I Finally Beat It and I'm Thankful!

I am so happy and thankful to say, that I think my cold is finally over! Just to be safe, I'll wait until Monday to start exercising again, but at least I don't feel like crap all the time anymore. Woo hoo!

Anyway, it's amazing how much better one feels when they are no longer sick, not just physically but also emotionally. I have felt totally on edge for the last couple weeks and in the last couple days that has gone back to less edgy (I don't think the emotional edge will really get back to normal until after pregnancy, or wait, maybe after I get over the first sleepless nights with the baby). Thank heavens for Adam being so patient and helpful these last few weeks (although he is that way all the time, I just especially appreciated it these last few weeks!). He has gotten our place 90% unpacked and decorated totally by himself. Though last night I told him that was only fair since I packed 90% by myself. :)

Now with most of the boxes unpacked, pictures on the walls, and most decorations up, it's really starting to feel like home. I think I'm feeling much more adjusted. Plus, there are some really cool aspects to our new place that I am now really appreciating.

The number one thing I appreciate, the toilets! I love the toilets here! I know that sounds kind of dumb, but Adam's parents were smart and kind enough to put Toto toilets in, which are like the best flushers in the world. We had an old toilet at our last place that didn't always flush properly, and that totally grossed me out. Especially since I've been pregnant! Now, no more toilet worries!

I also really love the tap water here. Adam's parents put a filter on the water for the whole house, so that means I don't need my Brita, the tap is already filtered so I can just drink straight from that (well, I do use a cup, but you get the point). Plus, they made us a really big, really nice master bedroom. Like 20' by 12' big. It's quite nice to have that much space, especially since the dog beds are in our room and soon the bassinet, so we'll have the entire family sleeping in our bedroom for a few months.

And finally, we have a racket ball court in our apartment. Yes, an indoor full size racket ball court with a climbing wall inside and other fun things that can be used (like there's hook ups for a volleyball net, a climbing rope, and scooters with attachments for games like hockey, basketball, and capture the flag). Because of my late pregnancy, I haven't really been able to take advantage of this room yet, but as soon as I'm recovered, I fully intend on having Adam teach me how to play racket ball. In the meantime, it's like Doggy Disneyland because it's a great place to play fetch in the winter and we can throw the ball way hard and have it bounce all over and make the dogs crazy. In fact, Rolo loves this room so much that as soon as Adam gets home and she has finished her crazy excited greeting, she runs to the racket ball court door wiggling excitedly, and then looks at the door, then looks at us, then back at the door, back at us, sometimes pawing at the door, until we either give in and go play with her in there, or walk away and leave her hanging. Possibly the only downside to having this super cool room in our apartment is that whenever the nieces and nephews are upstairs visiting grandma and grandpa, they want to come down in our apartment and play in the racket ball court. Although it hasn't been too bad, mostly they just come in during family parties and stuff, which is what we expected anyway.

So, if you all want to have a party, or you want to play a really good game of racket ball, come on over! Adam is way good at racket ball and will probably beat most people (so brothers of mine, next time you're in Utah you have to stop by for a game). Once the baby is born and a few months old, we'll have to have a little game tournament of some kind here. So if you're into physical games and would like to come, let me know and I'll make sure to invite you!

It's no fun being sick

I've been sick with a bad cold for about a week now. Prior to pregnancy, I wouldn't let a cold hold me back. I would still go to work and school, run errands, go out to do fun things, etc. Unfortunately, I have learned that when one is pregnant and gets a cold, one cannot go on living life as usual. I tried doing that and all it did was make me sicker. So, even though I had all kinds of fun plans for this weekend (I was supposed to be up at East Canyon for a girls weekend and before I left Adam and I were supposed to go to the Festival of Trees), I ended up sitting or laying down at home and just watching movies. Boring! The only up side was Friday my friend KrisAn decided to brave my cold and come visit me. Thank goodness!

Saturday I took a little turn for the worse and had a hard time breathing all day, so I pretty much stayed in bed. Thankfully Adam was able to get a lot of unpacking done and get decorations up in our place, so now it's starting to feel a little more like home.

After sleeping with the humidifier on full blast last night, I'm feeling a little better this morning. Although I'm bummed because I still don't think it's a good idea for me to go out, even to church. There are a ton of other pregnant women and babies there, and I really don't want to expose anyone else to this horrible cold. I wish the person who gave it to me would have been as thoughtful.

Anyway, the baby will be here in a matter of weeks now and I have so much to do to get ready for him, but unless I get better soon, I'm afraid I won't be ready in time. So, here's to hoping and praying I get better quickly!

Catch Up

It's been a while since I've written because things have been pretty busy. First, the weekend of October 17th was celebrate Melissa weekend, so of course it was great! On October 17th I had a fun baby shower (Thank you Megan, KrisAn, Mom, and Kelly for all your hard work!). We had great food, complete with two of my favorite treats, my mom's pumpkin bread and red velvet cup cakes! We played some pretty fun games, but my favorite was the diaper game. It's pretty gross, but still fun. There were 10 diapers passed around with different smashed, melted candy inside and we had to guess what it was. It's hilarious to watch people sticking their face into a dirty diaper. At least no on tasted it! My friend Megan took pictures of the shower, so you can see those on her blog here http://megananddan1.blogspot.com/2009/10/melissas-baby-shower.html

Anyway, later that night Adam and I celebrated my birthday, just the two of us. It was great to be able to go on a date again, especially since we haven't had time to in at least a month or two. We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point and then out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. And, in honor of my Autumn Project, we did have buy one get one free coupons, so that was super helpful! Then on Sunday Adam made me a birthday breakfast in bed and a great homemade dinner. We were actually able to relax and play games together, which was a nice change from the go, go, go we've been doing lately.

On Monday the 19th, my actual birthday, we went out to dinner with a few close friends to the Cheesecake Factory. Adam and I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the cheesecake factory. I love it, he hates it. I don't love their expensive prices, but almost every time I've gone there I've really enjoyed my food. Adam on the other hand, has never liked his food. I also love it because the portions are so big that Adam and I can share one meal and still come home with leftovers. Anyway, we got the avocado egg rolls for the first time (yummy), the Shepard's pie for dinner (that was pretty good, but not my favorite. Adam agreed), and of course, pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. The interesting thing is that I was actually underwhelmed with everything. Maybe it's because I'm cooking more, but I've noticed I don't enjoy going out to dinner as much. Ever since I started cooking dinner every night, I realized, I can cook a meal just as good if not better than what I get at a restaurant, and it's a whole lot cheaper when I do it! I can only imagine how my sister-in-law Dawn feels, since she's a real chef and probably can always cook a better meal than what she gets at a restaurant.

Anyway, since the "celebrate Melissa weekend" we've been busy preparing for our move. For those that don't know we're downsizing a bit (so we can afford for me to be a stay-at-home mom) and moving to South Jordan next weekend. Adam's been working hard every weekend and almost every night remodeling the place we're moving into (one of his parent's apartments) and I've been spending most days packing the house. I never realized how hard it is to pack while pregnant. The packing isn't the problem, it's moving the box after it's packed. Since I'm not supposed to lift much weight, it's really annoying to pack a box and then have to let it sit there until I can get someone else to move it for me, especially when compared to the weights I used to lift prior to pregnancy, it weighs practically nothing. A few times I broke the rules and moved boxes when I shouldn't have, but I paid for it later with pain and swelling. I'm just glad we're moving now before I get any further along and before the baby's born! With every week that goes by, it's getting harder and harder for me to bend down (due to my big belly) or to keep my arms above my head grabbing stuff (my hands and arms keep falling asleep), or just to have energy in general to constantly be moving. Plus, it'll be nice to get it over with before the holidays, especially since from that point it seems like it'll be a mad dash to my due date (which in my mind cannot come fast enough!).

So, now the house is 80% packed, the stuff we're getting rid of is 80% sold and gone, and the place we're moving into is 80% done. I just have to hope we can finish the other 20% in a week! And when it's all done, and we're moved and unpacked, I think I'm going to sleep for a week! I'm really looking forward to the day my energy comes back to me, though too many people laugh at me when I say that because theirs never really came back. So, if you have any spare energy, please, send it my way! I could really use it over the next couple of weeks!

Weight Gain

As everyone knows, I'm pregnant and therefore have been gaining weight. I totally understand the need to gain, but as I weighed myself this morning I actually had to fight back the tears of my new found weight (5 pounds heavier than last month). I realized I must be doing a few things wrong. First, I believe I'm putting too much weight on too fast (although my doctor says I'm still within the normal range). This frustrates the heck out of me for a number of reasons. First, before I got pregnant I lost a bunch of weight (like 55 pounds). So I really didn't want to gain any more weight than necessary during my pregnancy so I didn't end up back at square one. Two, I currently exercise at least 5 days a week, but usually 6 days. I go walking for about 40 minutes then I come home, stretch and do some light strength training for about 15 minutes. If I'm exercising every day, then why the heck am I gaining weight so fast?! I want half a pound a week, not a full pound a week! This leads me to the conclusion that it must be the food, I'm eating too many dang calories.

