Ba Ba Ba Ba... The Big Reveal

This room is what has consumed my mind for the last 9 months... which is good because now that it's done I AM BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!!!

So here's how I'm going to do this extremely long post of pictures... first will be a picture of each wall in her room, second is close-ups on the cute things I've been making, and third are the things I still want to do! YAY!!This is the north wall... we aren't supposed to paint the walls, but we did it anyway... shhhh don't tell Nelson!! However, we were too afraid to paint the closet doors so just ignore the hideous doors... oh and the really old, teal carpet! The rest is cute I promise!!This is the east wall. South wallWest wall

Ok now for all the close-ups and bragging of how amazing decent I am at crafting!These are frames that say "Hope" "Love" and "Believe"

These are the book slings I made. They are low enough for her to come and grab whichever book she wants Daddy or I to read to her.This is the glider, it's green... I didn't make it, Wal-Mart did, but I did make the pillow.This picture is showing the nightstand that Jeff painted and refurbished This is the crib skirt I made... twice... I measured wrong the first time!This is the changing table which we got off KSL and Jeff painted it white to match the rest of the furniture.The shelf I painted, the "LOVE" blocks I made and my baby shower scrapbook one of my friends made me.
This is the valence I made, with Jeff's help in the construction of it. I bought the curtains from Ikea because it was going to be $30 to make but only $3.99 to buy... there's a no brainer!Painted shelf, "K-Y-L-I-E", birdhouse, and flower potsLady Bugs and flower potA closer look at the lady bugs that I painted to match the crib set.Temple block I made and a really cute giraffe given to her by her awesome cousins!The dimmer light Jeff put in!The wreath I made that hangs on the front of Kylie's door.

Next will be the things I didn't get to because... well you'll see
There you have it! I love this room and I already have spent many hours in it sitting on the glider just waiting and wishing her to be here! We have 5 days till our due date but I'm beginning to think we will go over... only time will tell!

Coming Down to the Wire

**Disclaimer: I actually wrote this blog today! See I said that I was going to try and get better... baby steps!!

Not much to say this blog...

We are about 4 days away from our July 31^st deadline of getting the nursery done and I think we might just make it happen. There are a few things we had to cut out due to some unexpected expenses, but for the most part this room is everything I imagined and Kylie is going to love it!

At our doctor appointment yesterday Jeff and I were getting each other psyched up saying that I was going to be fully dilated and ready to go. But, that however was not the case. I am 50% effaced and only a centimeter dilated. So maybe next week! But really, I’m only 36 weeks. I think it’s just wishful thinking that is making it seem like she could come any second now!

Sittin', Waitin', Wishin'

** Disclaimer: This blog was written at week 35!**

Hey, it’s me again… that horrible blogger that waits months and months and even trimesters between updates! Seriously though… I will get better, it may not be right away but I really do plan on keeping this thing current more often so that I don’t have such long posts again!

Yesterday Jeff had a follow-up appointment for his tonsillectomy at 3:30 and then our baby doctor appointment at 4:15. Naturally I was freaking out that we would be late to our baby appointment, especially if Jeff’s doctor was running late. What do you know, Jeff doctor was running 20 minutes late… great!! Well, we rushed through his appointment to rush off to our baby appointment only to sit in the waiting room for about an hour. Does it annoy anyone else that doctors schedule appointments at a certain time but are inevitably late? But heaven forbid if YOU are late to an appointment!! I was always taught to be 15 minutes early to everything. Direct quote from my Daddy-O, “if you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re 15 minutes late.” So when doctors are late it drives me crazy!! Anyway, we finally got in to see the doctor.

Kylie is still thriving and loving life in my belly. She is ginormous and has a healthy heart rate (140 bpm just like every other appointment). I’m 35 weeks now and she is measuring equivalent to 37 weeks. She has always measured 2 weeks bigger than “normal” so maybe, fingers crossed, I won’t have to stick it out all the way to August 24^th! The doc checked to make sure she was still head down, sure enough she was. And the best part, though I thought she was still riding high, she has dropped and is sitting very low in my pelvis… does that mean a quick labor?? I hope so!! When he told me she was very low I questioned him because I constantly feel her way up high and I can’t eat nearly as much as I used to. So he felt around and said that she was up high too. Apparently, this stinker doesn’t like the fetal position. Like her dad, she likes to be completely stretched out from head to toe!

