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.

Special Surprise

On September 3rd, Josh came and picked me up from work holding a single, pink and white carnation. I love that he still gives me flowers, even though we've been married for almost 2 years! A few minutes after he started driving, I knew Josh wasn't planning on going home. I tried to find out where we were going, but he never answered my questions, and soon he had me put on a blindfold. Once the car had stopped, Josh took my hand, helped me out of the car, and then had me follow him through a maze which turned out to be a parking garage. He took me inside a building and up an elevator. I then followed him into a room where he left me for a few minutes and then called out, inviting me to join him. Once I took off the blindfold I found that I was in a bathroom. I followed the sound of my sweet husband's voice, and found myself in a beautiful hotel room.

Josh had booked a room at The Little America. We were on the 12th floor and our room had a balcony with a beautiful view.

Josh is so good to me and decorated the room with rose petals and a bottle of sparkling apple cider. He had also packed everything we needed and brought the suitcase up while he was leading me through the parking garage.

We had a great time eating dinner at the steakhouse, relaxing, and then enjoying breakfast in our room the next morning. It was such a wonderful night! 

I could never thank my sweetheart enough for this sweet surprise! We needed some time alone and it was so nice to forget the rest of the world for a few hours! I am continually amazed that this extraordinary man fell in love with me and became my husband! He makes me happy every day! Thank you to my forever love!

Oh Boy!

Our baby is a BOY! Our ultrasound was last Friday and Josh and I had been counting down for several weeks. We were really excited when we woke up that morning. Josh gave me a beautiful, red rose that had "I Love You" written on the front petal when he picked me up from work that afternoon. The appointment was at 3:00 but we ended up waiting an hour and 15 minutes until we were taken back to the room. We later found out that the clinic we go to is also a high-risk maternity clinic and a patient before us had trouble with her pregnancy so that's why they were so far behind. Once we were back, we were treated with the same kind of care, as the tech and doctor spent 45 minutes with us. The ultrasound was very thorough and everything was explained to us so we knew exactly was being looked for. It was so incredible to see our baby boy and to see that he is healthy and everything is progressing as it should be! That brought a lot of peace and happiness to my heart. It's been kind of hard for me being pregnant for the first time with so many new feelings and sensations. Sometimes it's hard to know that everything is normal and this helped to show me that it is.

Our baby is measuring about 1 week ahead of where we thought he'd be. The doctor didn't change my due date, but Josh and I are planning for a late January birth. In fact, Josh thinks it will be January 25th.  

We're so excited and I still feel like I'm on cloud nine with all of the happy news! Now that we know for sure, we'll have fun buying clothes and blankets and everything else we'll need for this wonderful addition to our family. My mom started us on our way by giving us a cute burp cloth that she had made. We've decided to name him Drako John Woodland and we'll call him Drake for short. Here are a couple pictures from the ultrasound. The top is when he turned completely over and was laying on his stomach. You can see his head and his spine. The bottom is of his cute little foot.

First Date Repeat

At a Family Home Evening early in August 2008 Josh asked for my phone number. He started texting me a couple of days later and soon we were texting each other everyday. He finally called and asked me out the last Wednesday of the month and our first date was on August 30, 2008. I was so excited because I had been wondering if he only liked me as a friend or if there was something more.

That morning he showed up at my house on his motorcycle and holding a single, pink carnation. I think he had my heart the second he walked in the door! He took me to the zoo and then out to lunch. It was my first time riding a motorcycle and I absolutely loved it. A funny story Josh likes to tell is how he schemed to make me hold onto him. When I first climbed on the bike he told me I could either hold onto the strap across the seat or him. Of course, being me, I chose the strap. As soon as he started the bike, Josh revved it so I had to quickly grab onto him instead. We had a great time that day and I'm so grateful that Josh continued to ask me out!

Last Saturday we decided to relive that first date. It was almost exactly 2 years to the day and I had been wanting to see Zuri so we headed up to the zoo. We had another great day and enjoyed reminiscing about our first time there. The first thing we did was go to the bird show. We had done that 2 years ago and it was neat to see the same man running the show.

It was amazing to see all of the different birds and all the things they could do. I really liked the white barn owl and the eagle.

After the bird show we walked around the rest of the zoo, seeing the other animals. Zuri was really cute and we had fun watching as she and her mom played with the things the zookeepers had put out for them.

The giraffes were fun to watch and Josh got a great picture of one licking the pole of the umbrella that's in their enclosure. It reminded us of "A Christmas Story".

Tigers are Josh's favorite animal and he was able to get some great pictures because they were really close to the fence.