Food must be the problem. When I was dieting prior to pregnancy, following a good healthy diet was actually pretty easy most of the time. However, since I got pregnant, the thought of some foods makes me sick, while the thought of other foods makes me want them, NOW. For example, I used to eat at least one or two apples every day, but then I got pregnant and apples never sounded good to me. It's only been since last week that I can eat apples again. Then there's seafood. I used to love eating good fish like tilapia, salmon, tuna, and shrimp. Well, not so anymore! I've tried it a couple times just to see if I can eat it again, but no, it still makes me want to vomit. It has now been 5 months since I've eaten any kind of seafood. Now lets not forgot the stuff I have to have all the time, like sugary treats. Prior to pregnancy, I rarely ate them. Now, I crave it all the time. I don't have any other weird pregnancy cravings like pickles and peanut butter (actually pickles make me gag now) all I crave is sugar in different varieties. And yes, I often give in to this craving. But I justify it by thinking "Well, I pretty much eat low calorie, healthy foods the rest of the day, I drink plenty of water, and I exercise every day, so this cookie won't kill me," but apparently it does.

So, what do I do to slow this crappy weight gain? I'd love to say that I'll just stop eating sugar treats completely, but I know that's not going to happen. I can cut back, but not get rid of them completely. I guess I'll just cut the calories more in the rest of my diet and up my exercise as much as I safely can. Unless you've got any better ideas? How did the rest of you women fight too much weight gain while you were pregnant? Also, if you're willing to share, how much weight did you gain in your pregnancies and how much came off within the first month (you know, from baby stuff and water weight)? I need some comfort here people.

More Success

Today was my second time going grocery shopping from sales and coupons. I got $75 worth of groceries for $45, so I saved $30! And this time it only took me an hour total to plan my menu for the week and go through the ads and coupons. I'm up to making $30 an hour now, pretty good!

Also this week, I made a homemade pumpkin shake. I just used milk, vanilla ice cream, and a couple tablespoons of pumpkin from a can. It was actually really good. Tomorrow I'm making pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, yum!

So I had an idea today. I love pumpkin stuff so much and I really like to carve pumpkins (even though I totally suck at it) so I think it would be fun to have a "Pumpkin Party." All the refreshments would have to have pumpkin in them and the activities would have to involve pumpkins. Obviously carving pumpkins is a fun activity, but for those of you out there that are way more creative than me, do you have any fun games/activities that we can do involving pumpkins in some way (even if it's using fake ones)? And, if you're into pumpkins and would like to come to my party (don't know when I'll do it yet) please let me know, I'd love to invite you!

Autumn Project - 1st Attempt Successful!

My first attempt at part of my "Autumn Project" was a success! Today I spent 2 hours going through grocery sale ads and coupons, then created a meal plan for the week based on what was on sale. I was introduced to this awesome website, http://theobsessiveshopper.net/, which is where you can go, put in your area and pick the stores you want to look at. It then tells you all of the sales they have going on and coupons you can print out (thanks for the tip Lisa!). I did have to download the coupon printing software (took all of two minutes) and then I was able to search through manufacturer coupons that are good at any store.

Anyway, just from the coupons I printed out, I saved $15 (and that part only took about 15 minutes). After I printed out coupons, I then looked at the four main grocery stores that I go to to see what kind of sales they had. I made a list for myself in Excel with the Store, Item, and sale they had going on. In half of the cases, I was able to find an item on sale AND have a coupon on it (this saved me another $15). For those of you new to this like me, Walmart will match anyone's price and honor coupons. The only thing Walmart doesn't honor is buy one get one free sales (found this out the hard way today). Anyway, I then took my shopping list and created a meal plan based on what I already have at home and what I was going to buy on sale/with a coupon. Then I added a handful of things I needed that were neither on sale nor had a coupon for, but were necessary to complete my recipes. Finally, I took my shopping list (which I printed out from Excel to make things easier for the teller at Walmart for price matching), my coupons, and the ads (which I had just received in the mail two days before).

Shopping at Walmart did take longer than normal, but then again I don't normally shop at Walmart so I didn't know where everything was, plus the place was crazy busy. In the end I got $110 worth of groceries for only $61, a total of $49 in savings! Not too bad for my first attempt at shopping the sales and clipping coupons. I guess this is like making $24.50 an hour.

Now, I did get a few things I don't normally get (like some holiday treats that were on sale), so the jury is still out as to whether or not I will actually lower my overall budget for the month. Either way though, I do feel pretty good about my first coupon/sale experience. In the end, I probably would have bought those holiday treats anyway, just because I'm craving them like crazy, but at least this way I saved money. :)

Fun Stuff and “The Autumn Project”

This last week I've had the opportunity to do quite a few fun things. Here's the fun list from the week:
1st – I went to the What a Woman Wants Expo with my mom. Okay, so I was honestly a bit disappointed with the vendors there (specifically there's a really yummy bread vendor that has been at every expo I've ever been to at the Sandy Expo Center and they weren't there), but it was still fun. My favorite booth was a game booth where they sold all kinds of card and board games. I got two new games, Five Crowns and Ticket to Ride. Both are way fun and I recommend them!

2nd – I went to Oktoberfest at Snowbird with my mom. Again, I was a little disappointed with the lack of vendors there, but there was still some cool stuff. They had the Yo-Yo World Champion there who was doing some cool tricks, a German band with all kinds of fun instruments and German songs (lots of polka and yodeling type stuff), and of course, yummy Brats (although I won't be eating one again for the rest of my pregnancy since I paid for it that night when I was throwing up). The best part though was when we took the tram (a big box with 50 people in it hanging from a cable hundreds of feet above the ground) up the mountain to 11,000 ft. Then we hiked down a bit and rode a ski lift back down (which takes 22 minutes because we were so high up). It was actually quite beautiful, a little scary that high up, but fun.

3rd – Adam and I went to the Barnum & Bailey Circus with our friends Megan and Dan. Adam and I hadn't been to the Circus in years so that made it that much more fun. My favorite part was probably the dog show (it inspired me to try and train my dogs to do cool tricks) and the seriously cool disappearing tricks. Adam really liked the disappearing tricks too. Seriously, how do you make an elephant, tiger, person, etc. disappear when the cage they're in is off the ground? Way cool.

4th – My friend Megan and I went to the Miley Cyrus concert. I haven't been to a concert in three years, so this was way fun. Plus, it was Miley and as nerdy as this is, I love her! It was pretty cute to see all the kids there and how excited they got. Miley put on a great show, even though she had the flu. At one point in the show she had to run off stage to go be sick and her back up singers had to finish the song without her. Then they took a 5-10 minute break and then she came back on and finished the concert. So, thanks Miley for putting on a great show even though you were sick!

That's been my busy, but fun week!

Now for my new project, which consists of two parts. It's Autumn (my favorite season!) and that also means it's pumpkin season! I love everything made from pumpkins: pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake, pumpkin everything! So, my first part of the project is to try a few new recipes this Autumn. What I will do is make a different pumpkin recipe at least once a week and then I'll post the recipe I used and the results of my recipe. If I have time, I'll try to even do two new pumpkin recipes a week (maybe one treat and one dinner type recipe). If any of you have any really good pumpkin recipes, please send them my way!

Second part of my Autumn project is to use coupons! I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but I've never been a coupon clipper before and I've never been into looking at the grocery store adds. Prior to being a “housewife” I also worked 50 hours a week and I went to the grocery store on my way home from work, which ever store was the most convenient, even if they were more expensive. Since I've been staying home I've been able to cut our grocery budget in half just by planning in advance dinner every night so I just buy what I know I'll be cooking. Now I want to see if I can cut my grocery budget even more by paying attention to sales and coupons. So, for you more experienced budget shoppers out there, please send me your secrets! One thing I'm planning on doing is making a list of foods I buy regularly and what the “average” price is for these items. That way when I see a sale ad or coupon for one of these items, I'll know if it really is a good deal and if it's worth buying a lot of this item on sale. I'm a huge Excel fan, so I'll be making myself a nice little spreadsheet, possibly even breaking it up by the stores I regularly visit. If any of you have ever done something like this and are willing to share, please do!

I'll continue tracking my spending and compare my October and November grocery spending to my August and September grocery spending (Quickbooks is my favorite tracking tool! It is a must have!). Wish me luck on my two-part “Autumn Project,” and please send me any tips or recipes you have that can help!

24 week picture

It's been 6 weeks since my last pregnancy picture, so here is a picture of me at 24 weeks. Now I think I actually look pregnant. I looked at my 18 week picture and compared the two, it actually made me sad to see how much fatter I look. I just have to remember it's baby, not fat (at least I hope it's mostly baby and not fat!). Sorry it's pretty blurry, we took it on my camera phone at night before bed time (hence the pajama pants).

The best part you actually can't see, and that's what my shirt says. I love it! It says, "Does this baby make me look fat?" I have another funny pregnancy shirt that says, "Somebody's kicking me!"