I’m doing great. I’ve gained a total of 18 pounds this pregnancy, which is a little below normal but nothing to be concerned about! I’ve learned to manage my heart thing and just try to ignore it when it happens. I just recently stopped going to physical therapy because my back pain has subsided. All in all I feel great… really!

Update of the nursery…

We’ve been working on the nightstand and the changing table. We are painting them white to match the rest of the furniture. For my birthday I got the glider and ottoman. It is so comfy and I can’t wait to rock our angel to sleep in it! Other than those big things, I’ve just been making small little crafts to decorate the room. I can’t wait for it to be finished so I can show off all the pictures!! Soon my friends… very soon!! I hope to have the nursery finished by July 31^st, we are getting down to the wire and I need to step up the pace!

Other things that have happened since my last blog…

I love July in Utah!! I said that last year and I’m saying it again! To start off the month Jeff went on a hike up Little Cottonwood Canyon which he loved and can't wait to go back once all the snow melts. Yeah, you heard right, he had to turn around because there was too much snow on the trail and he couldn't figure out where the trail was. He said he would have just kept going but I was already freaking out that he would get lost and he knew I would be very upset if he wasn't home in the time he said he would be home. (So many people have gotten lost this year here in Utah, I was kinda panicky when he told me he wanted to go hiking!) After his hike we went to Provo to sit outside the stadium for Stadium of Fire, our yearly tradition. Remember last year when I had my brush with stardom? Well, nothing that exciting this time but we did have a great time! Jeff’s mom has wanted to go to Stadium of Fire forever so we invited her and Hans to sit outside with us to enjoy the music and see the fireworks. Nothing like being inside the stadium but still really fun! Well, as we were waiting for the show to start, someone from the event staff came up to us and offered us 3 tickets. So Hans and Rhonda got to go in and see Brad Paisley! I’m glad they were able to go inside and enjoy it! On the 4^th, we went to our friend’s house for swimming then joined Jeff’s parents for a BBQ. After the BBQ we rejoined our friends and went to the Sandy City fireworks. Last week was Draper Days, so we went to the rodeo -- my first one by the way, the festival, and to the horse pull! All very fun, probably more fun when you’re not pregnant but still much better than sitting around the house! And finally, a very nice family in our ward gave us a window air conditioner… HEAVEN!! Jeff installed it last week. He built a whole frame for it and everything. I wish I had taken pictures but he did it so fast that by the time I thought to get out the camera he was already done! What a good man!

Jeff and I were talking last night that in 5 weeks our life is going to change forever, over night, wither we’re ready for it or not! What an exciting adventure and we are getting so anxious to meet this little girl that has completely consumed our lives for the past 35 weeks! We love her so much and we don’t even know her yet!

422-1111

** Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post at week 28! Label me the worst blogger ever… I don’t mind… it’s the truth!***

Wow! It has been so long since I have updated the blog. Everyday I think to myself, “I really need to get on it,” but then I lay down and usually take a nap and forget about it!

Anyway, you are probably wondering about the numbers above. No we didn’t change our phone number; that is the appointment schedule we have left. One more 4 week appointment, two 2 week appointments, and 4 one week appointments! That makes it seem so close and we have so much left to do! However, I have the whole month of July off, so hopefully I can get everything on our list done at that time!

Over the last eight weeks we have been really busy. I say that every post but really this time I’m serious! Since the last post we have installed a new plug in our bathroom, a new plug in the hallway (this way we can have a nightlight to see as we stumble into the nursery to appease little Kylie when she begins to cry), and installed a dimmer in the nursery. Our apartment is about 900 years old; when it was built they didn’t install a fan in the bathroom so it gets really moldy in there during the winter when we can’t open the window to let the moisture out. So Jeff tore apart most of the walls, removed all of the mold, resealed the bath tub and shower, resealed the window and the baseboards, then painted. Let me tell you, it looks SO much better and I love the new colors we have gone with. We also bought a hideous and stinky dresser off our local classifieds (KSL.com). Then Jeff aired it out, cleaned it, painted it and added new knobs, it looks amazing!! We also painted the nursery. I say we in all these DIY projects but really most of it is Jeff’s doing. I get started then I get impatient and just want it to be done so I leave and let Jeff finish just in time for me to come back and say, “wow, we did such a great job!” Also, my sweet Daddy-O bought Kylie Bug her crib so we assembled that after we painted and slowly but surely the nursery is coming along. All the pictures of the nursery will be in a special post soon.