We had a great time on our "first date repeat" and even ordered delivery from the same Chinese restaurant where we ate lunch that day.

Baby Update

We took some "baby bump" pictures last week when I was 16 weeks along. Josh is a great photographer and we'll keep taking them as the weeks go by. Tomorrow I'll be 4 months along. It's been going pretty slow, so I'm glad to get to this milestone. We're almost half way there! I didn't notice how "high" I'm carrying the baby until I looked at these pictures. Josh thinks that means we're having a boy. lol.

We went to our second doctor's appointment a few weeks ago and she said that everything is right where it should be-my weight, blood pressure, etc. She also listened to the baby's heart. What an amazing thing to hear! I can't describe the feeling I had when we heard that little heart beating away. The doctor said it was a good, strong heart. At that appointment, we also signed up for classes that are offered through the hospital. We signed up for a Lamaze class, the new mom and dad class, and a breastfeeding class. The new mom and dad class is next week but the others aren't until closer to my due date.

The second most exciting thing that happened at that appointment (the first was hearing the heart!) is that we set up the ultrasound appointment to see if we're having a boy or a girl. It's on September 10th-2 weeks from tomorrow. We're really excited to find out! Josh has also been working really hard on getting our second bedroom ready for the baby. It's been our storage/craft/whatever room since we moved in, but now it's going to also be a baby's room. He's been reorganizing, cleaning, and putting things into storage so we can have room for a small nursery. It will still be a storage room, but there's a big part that will be for the baby. He moved our rocking chair into the room and we got a lot of cute baby things from my sister (thank you so much Becky!) that we've put in there. Then there's the dresser we'll use and hopefully make into a changing table. It's fun to see the room changing and becoming a place where we'll be taking care of the baby.

We're Having a Baby!

This is the positive home pregnancy test I took on Memorial Day. My period was late by a few days and I kept thinking "what if" so I finally took a test and there was no doubt that I really was. I hid it from Josh for a couple of days so I could do something special to tell him. I ended up buying the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and made him this card.

It was about 2 weeks before Father's Day but I couldn't wait to tell him. I had wrapped up the book and put the card into an envelope. As soon as he opened it and realized what it was he was soo excited! He gave me this huge hug and kept kissing me and had the most handsome smile!
We're been reading the book and keeping track of our baby's progress ever since. We had our first doctor's appointment on July 9th, when I was 10 weeks along. It was really neat because she did an ultrasound to measure the baby and verify how far along I was, and then she turned the monitor so that we could see it and our little one was bouncing all over. We were able to see the heart beating and see "little woody" moving all over. Josh called the baby our "little jumping bean" at that time. Everything was right where it should be and the doctor drew labs which turned out normal.
Then on July 26th we went in for another ultrasound and bloodwork to screen for genetic disorders. Not that it will change anything, but we'd like to be prepared as much as possible before this little one comes into the world. It was so incredible to see the growth that had happened in those two weeks! We were able to see the baby's arms, elbows and hands as well as his (Josh KNOWS it's going to be a boy) legs, knees and feet. Even his little toes! We saw the profile and the little heart again. We were also able to hear the heart. What an awe-inspiring sound! Everything was normal with the ultrasound and the blood work. Yay!! And last Friday, July 30th, I reached the end of the first trimester and we had wanted to wait until then to tell our families. So Saturday we invited both of our moms over for dinner. They just thought it was going to be a nice dinner and visiting, but at their seats were these cards we had made.
We waited until after dinner and then had them both open them at the same time. We told them that they were thank you cards. My mom opened hers first and let out a squeal, but Josh's mom, Kim, was having a hard time. My mom quickly turned the card upside down and became quiet so Kim could get hers open too. As soon as she did, she yelled and jumped up and hugged me and my mom who had gotten up as soon as Kim yelled to hug me. They both held me for such a long time and my mom was crying. They are both soo excited! This is Kim's first grandbaby and she is ecstatic. She's been telling Josh and I for several months that the only thing she wants for her birthday is to be a grandma and we did just what she asked. We also made the cute bags to give to our moms. A few weeks ago we were at Roberts to get paints for Josh and ended up buying a TON more than what we originally had planned, finding these bags and the accessories to go in them. We had a lot of fun making them.

The front says "You're A" and the back has these pins that say "Grandma To Be". Josh and I are both really excited (and nervous) for this new adventure in our lives. I've had a fairly easy pregnancy so far (thank goodness!) For awhile I was pretty nauseated and had no energy, but I never threw up and was able to work through it. Things are getting easier now and I'm excited to be 1/3rd of the way through! I'm due on February 4th.