The Apple Mom

I just got back from Walmart where I saw the funniest thing, and I have since decided I have a new woman to add to my list of mothers I look up to.

I was on my way up to the cash register to buy my laundry detergent, after I spent probably ten minutes in the Halloween candy isle thinking how much I wanted to buy the candy, but knew I shouldn't (what are they thinking putting the Halloween candy isle next to the laundry detergent anyway!?). Anyway, as I'm walking to the registers I see a young mom, probably about 25 (because anyone younger than me is now considered young) walking into the store with her adorable 3-year-old girl. In this particular store when you walk in the food side you walk right into the produce section. So the little girl and her mom are walking and talking when suddenly, the little girl spots the apple display. She stops mid-sentence, her eyes bulge out of her head, she starts clapping her hands, and screaming in the most excited 3-year-old voice I've ever hear, "Mom, look, apples!" Then she takes off running toward the apples as fast as her little legs could carry her, all the while gleefully screaming, "apples, apples, apples..."

I looked at the mom to see if she had a surprised look, but no, she was just smiling and said, "Yes, honey apples. You may get some." Wow, watching this little girl one would think she spotted Princess Island or Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory, but no, she was this excited over apples! And her mom didn't seem the least bit surprised. Like, "Oh yeah, my daughter gets this excited over apples all the time." All I have to say is, You go Apple Mom! and Can I be like you when I grow up into a Mom?

Housewiffery

Back in the days when I had a full time day job I used to think to myself, "I could never stay home and not work. What would I do all day? I think I would just get too bored!" Well because of my high risk pregnancy, I have now been doing this for about a month and I keep thinking, where did the day go? Every day I have a To-Do list a mile long and I only seem to get through half of it. No wonder why my house seemed to be messy all the time and I rarely made dinner when I worked full time!

Now, granted, I do still do some work from home a little and I babysit a beautiful little 4 month old, but just the "house wife" work alone keeps me busy pretty much all day every day. Plus, I do probably move slower than average person with the whole fatigue of pregnancy, but it's amazing how NOT bored I am. It's also been interesting how "domestic" I'm becoming. Amazing because I never considered myself domestic nor did I ever really want to be domestic. For example, this weekend I canned my own jam (first time experience) and this morning, I woke up early and made blueberry pancakes from scratch, packed my husband's lunch, did dishes, laundry, went to the grocery store, cleaned the kitchen, and worked out. That may not sound like much, but for me, it really is.

Anyway, the thing that has been the most surprising to me about staying home, is the response I get from people. When I run into friends I haven't seen for a while or people in my neighborhood, the normal question is "where are you working" or "what are you doing for work?" My answer, is I'm actually just being a housewife right now. Honestly, from my perspective, from that point on in the conversation a lot of those people just look down on me. I've had people ask what do I do all day, what do I do for money, how am I going to survive financially, etc. They all know I'm pregnant and expecting a baby in a few months, and yet, somehow I am suddenly less of a person because I'm choosing to stay home.

In my opinion, whether you work outside the home or are a housewife/stay-at-home mom, you can be just as much of a contributing member of society. And no one has the right to judge you about your choice to stay home or to go out of the home and work. I know wonderful women in both scenarios and they are wonderful wives and mothers. Either way, that is a very personal choice that only they can make, and it is no one's place to tell them otherwise.

The Dog and the Kitchen Sink

Yesterday two funny things happened that I can't help myself from blogging about.

First, this weekend I was on "bed rest" because I had hurt myself from a fall on Thursday (not the funny part), and my doctor told me to stay off my feet and rest for the weekend. At one point my sweet dog Shady wanted to sit/lay by me, so I let her up on the couch with me. She sniffed my belly then layed her head on it. A few seconds later my baby boy decided he liked Shady and started kicking me. Shady must have sensed his movement because she immediately sniffed my belly again and then licked it right where I had felt the baby move. So Shady and baby boy had a little bonding moment. It was so cute!

Second funny thing. On Friday night Adam got us a Red Box movie since I couldn't go out. Then he went and picked up dinner (since I couldn't really stand long enough to cook and I wasn't able to go grocery shopping for needed supplies). When we finished eating dinner we could not find the Red Box movie anywhere. We spent the next hour searching everywhere we could think of where the move could possibly be. Finally we gave up and decided it must not be anywhere in the house because we looked everywhere it could have been. Then, on Saturday, I was feeling much better so I decided to be a good wife and do dishes. Sure enough, half way through emptying the sick I found the Red Box DVD still safely in its case. I couldn't stop laughing when I realized we lost the DVD in the kitchen sink! Apparently when Adam was clearing dishes from the table Friday night he had the DVD in his hand and it ended up being put in the sink right along with the dishes. Go figure! So next time I can't find something, I'll remember to check the kitchen sink!

Things I love...

For some reason I'm in an especially good mood today and I just feel like blogging about some of the things I love, so here you go:

• I love being married to Adam, and I love Adam! Thankfully I married a man perfect for me, even if I haven't always recognized that. I'm so grateful to have someone to share my life with and I can't imagine life any other way!
• I love my baby on the way! I know I complain about pregnancy a lot, but I'm seriously glad to be having this baby and I can't wait for him to be here.
• I love my dogs! Shady and Rolo seriously bring so much fun and laughter into our lives. They both do some hilarious things and they are both so sweet. I love coming home to these two fun animals that are always so excited to see me, even if they are a little naughty from time to time.
• I love my family and friends. It's great to have so many people care about you and to share in the joys and stuggles of life.
• I love my pregnancy pillow!! I haven't known a good nights rest since I got pregnant until I got this wonderful thing. It was worth every penny and I highly recommend it to everyone! (even those not pregnant people. Adam likes it too and would probably use one if I bought it for him)
• I love being home to cook dinner most nights. First, we eat much better. Second, we save a ton of money. And third, I know Adam really appreciates it and that makes me happy.
• I love to exercise! I know, you may think this is crazy, but I seriously do love it. I'm so grateful to be in my second trimester and finally be back to working out 5 or 6 days a week. Even though I have to keep it easy, at least it's something! And I can't wait until I'm able to get in tougher workouts again, but pregnancy is definitely a good reason to slow it down. My day just goes so much better when I can start it with a workout!
• I love sugary treats. This one is not so good for me, but I really do love them. Oh well, at least I'm working out every day, right?
• I love having a blackberry. I love getting my email, having the calendar, getting on the internet, putting my to-do list on there where I won't lose it, and all the other wonderful features. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to another phone. It's the only thing that keeps me semi-organized.
• I love reading! I read an entire book in one day the other day. I hadn't read anything for fun in a LONG time, but I finally decided I needed a de-stressor and borrowed a book from my friend Megan. I started it one night & finished it the next. Thank goodness I'm a fast reader so I can get back to work now.
• I love Autumn! Maybe it's because the weather is usually not too hot and not too cold. Or maybe it's because the leaves changing colors is so pretty or my birthday happens to fall in this season, but either way, I love it!

There are many more things I love, but these are the things that I've been thinking about today. It's nice to stop sometimes and just think of our blessings, and right now I feel very blessed!

I was sucked into the Vortex

Today was the first day since I've been pregnant that I've actually really enjoyed being pregnant. First, Adam and I went to Famous Footwear to buy me a new pair of exercise/tennis shoes. I wouldn't have spent the money due to sticking to a tight budget, but we both agreed I really needed them. The pair of shoes I've been using literally tear apart my feet. I have a consistent blister on the back of my right heel and I have to wear a band aid every day I go walking. Also, sometimes if my heel bandage is too thick, my toes get pushed too far forward and I end up with bloody toes by the end of my walk. It makes exercise and just walking around in general difficult when I always have a blister or bloody toes. Anyway, we were able to get me shoes for 50% off, so at least we got a really good deal and I really do like my new shoes! I've been wearing them all day now and no blister or bloody toes! So, back to my original "I liked being pregnant" today thing, while I was at Famous Footwear I had to use the restroom (a VERY common occurrence these days). I asked the clerk if I could use their restroom and he said they didn't have one. I replied, "Well what do you do if you have to go to the bathroom?" He said, "Well we have one, it's just not for public use." Then I said back in an earnest plea, "But I'm pregnant, can I please use your restroom? I really don't want to have to run around trying to find a bathroom." He immediately agreed and I was escorted back to the private employee restroom. Thank you being pregnant!

Then this afternoon I went to Babies R Us to get myself a pregnancy pillow and a maternity support waistband recommended by my physical therapist (I have some serious hip issues). Now, I have never in my life been to Babies R Us before. Don't ask me how I've made it through a ton of baby showers and 20 weeks of pregnancy without stepping foot in this store, but somehow I managed. After today I know why, that place is a vortex that sneakily sucks you in! What was I thinking going there without Adam to hold me back? I thought I could just buy two boring pregnancy things and be on my way, yeah right!