As for Kylie, she is one happy healthy baby! At our last appointment she was measuring really tall. This makes sense. Remember in our 20 week ultrasound she had really long legs that put her arriving 2 weeks early. Well, she’s still all legs apparently! And man can I feel those legs, they are long and strong!

As for my health, I had to drink the nasty glucose drink last appointment and really it wasn’t all that bad! A little thick, but I love orange Fanta so, I just pretended I was drinking Fanta and it went down pretty easily. I was only 4 points away from failing the test however, so they told me to stay away from sugars during the pregnancy… yeah right!! Now for the part I didn’t want to share with anyone but since this is a log to help us remember our life, I guess I should be honest. I have tried to hide the fact that my pregnancy hasn’t been all roses and I think I’ve done a good job but again I must be honest. So, over the last two months I have noticed that my heart wasn’t quite right. About 3-4 times a day it will jump up to around 115-120 bpm. Which is scary and knocks me on my butt for a good half hour until it slows back down to my normal 55-60. So I talked to my doctor about it. He said this is normal for pregnant women to have their heart rate jump up so high because of all the extra mass they carry around. However, he said they usually get these bouts 1-2 times a week not 3-4 times a day. He said I might be dehydrated or hypoglycemic and told me to drink some water and eat some candy (which is funny since they also told me to stay away from sugars!) while I’m having those problems. He said if it didn’t get better that he would refer me to a cardiologist. Well, it didn’t get better, so off to a cardiologist I went. He put a 24 hour heart monitor on me to track my heart rate. After reading the results, it turns out I have an arrhythmia and that my heart is too strong. He said that most people have this arrhythmia but don’t feel it. He said that since my heart was so strong I was actually feeling it. So, all-in-all, it’s a good bad thing!! Another problem I’ve been having is extreme back pain. I have loose joints, which means it doesn’t take much for my joints to slip in and out of their sockets and with the increase of the pregnancy hormone relaxin- which causes joints to relax to allow the baby to pass through easier- it only makes my loose joints worse. So naturally, I screwed up my back before I was pregnant and with the added weight it’s only getting worse. My left hip is shifted and sits about an inch and a half back causing the surrounding muscles and nerves to be inflamed and smooshed, for lack of a better term. So every day I wake up feeling as though I have spent 15 hours gardening and it doesn’t get any better throughout the day! I have these killer pains that shoot down my sciatic nerve all day and there’s nothing we can do about it. I have been going to physical therapy twice a week which has helped the muscle pain but the nerve pain is just getting worse. So, pretty much I feel like a total hypochondriac and that is why I didn’t want anyone to know of the pains I’m having, but again I must be honest!

Sorry for such a long post but it has been almost an entire trimester since I’ve updated so it’s like 3 updates in one… get over it!! I can’t believe we only have 10 weeks left! We can’t wait!! She has such a personality already and we can’t wait to see it in person!!

Half Way There!

*** Disclaimer: This post was written two weeks ago, but we have been SO busy that I am FINALLY getting it posted!! --- Don't judge!!***

***PS (meaning PREscript) - There is a fun surprise at the end of this post but you have to read all the way through!!***

Oh, we're half way there
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it I swear
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer

(Thank you Bon Jovi!)

She’s still a girl! Remember at our 16 week appointment our doctor gave us a sneak peek and told us it’s a girl… well four weeks later she still is a girl!

At our official ultrasound appointment today the technician did all the normal scans and pictures. Baby is happy and healthy. She has some LONG legs! The length of her legs has her estimated due date (EDD) coming in around 2 weeks early, but the rest of her body is measuring at August 20^th EDD, which is only 4 days early. The technician said that the placenta was in the back so I will be feeling Baby Boo Bop a lot more than normal because there isn’t a cushion between baby and me. YAY, for now but I hear it gets really uncomfortable once she gets bigger.

Speaking of feeling her, I first felt her kick for sure on March 20^th, Jeff first felt her on April 1^st. Around week 14 I thought I felt her kick, and you never know, but now for sure I am feeling this karate kid!

