to do a 24 hour urine test, which they usually keep patients in the hospital to do, but I'm so glad that she trusted me enough to do it on my own and we didn't have to stay overnight. 

We did get to the hotel that night, but later than we had expected.  It was a really nice room and we were glad we had the chance to enjoy it.  Saturday was the funeral and I wasn't going to miss that, bedrest or not.  It was a beautiful memorial of her and it was nice to be surrounded by the love of my family. We went back to the hotel afterwards, but to a different room.  This one was really nice as well and the staff treated us like royalty.  We couldn't do anything except lay in bed and relax, but it was nice to have that time together.  Josh was so sweet to stay with me and not complain about our sudden change in plans.

Needless to say, I am very grateful last week is over!  This week has the promise of being a much better one with Christmas.  Josh and I definitely have a lot on our minds now, but we need to have faith in Heavenly Father and His plan and know that He will take care of us and Drako. 

Bring on The Turkey!

Sorry that this next post won't have any pictures. They accidentally got erased from the memory card before being saved on the computer. Hope you enjoy it nonetheless!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a great day and it was nice having Josh at home and not working. We ended up having three Thanksgiving dinners this year and I am proud to report that I only gained three pounds in those two weeks between prenatal visits. 

I love that there's a holiday dedicated to counting your blessings. Thanksgiving is such a neat time of the year and I always reflect on what I'm grateful for. We have been blessed so very much and I am eternally grateful for a Heavenly Father who watches out for his children individually! I can't believe how much He cares for each one of us and provides for our specific wants and needs! It's an incredible feeling to realize just how much He loves me!

We were able to spend the holiday this year with each our of families which was really nice. My family is one of the things for which I am most grateful and I love being with them at this time of the year. Our first Thanksgiving dinner was with my family. Ryan, our brother-in-law, is a police officer and had to work on Thanksgiving, so we had a dinner for him the Sunday before. My mom and sister decorated the kitchen at my parents' house so festive with a turkey tablecloth and dishes and cute place cards. All of my siblings and their families were there as was my sweet aunt Carol. We enjoyed each other's company as we ate the traditional, mouth-watering food and had fun playing games afterwards. It was also cute watching part of "Ernest Scared Stupid" with my nephews. Maclain just wanted to see everything, whether it was scary or not, but Payton would casually stroll down the hall when he felt things were getting too scary. lol. I love those two boys so much!

Our second dinner was on Thanksgiving day. Josh and I had decided to have dinner at our apartment with his family. His mom, Kim, had had carpal tunnel surgery a few days before the holiday and we wanted to make sure she was able to enjoy it anyway. We took over most of the cooking, but she still insisted on bringing rolls and pies which were very delicious. It was the first time either of us had cooked Thanksgiving dinner and I think we did a great job. Okay, so Josh did a fabulous job! He cooked the turkey and mashed potatoes while I did the easy things-the Stovetop stuffing and heating up the gravy. Josh's family came over a few hours before dinner so we had time to visit and watch football. Besides Kim, Josh's brothers came as well as her boyfriend, Steve.

We did have one mishap with our cooking. The turkey had cooked faster than we anticipated, so we were scrambling around trying to finish everything else and in the process forgot to stir the potatoes as they were boiling. They ended up burning on the bottom but Josh was able to scoop out the not burnt parts and you couldn't even taste that anything had happened. We did find out one thing for sure that day though: our fire alarm works. lol.

After dinner everyone except Josh and Steve fell asleep. It looked like a huge slumber party was going on because there were blankets all over the front room. The two of them stayed awake to watch the second football game of the day. Silly boys!

Our third tryptophan-filled dinner was the night after Thanksgiving. Josh's ex-stepdad invited us to their belated holiday dinner. This is the dad of Josh's brothers and he raised Josh for most of his childhood. The food and company were nice, but I'm not sure how I feel about him wanting to be a bigger part of our lives.

The Best Laid Plans

This next post is pretty random, and I apologize for that.  There are so many thoughts going through my head right now, and I wanted to get them all down.

Our plans for the next few months have changed once again.  I thought we had it all figured out a few months ago, when I last posted about this, but I'm eating my words now.  I don't know about everyone else, but one thing I've learned about life is that my plans always change.  Josh and I had made a basic 5 year plan-including him going back to school full-time starting next semester and watching our baby once he's born-but then he was given a great opportunity and was hired at Discover Card.  It came about very quickly, so we know it was a blessing from Heavenly Father.  Josh was told by his cousin, who works at Discover, that there was a job opening.  He applied the next week and two days later received an email asking him to come to a "job fair" the next day.  He attends this, goes through several interviews, and by the time the day is over, is offered the job. 

We're very grateful for this and work it into our plans so that he will work for the next few months, we'll put money into savings and pay down some bills, and then he will quit once the baby is born.  He'll still sign up for classes and begin in January. Our plan is still on track.  Before Josh got this job, we had made some financial changes in preparation for the baby coming and only living off of one income.  We sold the motorcycle, the truck and two of the guns.  We were blessed with how fast everything sold and were able to pay down a lot of our debt, so we're more comfortable with our financial situation.  It was really hard to see the motorcycle go for both Josh and I, but as he says, they're just things and we can buy another one when we're able to.

So we sat down last week and went through our monthly finances, just to make sure everything would work out, thinking that everything would be fine because we felt good about it.  Well, we found out that it's just not possible for us to live off of one income right now.  Even with all of the debt we've paid down, it's just won't work.  We probably should have looked at this earlier, but figured that with all the changes we made, it would be fine. 