It started with the clearance rack. After all it was all 50% off PLUS the second outfit was only $1. How could a pregnant woman with all kinds of warm, fuzzy, baby loving hormones pass that up? Then the Carter baby clothes brand was on sale all over the store, buy one get the second one 50% off. Have you ever seen Carter baby clothes? SO CUTE! I have to admit, my weepy pregnancy hormones kicked in while there and I actually got teary eyed looking at all the cute baby clothes. The tiny little baby hats and baby shoes and even adorable Halloween costumes. I almost bought a costume until I realized that my baby won't be here by Halloween and he'll be much bigger next Halloween. Anyway, it was also pretty funny to be in a store with so many other pregnant women or new moms with their little bundles of joy. Because I still don't really look pregnant yet, I have to admit I kind of tried to stick my belly out a little further to fit in. I was really glad I was wearing a maternity shirt today so even if I don't have the baby belly yet at least I looked like I belonged there.

Anyway, I actually did get out of there without spending too much since everything I bought was on sale. But I don't think I should go there again alone, it's too dangerous. And next time, I may need to bring some tissues just in case the weepy pregnancy hormones kick in again. So all you pregnant women out there, beware of the Vortex! Oh and just for fun, here are a few of the adorable, on sale, outfits I couldn't resist buying. There was one super cute little cowboy outfit I wanted to buy, complete with little baby boots, baby cowboy hat, and even a sewn on sheriff's badge, but I had to resist because it was way to expensive. Oh well, maybe I'll just register for that one. :)

Doctor appointment, good, bad, and pictures

Last night I had a doctor appointment. I had been looking forward to this appointment for two main reasons. Number one, because I was going to be able to get another ultrasound and see my baby again. I just can't get enough of seeing the little person growing inside of me! Number two, because I've been having this horrible stomach pain that has been on and off now for about a week. One time it was so bad I thought about going to the emergency room, but then I remembered I had a doctor appointment in a couple days so I decided to wait. I tend to be a worrier anyway so I didn't want to feel stupid if I went into the hospital and they told me it was gas or something dumb like that.

Anyway, first I got to see my little baby. He's gotten so much bigger in the last month! He doesn't even fit in one frame anymore. Although, I have to admit, my doctor's ultrasound machine is not as good as Fetal Studio's so the pictures aren't quite as clear, but you can still see him. Here are two from the ultrasound. And in case you were wondering, he's still a boy. :)


He was moving around a ton during the ultrasound. It was actually pretty funny because every time the doctor pushed a little harder on my belly and poked him, the baby would hit or kick at where he had just been poked. I guess he doesn't like being poked. The good thing with that is when I want to feel him kick when he's a bit further along, I'll just poke him to get him to hit or kick me. Who knows, that might work when he's out of me too. I know I hit or kick someone if they poke me, so why wouldn't he?

So, now to the second reason I went to the doctor, my awful stomach pains. The funny thing is, the morning before I went I was having these lovely pains and I text messaged my sister-in-law Amber, who is an expert at being pregnant (she's pregnant right now with her fourth), and asked her if the pain was normal and what it was. Her first response was it might be my gallbladder. She had problems with her gallbladder in her last pregnancy and even got it removed after her last baby. So as you might guess now, after I explained my pain to my doctor he said he thinks it's probably my gallbladder. Apparently it's pretty common for pregnancy to aggravate one's gallbladder. And yes, Amber is pretty awesome to be able to diagnose me over the phone!

Anyway, the bad news is that the only thing the doctors can do for a gallbladder problem is surgery, which is not advisable during pregnancy. The doctor continued to explain that this means I have to wait until 6 weeks after the baby is born and then have the surgery. So I'll get to become really familiar with the hospital. First major procedure to have the baby, second another fun procedure to take care of my gallbladder. I didn't think about this until I got home, but I'm thinking that I won't be able to breastfeed after the surgery for a few days until the anesthesia from the surgery is out of my system. So, that means a fun few days for Adam when he has a newborn and a wife recovering from two major medical procedures. Good thing Adam is a patient man! And it's probably also a good thing we'll be very close to a lot of family who can help out (hint, hint family, we'll need your help!).

So, the good news, baby is doing perfectly. The bad news, I am not doing so hot, but for the sake of baby, I get to suffer for the next four and a half months (although I'm voting only 4 months because I'm going to push to be enduced early). Honestly though, I'm okay with it. At least the baby is doing fine and the gallbladder will basically only bother me and not him. I'll just really need that prenatal yoga now to help me manage my stress and pain. Oh well, what's 4 months to the rest of my life anyway?

A few fun things...

On Friday Adam and I went to the Living Aquarium. Adam would really like to get an aquarium of our own, this gave us some fun ideas. Here are just a few pictures. I don't know how Adam can go in like this to pet the sting ray and not fall in. I totally would have fallen in! By the way, has anyone else who's gone to an aquarium noticed that sting rays are like the dogs of the sea? They always swim over to us to be petted.

Look, I found Nemo! I totally want one of these fish if we ever get a big salt water aquarium.

On a different note, I still get to watch my friend's baby twice a week. She really is a good baby and it's been good practice for both me and the dogs. It's amazing how many times a day while I watch her that I have to literally juggle multiple things at once. Like it's actually pretty hard to make a bottle while holding a crying baby. Or trying to leave to go run a few errands takes a while because I want to make sure she's fed, burped, and diaper changed before I go anywhere. Then trying to carry the diaper bag, my purse, the car seat, and whatever else I have, like a package to mail off at the post office. Not to mention making sure our Rolo puppy doesn't run out of the front door while I'm trying to get out (since she's not 100% trained on that point yet). Although, Rolo is getting used to having a baby around and she likes to lay right by the baby sometimes. Here's a cute picture of one of those times when Rolo just couldn't get close enough to the baby. So cute!

Anyway, it's fun watching this cute little girl, but every day I watch her I think of my own little baby and how much I'm looking forward to having him and being home with him. And even though it's a bit of struggle to adjust from two incomes to one income, and it means sacrificing a lot, I'm glad we're doing it. Before being pregnant, I never thought I wanted to be a full time stay at home mom and quit my day job, but now I really can't imagine going back to work and my baby isn't even here yet. Now I just need to make sure I engage myself with other stay at home moms so I don't get lonely or desperate to talk to another adult. I've been staying super busy with a few work loose ends I need to tie up, but those should be taken care of in about a month and then I can focus more on everything else. Like maybe I should start looking at baby stuff. I haven't even started looking and all we have right now are some onesies, baby shampoo, a few toys, a cute newborn outfit, and a cute blanket. So, at least he'll be bathed and clothed with a few toys to keep him interested...

Ok fine, here's 18 weeks

Well, after talking to a few more people and being reminded that "getting fat" doesn't count when you're pregnant, here's a picture of me Adam took tonight. This is my week 18 picture. Man, am I fickle or what! Anyway, see, I told you I don't really look pregnant yet, just more chubby.

And here's another one. The reason I'm posting this second one is because you can see my cute dog sitting at my feet. It's not the best picture though because I wasn't holding my shirt tight enough so you can't really see my belly, but at least Rolo looks cute.

By the way, these were taken on our phones, so not the best quality. The top one was on my phone the bottom one on Adam's phone. Maybe someday we'll have a digital camera besides our phone to take pictures with. We're not really picture takers anyway, so this will do for now.

A problem with being overweight and pregnant

Ever since I entered my second trimester about a month ago, pregnancy has honestly been mostly easy. Sure I still get a little sick now and again, and I have some other not so fun side affects, but for the most part, if you didn't know I was pregnant, it would be hard to tell. I am mostly back to normal eating and I'm also back to exercising 5 or 6 days a week, so that's nice. I have gained some weight, but nothing huge or out of the “normal” range. Maybe this is my pregnancy emotions about to come out, but I have noticed one new problem in my second trimester that is a bit of a struggle for me. The problem is that my belly is starting to get bigger and my capris I've been wearing through my whole pregnancy, are a little too tight around the belly (although still lose everywhere else).

Now, I know you're thinking, you're pregnant, duh, of course your belly is getting bigger. Right, I get that, but here's the catch. Because I'm already a bit overweight, the extra belly growth really does just look like I'm getting chubbier, not pregnant. I have two cute skinny sister-in-laws that are also pregnant, and they are cute pregnant ladies with the “it's obvious it's a baby bump and not fat” thing going on. In fact, it seems like everywhere I go I see a cute little pregnant lady or find out another one of my friends is pregnant (must be that spring lovin' or something!). And don't get me wrong, I think it's great there are so many of us pregos out there. More kids for my baby to play with. I just wish I had the cute pregnant lady thing going on. I, however, have people tell me that I'm still not showing. I know that's supposed to be a compliment, but I would rather have a cute “baby bump” that's clear it's a baby and not a fat deposit, then just look like I'm getting fatter.

So, in answer to all of the people that have been asking for “baby bump” pictures, you're going to have to wait. Right now I mostly just look fat, not pregnant. Maybe in a month or so it'll be more obvious my big belly is carrying a baby, and not just last nights dinner. When that's the case, then I'll post my baby bulge pictures (because by then he'll be more of a bulge than a bump).