We have been having so much fun the last few weeks with this beautiful baby girl. A few weeks ago we got a Target baby registry magazine in the mail. Kind of weird since we hadn’t registered or given Target our address yet, but it had a $20 gift card attached to it so I didn’t really mind! Anyway, that weekend we decided to go spend that gift card. But first, we had to actually register to get the card activated. So, we registered and bought her bedding set! It is so cute and has definitely settled my nerves a little bit! I had been staying up late at night freaking out about how we were going to decorate the nursery. Jeff finally had enough of my worrying, so when the gift card came we knew exactly what we were going to get.

Our next purchase was the changing table. After registering and looking at the prices for this stuff that will only be used for a few months I immediately went to our local online classifieds (KSL.com) and began looking for baby furniture. I found a changing table for $20, which is a whole lot better than the $120+ ones I’ve been finding in stores. I put it in the back of my mind and thought, “ok, well in a few months we will look back and see if there are any good deals.” Well, a few days later I had a really bad day at work and came home in a crummy mood. Jeff looked at me and said, “ok, let’s go buy your changing table.” This changed my mood immediately! I love him! He always knows what to do to put me in a good mood! As for the table, it’s in great condition and I just have to paint it white to match the other furniture we are getting.

For the past few months we have been trying to “clean” out the office to make it ready to transform into the nursery and we just weren’t getting anywhere, really it was just getting more and more disorganized. Well, this weekend we decided that it was about time. We cleaned, and de-junked, and filed, and organized. And finally, after only 3½ hours, we got it clean and ready to start painting in the next month or so.

This weekend we were blessed to be able to watch General Conference. This is where the leaders of our church speak to the members and give us advice and counsel. It is always an uplifting weekend and a great boost in self-esteem. I loved spending the entire weekend listening to their guidance and hanging out with Jeff.

Yup, Kylie Rae! That's her name!

Boy Oh Boy!!

That’s right… at our 16 week ultrasound today our doctor was in a very good mood (his excuse… it’s Mardi Gras!) and offered us a sneak peek at Baby Boo Bop!! First we went through all the normal things of a typical check-up. Blood pressure – good, Fetal heart beat – good, Fetal growth – good, Questions – none, then he sent us in to get the ultrasound!! Now you must remember that this is only week 16 but it was pretty obvious once Baby Boo Bop got a move on and flipped around. It seems this is going to be one shy/private baby!! It took a while before they could get a good shot between the legs. And the results are… this baby is going to be a … (dramatic drum roll please…)

GIRL!!!

Yup, we are having a baby girl in August!! We were both so in shock! I think it finally hit both of us today that we are actually having a baby, a real life human being!! Of course we are so thrilled about the news!! When we told my dad he was like, “see I told you it was a girl!” Hans and Rhonda, Jeff’s parents, were both so excited as well! Rhonda was screaming, “IT’S A GIRL, IT’S A GIRL!”

On a side note I guess I should update you on how the last four weeks have been. I finally am starting to look pregnant and not just like a fat lady, which is so nice. I don’t think I’ll be asked at school as much by a little first grader if I’m pregnant or fat – that’s a bonus- feel good moment!! My jeans are getting harder and harder to button. Luckily about 2 years ago I was at Khol’s and saw a pair of jeans for $1, yeah a buck!! So I bought them. Turns out when I got home they were a size too big for me! I always kept them thinking, “I bet one day I’m going to be fat, I should keep these!” Sad that I have lived up to that expectation but it’s all for a great reason, so I don’t even mind!

As most of you know my first trimester was a piece of cake. No real problems, just hunger and fatigue. The second trimester has been VERY tough to say the least! The first week of the second trimester I had a horrible cold that seemed like it lasted a lifetime. That following weekend we had a teeny tiny miscarriage scare that of course we blew way out a proportion, it was really nothing but seemed very real to us! Then that Tuesday, sometime while I was at work I got a headache. Seemed normal at first but by Thursday when it didn’t go away we decided to call the doc. He prescribed me some pills and said that if it didn’t go away I should go into the ER to get a morphine shot. Of course, those pills didn’t touch this massive headache, so Friday was spent in the ER getting test after test after test! The worst was when I had to sign the paper saying that the hospital wasn’t responsible for any radiation the baby might come in contact with!!! SCARY!!! That was a hard paper to sign! But my doctor reassured us that the CT scans they have now use only ¼ of what they used to and it was safe. He said if it wasn’t safe there would be no way he would let his patient have one, that is reassuring!! Well, a day in the ER, a few tests and morphine shots later, still no relief. By Monday when it still wasn’t gone Jeff and I decided to get a massage. Can I just say, HEAVEN!! And finally after a complete week of a throbbing head, Tuesday morning I woke up to no headache. I mean, they still come and go but are much more manageable now!