Now to make some big changes to the plan.  Josh will be working at Discover for a lot longer than normally planned. We don't know for how long, but it will be for quite awhile.  He still will take a class or two every semester, and we will work towards him going to school full-time and not working.  He has dyslexia and it's really hard for him to work full-time and go to school full-time.  His goal now is to go into the engineering program at SLCC and then transfer to the University of Utah.  I can see him enjoying this and doing a great job at it, and it has a much better job lookout than being a police officer. 

Another change in our plan is that we will have to find someone to watch Drako during the day when we both work.  We don't want to take him to daycare and would much rather have family care for him, but are not quite sure how to do this.  Most of our family live in South and West Jordan which are in the opposite direction of both of our jobs.  

It's been hard these last few months seeing Josh lose the job that he had waited so long for and then having to search for another job and finally finding one that is not in the area that he trained for or would like to be doing.  I know Heavenly Father helped him every step of the way to become a police officer at Midvale, so there must be a reason in His plan that it was taken away.  We just don't know what that reason is.

Our Defeated Feet

Yesterday was not a good day for Woodland feet.  Josh and I are both sitting on the couch with our feet elevated right now, waiting patiently for our wounds to heal.

Yesterday afternoon Josh and I went to my grandparents' farm to take pictures.  We haven't had any professional pictures taken since our wedding and wanted to have some new ones done.  My grandparents have a small farm in Riverton which we thought would be a great backdrop, so we met the photographer there and started having a lot of fun with different shots.  After about half an hour, I was walking to stand by an old barn, when I felt this sharp pain in the ball of my left foot.  I quickly took a few steps forward and saw that I had stepped on a rusty nail that was sticking out of an old piece of wood.  It didn't hurt too bad at that point and I thought the wound must not be too bad, so we continued shooting for a few more minutes.  Once we were done with that particular backdrop, our photographer, Brittany, suggested I sit down and see what happened.  As soon as I pulled off my shoe, I knew it was a lot worse than I thought.  My sock and the bottom of my shoe were soaked in blood.  Josh put a quick stop to the photo session at that point and I went inside the house to assess the damage.  The bleeding had stopped at that time and my grandma helped me to disinfect the wound and bandage my foot.

Josh was wonderful throughout the whole thing, making sure I got what I needed and then taking me home soon afterward so I could get off my feet and take some pain reliever.  I felt so bad for him, though, because he turned white as soon as he saw the blood.  I haven't really been hurt since we've known each other, and I think this scared him a little.  He hates seeing anything bad happen to me and has kept a close eye on me since then, making sure I don't do too much and that I keep my feet up.  He is the most wonderful husband!

Here are some pics of my foot today, and the bloody shoe.  You can see where the nail went through the sole.

Now to the second part of our story. Last night, just as we were getting ready for bed, a loud noise startled our cat, Moroni, who jumped up and quickly ran away from us.  The only problem was that she used Josh's right foot as a jumping off point and gave him a long gash with her claw.  Josh wouldn't let me clean or disinfect it, saying it was nothing.  Silly man!  As you can see from the pictures below, it's not "nothing" but I'm glad it's healing well.

                                    

Preparing for Baby and More Changes

We've been working on getting things ready for the baby.  After we found out that we were having a boy, we decided to get a few things every so often so we wouldn't have to buy it all at the same time.  We've been buying little things like onesies and bibs and my mom has been making some really cute burp cloths.  She's such a cute grandma and gets me more excited with each new one she gives me!  The above picture is of the dresser drawer with the baby's things.  We don't have very much and need so much more, but I had fun organizing what we do have.

We also found a crib online for a great deal.  It's in really good shape and Josh bought a new mattress and sheets for it.  Right now it's holding all of the great baby gear Becky gave us.  Here are some pictures of the baby's room.  It's not much of a nursery now, but I thought I'd take some "before" pictures and will definitely include the "after" pictures once it's put all together.   

I am now 23 weeks along and have only four more to go until I get to the third trimester.  I'm starting to feel the baby, which is a really neat experience.  Right now it's not consistent or every day, but I enjoy the times I do get to feel him.  Last Sunday morning, I had turned onto my right side and soon afterwards started feeling all these "pokes" on the right side of my abdomen.  I think he was telling me to turn back over because he was getting squashed on that one side.  There was also a time after I had eaten ice cream where I felt all this fluttering and when I put my hand on the area, could feel the movement.  Josh thinks I gave him a sugar rush and my mom thinks he got brain freeze. Poor little guy! lol.

Now to the second part of this post.  It's been pretty frustrating for Josh the last few months.  He's been searching so hard to find a job and the reason to why he was fired, but to no avail.  He's been so wonderful through it all-cleaning and cooking and doing everything so I wouldn't have to.  It's been hard for him to be cooped up in the apartment every day, and we've been doing some thinking and praying, trying to decide what to do.  For the last couple of weeks we've both been feeling like he needs to go back to school.  He took a test online to see what his interests are and what career he should go into and he meets with a counselor at SLCC next week.  He's still been looking for a job and if a wonderful one comes along, he won't go back to school, but it looks like he'll be going back full-time next semester.  He'll try to take all night classes, or work his schedule in such a way that we'll only have to find a babysitter for Drako part of the time.  We'll still pray and fast and make sure this is the right road to go down, but we've both had a peaceful feeling whenever we talk about it.

Enjoying Fall

The last weekend of September, Josh and I went on a motorcycle ride up Millcreek Canyon.  I am excited to say that this year we made it all the way to the top. lol.  The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect day to be outside.  The leaves were starting to change and it was incredible to see the beauty Heavenly Father has created for his children!

Josh was our photographer and he has such an eye for beauty.  We saw a lot of these berries which gave a neat contrast to the colors of fall which surrounded them.

We stopped at the top of the canyon to take pictures.  We had the tripod and were able to get a few different poses, but this was the cutest.