In the meantime, I've started wearing maternity shirts, just because they don't have a shirt that says, “Yes, I'm pregnant.” Seriously, someone should make those, I'm sure that would make a lot of people's lives easier. Especially for those of us with some extra fat that would prefer people think everything is baby, even though I know there's obviously fat there helping to hide the baby. Oh well, I'll just live with looking extra chubby right now and I'll just be consoled by the fact that it's all for a good cause.

Good Dental Assistants are Hard to Find

I had a dentist appointment today at which I was to get one old filling fixed, a new cavity filled, and a good old fashioned cleaning. I had no pain whatsoever when I went to the dentist this afternoon, and now I'm honestly in a ton of pain. Why do you ask, well, I must admit, I kind of blame the dental assistant that helped my dentist today. I made her mad, and that was apparently the thing to do if I wanted her to be rough on me.

Here's what happened. Nice Mr. Grandpa Dentist (don't know his name, but he was an older gentleman, and very nice) was working on the left side of my mouth giving me all kinds of numbing shots and then his other dental work. As you all know, laying upside down with your mouth wide open and your teeth being worked on creates a build up of saliva in the mouth. Hence, the lovely sucky thing the dental assistants get to use (I'm sure there's some kind of fancy name for it, but I call it the spit suker, or sucky thing). Well, Mr. Dentist was working for a while and I was getting so much saliva and dental water backup I was actually starting to choke on it. I was starting to panic because I was having a hard time breathing and choking, but since the dentist was in my mouth I couldn't say, “Please miss kind and lovely dental assistant, can you give me the sucky thing?” So, in a panic, I tried to reach over and pat her leg to indicate I really needed the sucky thing. Wow, you would have thought I called her all kinds of bad names, because her response was awful.

She started to yell at me to breath through my nose and I had better get used to it because they were going to be using a lot of water on me today and I couldn't just swallow or get vacuumed any time I wanted. I then quickly apologized (because by now Mr. Dentist was out of my mouth and had made her vacuum up my spit) and asked her to please use the sucky thing as much as possible as I was having a hard time not choking. She actually rolled her eyes at me and made a sneer remark!

The rest of the dental work went okay, until it got to the cleaning part, which nice Mr. Dentist had Ms. Dental Assistant do. Since she pretty much hated me, she was totally rough on the scraper and the polisher. I actually got tears my eyes a couple times from the pain.
So, next time I have a good dental assistant (which honestly, all of the ones I've had in the last couple of years were really good) I will make sure to go out of my way to really lay on the praise and thanks for a job well done. All of you good dental assistants out there, thank you! And please, will you be my dental assistant next time?

Ultrasound pictures

Here are 3 Ultrasound pictures from 7.24.09.

It's still crazy to think this little guy is in my belly!

And here's a picture from the bottom looking up. Definitely a boy!

Was it gas, a bug, or a baby?

Last night I felt something a little weird in my belly. It kind of felt like a little bug fluttering across a little part of my belly. Or maybe it was a little gas bubbling. But, what I'd really like to think it was, is the baby kicking, or flipping over, or something. Either way, I'm going to go with the idea that I felt my baby moving! :)

The way we look at food...

I must admit, the way I look at food has changed significantly over the years. I've pretty much always had a love/hate relationship with food. I love good tasting food and the way it makes me feel (at least on a palate satisfied, emotional soothing level), but I hate the way I crave it and how many foods seem to pack the pounds on my body. I've also had this strange feeling that I must eat this (fill in the blank) because this may be the last time I eat it (yes these are hard economic times, but I know I'll eat again). Then there's the constant roller coaster of dieting that I've been on my entire life. What the heck is a diet for any way?! Isn't the point to make a lifestyle change so you don't want to just eat pizza and brownies every day? Because if all I eat is celery, sooner or later when I start adding in more food choices I'll gain weight.

The last 7 months of my life has taught me a great deal. First, I love food and that's okay, as long as I love it for the right reasons. Do I love it because I'm stressed out and it's a comfort? Or do I love it because it gives my body the strength and nourishment it so desperately needs (and hopefully is yummy too)? Every day, I get closer and closer to loving food for the right reasons (although sometimes I do slip back into old habits of comforting myself with food).

For those that don't remember, I was on a “diet” from January until the end of May when I found out I was pregnant. I did extremely well, lost a bunch of weight and cured some health conditions and started to permanently change the way I eat. That's when this baby boy inside of me decided to turn my food world upside down. One day I love a food, the next day it makes me want to puke. One day I can go 4 hours without eating no problem, the next I get horribly sick at about 2 hours. My body was in total havoc! Unhealthy foods sat okay with me while healthy foods made me sick. The thought of some of my favorite meals made me want to lose my lunch. And then a glorious thing happened, I entered week 12 of my pregnancy.

Now my body is behaving much nicer (at least with regards to food, not with regards to my hair falling out, my back hurting all the time, and a lack of sleep). And the way I look at food, pretty much changed. Now I eat only because my body is telling me to (to be more specific, my baby is telling me to. He's very demanding!). And when I no longer have the hunger pain, I stop. So what if I'm not stuffed full and there's food still on my plate, that's okay. Yeah I know there are starving kids in China, but me over-eating is not going to feed those kids in China. It's just going to make me want to eat more at the next meal and the next. So really, I'm helping those starving kids by NOT over-eating (not mention my own because he also gets mad at me when I over eat). Plus, I know I'm going to eat again in 2 hours anyway, so I don't want to eat too much now. If I'm still hungry, I'll just eat later. No big deal.

So what's the point of my ramblings you ask? Well, I've been doing a lot of research lately on food, the way we think about it based on our culture, socio-economic status, etc. and it's very fascinating. And I'm definitely developing myself a “how-to” parent guide with respects to food and my children. I don't want my children to make the same mistakes I did and I definitely want them to be healthier than I've been. Sure, I know I'll slip up here and there, and things I swear I'll never do will probably be done, but education is the first step. And then follow-through is the next. Hear I come follow through!

We're having a boy!

We went to get our ultrasound this morning and were surprised to find out we're having a boy! It was so cute, as soon as the doctor got the thing on my belly the baby starting waving at us. Then he was sucking his thumb. Anyway, we saw multiple angles and there is no doubt that he is a boy!

It's kind of funny because this whole time Adam and I have been thinking he was a girl, but then randomly in the last week or so we both had dreams that we were having a boy. I guess he was sick of us calling him a girl so he let us know in a dream. Anyway, we're excited, but we have no idea whatsoever on a name. All the names we had in mind were girl names. So, we're open to suggestions.

I must also admit, I'm happy that he's a boy because now the pressure is off to carry on the Dalton name. Not that there was any pressure from anyone except myself, but I'm happy we won't have to worry about that. And there are benefits to having a boy first. I just have to hope he has Adam's temperament and not the "Stockdale boy" temperament. He'll be a much easier boy to raise that way. A little less of a rascal.

Busy, Crazy

It's been a busy last couple of weeks! On July 3rd my friend Megan and I went to Park City to visit my old roommate and good friend Elizabeth. Liz was in town from Connecticut for a family reunion, so we were lucky to get to see her for a few hours. Then on the 4th, Adam and I cleaned the house and got ready for our trip to CA for the Stockdale family reunion. That night we also had my sister April's family and my parents over for a little 4th BBQ and fireworks. It was actually the first time Adam and I have been able to celebrate the 4th since we've lived in this house (we had other non-fun things that had to distract us the previous 2 years), so it was pretty nice.

On Sunday the 5th, we left for our trip to CA. Adam flew to Oregon to meet my brother Dave and get the car he so kindly gave to us. Then he was going to hang at Dave's for the day and drive the rest of the way to CA and meet me there on Monday. I was to pick up my niece, then go to my parents house and drive with them the 8 hours to Reno, then on Monday we were going to continue the rest of the way (4 more hours) to CA. It sounded like a good idea, but that's because I forgot that my parents have the worst luck in the world with cars. Lets just say what should have only been an 8 hour day turned into a 17 hour day when the radiator blew on my dad's car. Being pregnant and stuck sitting around for 17 hours with stressed out people was very unpleasant. I'm just way thankful my lovely niece was there to keep a good attitude and make me laugh. Thank you Allie! And sorry mom and dad, but I'm never driving a long distance in your car again! :)

The rest of the week in Shasta Lake were good. It was great to see everyone again and get to know some in-laws and nieces and nephews a little better. Thankfully the trip home was much less eventful than the trip there and Adam and I made it home in 11 hours (better than the 12 and a half our GPS said it should have taken). Then, the next day my old roommate Liz came over for dinner before she headed back to Conneticuit. It almost felt like it added one more day to our vacation, which was nice.

The only problem with going on vacation is that when you come home and have to get back to work, there is a "To-Do" list a mile long. I haven't even made it through half of it yet, and yet I'm sitting here blogging. Can you tell how excited I am to get my work done?

One last note, in a week and a half we're going to find out the gender of our baby! Woo hoo! Guesses anyone?