This weekend we decided it would be a great weekend to start figuring out the nursery. We have been storing some of our bedroom furniture in the spare bedroom and thought it’s time to get that in our room. So, Jeff got to it early Saturday morning, moving all our bedroom furniture around trying to figure out the best spot for each piece. It finally looks good, a little cramped, but good! We also made our first baby purchase! We wanted to wait until we knew the sex of the baby before we bought anything big so we stuck to the small stuff! We bought BOOKS!! Our child is going to be so literate!! Especially with such titles as, Bubbles, Bubbles and Fun at the Zoo!

It seems as though not much has been happening but we do stay busy most days doing something for Baby Boo Bop!! And now that we know it’s a girl I can start with all the crafts I have in mind!!

We have 24 weeks left before we meet this beautiful angel, I wish time would hurry up but I am so grateful for this time we have to prepare and make everything perfect for her!

Babies R Us

Well after a year and a half of pills, blood tests, shots, doctors appointments, tests, procedures and many disappointing pees on a stick; Jeff and I can now happily tell the world that we are parents! We are about 12 weeks along and due on August 24^th. We found out on December 18^th and haven’t stopped smiling since!

We told my family on Christmas Eve with the gift to end all gifts. We bought my dad a baby bib that says, “I love Grandpa” Upon opening it his jaw dropped and for the first time my dad was speechless. All he could get out was, “…are you, … are you, … are you pregnant?” Jeff and I both responded with an exuberant, “YES!” He was so excited and kept telling us that we are going to have a girl. He said he gets a feeling every night that we are going to have a girl. I guess we will just have to wait for another 8 weeks to find out.

We blurted the news to Jeff’s parents on his dad’s birthday. They were equally excited and thrilled that after all our sadness we have finally found our joy.

One of the last conversations I had with my mom after we told her what was happening with her was about our future family. She couldn’t really respond but I knew she could hear and understand what I was telling her. I told her that I knew the reason I wasn’t getting pregnant was that she wouldn’t be around or really capable to hold or play with our babies and that Heavenly Father had a plan in mind. I told her I knew He was taking her from us so that she could have a chance to play with, hold, and love our babies. I told her that she could play with them all she wanted but as soon as she was done she needed to send them our way. I told her I’m not going to stress or worry about getting pregnant anymore because I knew she would send our bundle of joy down when it was the right time. Well, she must’ve thought it was the right time because we got pregnant that very next month!

You are probably asking yourself, “why in the world have they waited so long to tell us?!” That my good friends is a simple answer. All her life my mom had irregular periods… just like me, she had a very hard time getting pregnant… just like me, she had PCOS… just like me, and once pregnant she had a hard time not miscarrying… so if the trend was to continue, logic would say that I would have the same problem. My doctor agreed with us that it was probably smart to wait until after the first trimester when miscarriage rates drop to less that 1%. Though he said he is 99.9% positive we could tell people and be fine, we decided to take the safe route and avoid the hurt of having to excite our friends and family just to let them down. So we have waited until after our 12 week appointment to share the news. I hope that didn’t offend anyone but it was what Jeff and I both thought was the right thing to do.

Luckily, the first trimester hasn’t been very hard on me. I’ve had my days when the sheer thought of getting out of bed has caused intense emotional torment. But all in all, it’s been pretty easy. Instead of experiencing what most people think of “morning sickness” as, I’ve been experiencing the complete opposite. I have been eating Jeff out of house and home. Our grocery bill has seriously skyrocketed! I’m also extremely tired. I’ll get home from work and sleep for a few hours, wake up just in time to eat the dinner Jeff has so graciously prepared for me, then go back to sleep, wake up to the bowl of ice cream Jeff has already scooped and then head to bed. (I live a pretty exciting life!) As mentioned, Jeff has been so extremely helpful, kind, understanding and everything else that fits in the thesaurus entry for AMAZING!

So please, join with us in our excitement as we celebrate everyday Baby Boo Bop keeps us smiling!