Dogs and babysitting

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I get to babysit my friend KrisAn's newborn baby girl, Maddie. She is such a cute baby, and sooo good! Seriously, I hope my baby is as good as her! She's so easy to babysit because she only cries when she's hungry or needs her diaper changed. Plus, being a newborn and all, she sleeps a lot. And when she's awake, she's pretty content chilling in her bouncer or on my lap. Not to mention she's about the size of a football, so carrying her around is pretty easy (especially on my sensitive pregnant back, so I like that!).

Anyway, I've been excited to start watching Maddie for quite some time, for a number of reasons. However, I must admit that one of those reasons is because it's a great opportunity to train my dogs to get used to a baby in the house (twice week is a good starting point to work up to 24/7). I've babysat my niece Lindy a few times, and they always did well with her, but she's a lot older than a newborn and more interactive. Not to mention she cries less. Don't get me wrong, Maddie doesn't cry much, but she does need to eat and have her diaper changed every 2 hours, so when I have her 8 hours, that means she's bound to cry at least 4 or 5 times during the day. And sometimes it has to be for a couple minutes while I make her bottle or get her diaper changed.

Also, the dogs need to be much quieter with a newborn then they need to be with a 7 month old. Since when I would watch Lindy, she'd sleep for maybe an hour at the most during her stay, and usually in my bed, that meant the dogs could still bark and play in the house without disturbing the baby's nap. With Maddie however, she sleeps in the living room or kitchen (depending on which room I'm in at the moment) and she sleeps most of the day, which means the dogs have to be quiet in the house most of the day.

Staying quiet most of the day is pretty easy for Shady. She's 7 years old, so she likes to sleep just as much as Maddie. Even though Shady is actually the barker in the house, I can get her to stop barking in just a few seconds. Rolo, on the other hand, is a little different story. She's still a puppy at heart, even though she's now a year and half old. Her idea of a good day, is one in which she gets to play 80%, eat 10% and sleep 10%. Not to mention she likes to pretend she's tough and play gaurd dog any time someone comes to close to the house. She could play fetch all day and never get tired of it (just ask the Doggy Day Camp at PetsMart, they had to switch off on employees all day long with her because she was wearing them out). However, even with all of her energy, Rolo is doing great! And giving me a lot of funny moments.

The first time Maddie came, she was asleep in her car seat. So I set the car seat on the sofa and intended to just let her sleep, but Rolo had other ideas. She sniffed the car seat and realized there was a kid in there and got excited (she loves kids because they usually play with her much longer than adults). So of course Rolo runs to get her ball, and because she can't reach into Maddie's car seat to give her the ball (not without getting on the sofa, which she can't do without being invited) she sets the ball next to the car seat and sat starring at Maddie waiting for her to throw it. When Maddie didn't throw the ball (because if she had I'm pretty sure she'd be in some kind of record book and KrisAn should sign her up for baseball ASAP) Rolo whined a little, then nudged the ball closer to the car seat. After a few more seconds of the ball just sitting there (and me laughing at Rolo) she then licked the car seat, hoping that would entice Maddie to throw the ball (who can turn down a kiss, right?). Still no throwing, so then she starts to paw at the ball, trying to show Maddie that she was supposed to pick it up. Finally, after a few more minutes of this (and a few more laughs from me) I took pity on Rolo and grabbed the ball and threw it for her. What did this champion fetch player do you ask, bring it back to me in a hurry? No; she brought it right back to Maddie and went through the whole process all over again. Afterall, Maddie is cuter and smells better than me, and SHE is who Rolo wanted to play with.

10 ways my body is wigging out

So in 2 days I'll be 10 wks. Only a few more weeks and I'm out of my first trimester, yeah! I am happy to say that I've only gained 1 pound so far. One of my big fears with pregnancy is gaining too much weight, so only 1 pound makes me pretty happy. However, I can't say I'm thrilled with some of the other fun things going on with my body. Here are the 10 ways my body is currently wigging out.

1st, even though I've only gained one pound, I can already notice my pants fitting a tiny bit tighter. Is that normal at only 10 weeks?

2nd, nausea and I have gotten to know each other really well, and I am not a fan. I will admit, my nausea has gotten a little better this week, but if I don't eat every 2 hours on the dot, it creeps in fast and furious. And I have to say, needing to eat every 2 hours is really annoying. I have to plan my day really well or I'll pay for it with all kinds of unpleasantness.

3rd, there are a lot of foods I can no longer eat without getting sick. I already mentioned meat is off the "to eat" list, and now I have other foods to add. No soy milk, certian kinds of crackers, certian kinds of soups, no apples, no bananas (except in a smoothie I can sometimes do half a banana), certian veggies, and not too much dairy since I'm mildly lactose intolerant, and the list grows almost daily.

4th, lower back pain. I'm not sure if this is related to the pregnancy or not, but I've had it for a little over a week now and it's killing me! I've been to the chiropractor twice and a massage therapist once and it's still killing me. Hopefully it'll get better before I have to do a 12 hour car drive to California in a week and a half.

5th, the bathroom and I see a lot of each other! I can hardly make it all the way from SLC to Ogden, only a 55 minute drive.

6th, if I get up too quickly, my lower ligaments really hurt!

7th, irritability. I just don't have as much patience with people as I used to have. Now little things can set me off and that stinks.

8th, where did all of my energy go?! I used to work out 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, and sometimes that wasn't enough to get ot all my energy, & I just don't have any energy anymore! Now I'm down to 45min 3 times a week and that's pretty hard to find the energy for.

9th, all I have to say is beware of constipation.

10th, this one is new as of last night. In the middle of the night I was trying to roll over when all of a sudden I had horrible stabbing chest pain and I could barely breath. I woke up Adam to help me, but we really didn't know what he could do to help. Finally, I just asked him to pick me up from my laying position so I could sit up, thinking he'd probably have to take me to the hospital. Once he picked me up the pain almost completely stopped. Wierd. The middle of my chest is still sore this morning and if I take a deep breath it hurts. I called my doctor about it this morning, and apparently this is pretty normal. The way I was sleeping and then turned over, it pulled my breastbone apart a bit, which caused the stabbing pain. When Adam sat me up, it put it back to normal, hence the pain stopping.

I'm hopeful (and probably a little too much so) that some of these things will get a little easier. Although, I do know that I'll have interesting other changes coming, so we'll see which ones are the easiest to deal with.

One last thing, I have to admit, it's really fun having multiple women of my friends and family pregnant or having babies around the same time as me. Currently pregnant I have have two sister-in-laws (hopefully soon to be two more) and 3 friends. Then, those who have had a baby in the last year to a few weeks ago I have 4 sister-in-laws and 3 friends. So, my baby is going to have lots of friends near his/her age to play with. Yeah!

The Pregnancy Story

As some of you may know, Adam and I have been working on doing foster care to adopt. We went through all of the classes and paperwork and the only things we had left to do was get our physical and home study done. So a couple of weeks ago I finally made an appointment for both of us to go in on a Tuesday. The day before the appointment I was nauseous all day long so I thought I was coming down with something. Tuesday I was still feeling a little sick, but I didn't think much about it.

At my Dr. apt, they did all the tests and said everything looked perfect. Then the Dr noticed I hadn't had a period in a couple months, but I assured him I wasn't pregnant because that was totally normally for me. In fact, in the last year I had only had two periods due to my PCOS and other health conditions. But then I had a thought about my sister-in-law Misty, who had just found out a few days earlier that she was pregnant after she assured the Dr she was not. So, I asked how much more it would cost me to get a pregnancy test. When they told me $20 I changed my mind (after all you can buy them at the dollar store!). I went home and didn't really think anything of it.

The next day I was sick again and I had the feeling in the back of my mind that I really should take a pregnancy test, but I honestly tried to ignore it. As anyone who has ever had a hard time getting pregnant knows, pregnancy tests suck! You can only see negative so many times before you want to cry and throw the dang pee stick out the window. I've done so many tests over the last couple years that I thought multiple times I should buy stock in the pregnancy test companies!

So, finally by noon, I brought myself to pee on another one of those dang sticks, and sure enough it came back positive. I immediately called the Dr I had been working with on my most recent weight loss program. I had been doing HCG, and I wanted to make sure that there was no way possible that it was still in my system. I had been off of it for two weeks, but I really needed to know it was out of my system (it actually only takes 3 days to get out). After he assured me there was no possible way it was still in my system from the diet, I called Adam at work and told him the news. I then went to a pregnancy clinic and had them test me two more times just to make sure I was really, really pregnant. Sure enough, they confirmed that I was really, really pregnant.

The problem was, because I hadn't had a period since February, they had no idea how far along I was. And, since I was on the HCG diet, and HCG is also used as a fertility treatment because it stimulates ovulation and the dropping of multiple eggs, they couldn't tell me without an ultrasound if I was pregnant with one or multiple babies. Unfortunately I couldn't get in to see a doctor for two more weeks so I spent the next two weeks wondering what was in my body (and feeling very sick!).

So, I was finally able to get in to see the OB last week. He confirmed my due date to be January 23rd, and that I am only pregnant with one baby (whew!). I was able to see the little lima bean's heart beat, which was pretty cool, and Doc says everything looks good so far.

As you can imagine, Adam and I are very excited. And as I said in my last post, we're both pretty sure we're having a girl. Unfortunately, I have been super nauseous for the last few weeks, that is until I realized part of what was making me feel so sick (besides the little lima bean growing inside of me), and that is, MEAT! I can't eat meat without almost immediately feeling sick. Sometimes just the smell makes me feel sick. So, as of Monday this week, I am now a temporary vegetarian. As soon as I cut out animal protein, I started feeling much better. Amazingly, I've found that I really don't miss meat. Probably because even the thought of it right now makes me feel a little queezy. And, since I'm new to this way of eating, I am totally lacking in recipes and dinner ideas. So, if you have any good vegetarian recipes, please pass them my way! I could really use them right now!

I was going to wait, but I changed my mind...

I haven't posted a blog in a couple of weeks because I couldn't blog about what I really wanted to. You see, Adam and I had decided to wait to tell people until we knew more information and until it was more of a sure thing. Well, now we know more information, but I guess nothing's really for sure until it actually happens. And, since I don't think waiting until it actually happens is really the most logical time to tell people, here I am, telling you my secret now. (Have I built the suspense enough yet?) So, here's our news, I'm pregnant!

I'm only about 8 weeks along, and I'm still at high risk for miscarriage, but I have hope that I'll be able to carry this baby to term. We were going to wait until I was out of my first trimester to tell anyone, but we decided that if I actually do miscarry, it will be easier to go through with the support of family and friends than it will be alone. Although, I really don't think I'm going to miscarry (maybe I'm hopelessly optimistic right now, but hey, who am I to doubt the power of positive thinking?).

There's a lot more to my pregnancy story than this (most of it quite funny if I do say so myself), but you'll have to wait until later today when I have more time to write. However, I will tell you that my actual due date is January 23rd (4 days before my 4th anniversary) and Adam and I are both pretty convinced we're having a girl (although I won't be able to prove it for a while yet). However, if we're wrong and it's actually a boy, we'll be happy too. As long as we have a healthy baby, I'm happy!

Fun Date Night

Last night Adam and I had a unique and fun date night. We went sky diving and rock climbing! Well, sort of. In Ogden there is a sky diving simulation tunnel called iFly. There are only 6 in the US. We were lucky enough to get two free tickets for the one here. We had to do a 30-minute training class before hand and then we were each going to be able to do two jumps. We got all geared up and were ready to go in the tunnel with our instructor.

Adam went first, and after a couple seconds got the hang of it and was flying around the tunnel. Next was my turn and I was pretty excited. I've never had a fear of heights (which is good because there was only a little net beneath you so all the air could get through and push you up. It was quite the drop beneath the net!). I was having fun flying for about 30 seconds when I realized I couldn't breath. The 85mph air pushing me up felt like it was choking me so I signaled my instructor I needed to get down. When he got me down I explained I was having a hard time breathing, so he explained when you're sky diving you can't breath through your nose, you have to breath through your mouth (that would have been good to know ahead of time). Anyway, he had me jump back in and I finished out my first flight. It was fun, but it was still hard for me to breath (my history of asthma probably didn't help).

Adam then went again and this time the instructor grabbed onto him (there were handles on our jumping suits) and they went spinning in circles and way high up the tunnel. It was pretty cool to watch and Adam says pretty fun. When it was time for my second jump I decided I wasn't ready to fight breathing again so I just asked if Adam could take my second jump, which he was happy to do. On Adam's third jump the instructor showed him how to do some flips. It was pretty cool, but one time Adam almost flipped out of the tunnel, but the instructor caught him.

All in all the sky diving experience was pretty fun. Next time though, I'll be better prepared to breath properly, and we'll get pictures so we can post them!

We were also lucky enough to get free tickets to a rock climbing place, so we headed there next. The instructor taught us how to belay for each other, which was pretty cool. Adam climbed first and went all the way to the top, which was about three or four stories up. He climbed so fast I had a hard time keeping up with him and keeping a tight rope. The first time I brought him down pretty slow because I was afraid to drop him. We switched and I started climbing. I made it about half way up and realized my arms are weak! I couldn't figure out where to go from there so I had him bring me down (which he did much more quickly than I had brought him down). I rested a minute & started climbing again. This time Adam helped me figure out which grips to hold on to. Thankfully he is a much better belayer than me, so I didn't get as tired. I made it almost all the way to the top, but my arms were finally too tired to be able to use the tiny grips at the top (the grips got harder the farther up you went).

After that Adam jumped up and climbed a new route. Again I had a hard time keeping up with him (especially since my forearms were tired from climbing myself a few minutes before) He went on a much tougher climb this time around, but he was still able to do it really well. When he was done, I brought him down a lot faster (sometimes, a little too fast I have to admit). In the end, I realized I really need to build my upper body strength more! My legs did totally fine and didn't even come close to giving out, but arms were a whole other story.

Anyway, fun date night! And the best part, it was free! Can't beat free tickets!

Our Mother's Day Weekend

First I just want to say, happy Mother's Day to all you Mother's out there. I know a few people who this Mother's day probably meant a lot to them since it was their first as a Mother, so a special happy Mother's Day to you (Teresa, KrisAn, Golda, love ya!). And of course, an extra special happy Mother's Day to the wonderful women who brought me and Adam into the world, we love you Moms!

Since this is a weekend that is usually pretty hard for me, Adam and I planned a fun weekend trip with his parents and brother. We went camping in Marysvale Utah (I had never heard of it before, but luckily Adam's Dad had). We stayed at this cute little place called Pine Creek Cabins. They technically weren't even open yet, but they busted their butts to get the cabins ready in time so we could stay. We were their first customers ever!

For those of you, who like me, have never heard of Marysvale, it's a cute small town in South Eastern Utah, and it's along the Piute ATV trails. In the late 1800s, early 1900s, it was a booming mining community, with other little communities all around it. Thousands used to live there, and now there are only hundreds.

Since we were only there for the weekend, we kept it pretty simple. We went 4-wheeling, hiking, and biking. The first day we went on an ATV trail up to a point where we got off and hiked to some waterfalls, which was pretty cool. But the coolest part was on the way back we went through the old Miner's town in the middle of the mountain (now a total ghost town) and found some new family history from the Dalton family. In the little ghost town was the Dalton Cabin and the Dalton Mine. It was really cool to find this little place with family history for Adam's family that no one in his family previously knew existed. It's only accessible by ATVs, so if we had never gone there, we would probably still not know it was there. We'll have to take our kids there someday so they can see that part of their family history.

I don't know why exactly, but I found the whole ghost town absolutely fascinating. There were tons of abandoned homes, and a huge abandoned lodge that was so cool looking. I just couldn't believe so many people would walk away from those things. It's really quite sad when you think about it.

Anyway, it was a pretty good weekend, with the exception of my weird minor injuries. After a bike ride the first night, I decided I needed to do push ups against the cabin deck, and my feet slipped from underneath me and I ended up injuring my wrist. Then the next day on our way back from 4-wheeling, I got stung in the neck by a bee (which I happen to be allergic to). I normally never carry any allergy medicine with me, because even though I'm allergic to bee stings, I usually get them on my arm or leg and all that happens is the sting area swells up to the size of a softball or baseball. Looks funny, but no big deal. However, having a sting on my neck swell up that large is dangerous because then it blocks my air passage. So, after I got stung, I sped back to the cabin (in a complete panic because I could feel the inside of my throat swelling up and I was having a hard time breathing). I really didn't know what to do, but Adam's parents went and got me Benedryl (a cream to put on it topically and the pills to take internally). Then Adam and John gave me a blessing. Pretty quickly after, the swelling in my neck went down and I started to feel fine. Whether from the Benedryl or the blessing, who knows for sure, but I'm grateful for both.

So, even though I was kind of cranky during the trip, it was still a good one and I'm glad we went. And in case you were wondering, my wrist is fine now and the bee sting is now only a little bump, like a bug bite, on my neck.

Don't Judge Me, from Melissa

There are some topics people should never judge others on, and one of those is the topic of children. Lets face it, some people are not cut out for children, some people simply do not want children, some people want children and have a difficult or impossible time getting pregnant, and some are baby making machines and can get pregnant at the flip of switch. I am a big believer in having children at the right time in a relationship, not just because others think you should.

In my not-so-humble opinion, someone should not get pregnant just because they are married. And there is no rule that says, you have been married a year, or two, or three, so now you MUST get pregnant. You may have your opinion, but mine is that bringing a child into this world is a big decision and can and should only be made between the couple conceiving the child and God. Only they are in the right place to know if now is the right time to have a child.

Why do I bring this up you ask, because I am a little sick of people's judgments passed on me. Yes, I have been married 3 and a half years and I am not pregnant. My husband is in his 30s and I am quickly approaching mine and still no children. We have a great marriage and we would both be pretty good parents in my opinion with lots of loving, supportive family and friends nearby, and still, no children. We both love children, are good with children, and want to have multiple children, but still, we have none.

So, I get the questions all the time, “Why don't you have kids yet?” “So are you and Adam ever going to have kids?” and so on. First, I honestly do not like answering these questions in the first place. It is really no one's business unless we decide we want to make it their business, on our own, without their prodding. However, just to set the record straight, and so I can hopefully stop getting hurt and frustrated by these questions, we don't have kids yet because my body has not allowed us to. Yes, we prevented pregnancy for the first year and a half or so of marriage, but we have done nothing to prevent pregnancy for almost two years now. Infact, we've tried watching calendars and all the other stuff to help me get pregnant, which are all pretty much useless with the medical conditions I have.

So people, please stop asking me when I'm going to have a baby. It breaks my heart every time I'm asked the questions, and I'm too nice to say to your face, none of your business. If I could have a baby, I would have one by now. I know God isn't preventing me from getting pregnant because “it must not be the right time” or “maybe I'm not really ready for a baby” or “maybe I'll be a bad parent.” I get that, I don't like it, but I get it.

I'm sure someday, in some way, I'll have children. But for now, I live my life today and plan for my future tomorrow. Maybe we'll do foster care, maybe we'll do adoption, maybe we'll do all kinds of fertility treatments and pay thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant with or without luck, but whatever we do, don't judge us. It's our decision to make.

1st Ride of the Season

We're finally getting into Spring in Utah, which means it's hiking & biking season, yeah! Yesterday Adam fixed our bikes so we could start riding again. Our plan was to take the Jordan River Trail as far North as it goes, but we really had no idea how far North the trail went. We were going to go early in the day, but it was raining most of the day and riding in the rain is not our idea of fun.

Luckily by 5:30pm it stopped raining so we loaded up our bikes and headed to the trail at 6pm. We didn't make it to the end of the Northern trail, but we did ride our bikes 16 miles! I think if it was earlier and warmer we would have kept going, but still, 16 miles is still quite the accomplishment for our first ride of the season.

I have to admit, I was very proud of myself. Last year I was so weak I could hardly go up hills, and some I couldn't go up at all. There is no way I could have rode 16 miles last year. Plus, there's no way I could have kept up with Adam last year! And one of the best things, I am not even sore today. Quite the opposite, I feel like I want to go do it again. :)

I am so excited that Adam and I are now at about the same physical fitness level! That will make this an awesome spring/summer! We already have hikes on the calendar and now we're going to be adding some good bike rides. We both just want to get into a little better shape so we can up our difficulty level for our family vacations coming up.

Anyone know of some good biking trails within an hour drive of West Jordan, UT? We'll be needing some more good ones for this spring/summer season.

Good "Practice" Run

On Tuesday my sister-in-law Julie was kind enough to do my 100,000 mile maintenance on my car, so I was lucky enough to babysit her two kids for the day (I do sincerely mean that, she has great kids!). Being that Adam and I now have like 40 nieces and nephews (I lost count since it grows every year) I have definitely done my fair share of babysitting. In fact, I've even watch kids for days and weeks at a time, so I was pretty sure I knew what I was doing. The one thing I failed to take into account, is that previously, I never tried babysitting kids and working from home at the same time.

I only had the kids (a 4yr old and 6 month old) for about 6 hours. I thought that it would be easy to work from home at the same time. Well, I'm sure any mom right now is just laughing at me. After trying it, I realized working from home is going to be a little harder than I originally thought. Luckily Julie has really good kids. The baby just sat in my lap and played with toys and the dogs (and sometimes my computer) when she wasn't taking a nap, eating, or enticing me to stop working and play. She only cried when she was hungry or needed her diaper changed. The 4yr old mostly entertained himself, with a little help from me and the dogs. Still, even with that, I only got about half the amount of work done in those 6 hours that I normally get done.

Good thing for me I actually got up at 3:30 that morning and started working (I couldn't sleep) so by they time they got their at 9am, I had already been working for 5 and a half hours. So, once you add in the equivalent 3 hours of work I got done in 6 hours, I really did get a full days work in, it just took me a lot longer.

This did teach me that I have a lot more preparing I need to do before I'm ready to work from home with a child of my own. I need to get used to starting earlier or working later to get the same amount of work done. So, my hat is off to all of you moms out there that currently work from home! Someday (hopefully sooner rather than later) I'll be asking you for tips!

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday

This has been a busy week for both the Dalton Family and the Stockdale Family. On the Dalton side it was Adam's Dad's birthday, and it was the big 6-0. We had a surprise party for him on Friday night, although I felt bad because I totally didn't realize it was supposed to be a surprise party (maybe I should read my entire email when related to family parties). I even called Adam's mom while she was with dad and asked her questions about the party. Good thing he wasn't paying attention.

Also on Friday was my mom's birthday, but my sister April and I took her out to lunch for her birthday on Thursday. My mom says it may be the best meat she has ever had. We went to this great Brazilian restaurant in Jordan Landing. I can't remember it's name, but it's one of those places where they walk around with different meats and you get to sample all different kinds of yummy food.

Then of course, today was Easter! My parents came early this morning so we could go to church together and they hung out at my house all day. My sister Kelly came later in the day and our friends Megan and Dan came over too. We had a great Easter dinner together and then played the fun dice game Farkel (a.k.a 5,000 or 10,000).

As you can probably guess, with two birthdays and Easter, our calorie intake was WAY overboard this weekend. Adam and I are looking forward to our 9:15 Cycle and Core class in the morning, then I'm going to throw in a yoga class and add another cycle class or combo class at night. That'll be about enough to burn off one of my three bad food days.

Anyone want to go running with me on Tuesday morning to help burn off another one of those bad days?

Dreams do come true, even the bad ones...

I (Melissa) started my career in the health industry when I was a freshman in college. I started out working at a natural foods and supplement store, then went to work for the American Cancer Society, then became manager of a different nutrition store, then became an Account Manager for the SilverSneakers Fitness Program, and finally became a manager/part-owner of a great family health club.

Everyone that knows me, knows that I have struggled with my body weight my entire life. Partly due to “fat” genes (the ones that give you a SUPER slow metabolism, low thyroid, and fun hormone imbalances that make you heavy) and partly due to poor lifestyle choices. Lets face it, even though I do have diagnosed medical conditions that make me heavier than the average girl, I also made poor lifestyle choices. I didn't have to eat that fatty food or those delicious sugary deserts, I chose to.

With that said, my biggest fear since I started working in the health industry 9 years ago, and my repeating nightmare (yes, I do have vivid, stupid dreams) was that one day I would be talking to someone in my health store, the gym I was working at, or a health fair/health event, and that person would say to me, “So if you know so much, and work in the health industry, why are you fat?” Lucky for me, most people have a filter; the kind of filter that allows you to THINK those things that may be hurtful to others if said aloud, but not actually SAY those things. I had never met anyone whose filter allowed this kind of comment to get through to me, until the other day.

The last time I was in my club, my sales guy was on lunch and a lovely senior lady came into the club wanting to check the place out and get prices. Being the friendly person that I am, I sat down with her, found out what she was looking for, determined our club would be a good fit for her, and then proceeded to show her around. She had never been in a gym before in her life, so I decided to take a little extra time with her and show her more specifically what each piece of equipment actually did and what muscles it worked. I got to the back machine, which works the lats, and I told her this was one of my favorites because it helps to get rid of the dreaded back fat. She then stopped, looked me up and down and said, “If you work here and understand this stuff, then why are you still fat?”

The bad dream I had been dreading and hoping to avoid for the last 9 years, finally came true. Someone actually ignored their filter and said it. I'm sure she was not the first person to think it, but come on lady, did you really need to SAY it? Who do you think you are, my brother? (since they would probably be the only one to say something like that to me, but at least they'd only be joking around)

What did I do you ask? Without even missing a beat, I smiled sweetly at her and said, “Well actually I just lost 40 pounds. You should have seen me a few months ago. And, I'm still losing about 2 pounds a week, so give it a few months and I won't be fat anymore.” She just looked at me, smiled back, and said, “Oh, wow. That's great.”

Surprisingly, after she left, I just laughed about it. I didn't run away and find a corner to cry in like I might have done 9 years ago, I let it roll off my back. I guess that shows I've grown up a bit. I used to want to lose weight just to look good. I would do anything, even sometimes unhealthy things, just to lose weight. Now I just want to lose weight to be healthier, and hopefully to be able to get pregnant. Sure, I want to look good, but that's not the most important reason. I want to be physically fit enough to go running with my dogs everyday, take hikes, bike rides, and have the energy to run around and play with the kids I hope I'll have some day. I want to avoid health problems related to be heavy, and live with my husband on this earth for at least 60 more years so I'm around to meet the generations of our family tree. If the side effect is that people I come across in my work don't think (or maybe even say) bad things about me anymore, well that's nice, but truth is, I really don't care anymore.