Kyle Andrews "You Always Make Me Smile" Official Video-- Yeah, we were there. The GREEN TEAM.

Pregnancy Post

I feel like as soon as I'm not pregnant anymore, and after all the initial baby craziness (plus a few months) maybe I'll look back and enjoy my pregnancy. Because even now I can recall a (very) short time when I enjoyed it.  But as I sit here, in outfit number 2 for today (already sweated through #1) I cant even fathom doing this again. I am trying to pull together a list of things I liked about my pregnancy- because the list of things I DIDNT like would be long, really long, and everybody who reads this has probably heard me complain at least once (sorry!).  So with literally nothing in mind right now, here goes.

-I got to eat without counting calories.
The few extra pounds on my face will tell you I did this.

-Baby clothes shopping.
My new favorite thing to shop for. 

-Feeling him kick.
Each time I felt him, I felt like he did it just to let me know he was okay.

-Ultrasounds
I wish we could do these more often. At first he looked like... a blob of something- and then a few short months later, he was a full fledged baby. Amazing!

-Baby showers
I love getting together with people I love, and I love getting presents for Parker.

-Letting Jed feel him kick
He always gets stage fright when Jed is trying to feel him. Jed says that in the morning when Im still sleeping he can feel him kick and move. (my heart melted when he told me that)

-Organizing his baby clothes
Lets just say I have done this way WAY too many times! 

-Talking to Parker
pretty much about everything Im doing, things I am thinking about. I just like talking to him. I really hope he is used to my laugh by now. :)

-Swimming
I almost dont even feel pregnant. I think that counts!?!

-Jed rubbing my feet
He has pretty much gone pro at foot rubbing. Such a good guy.

WOW. I am honestly super impressed with myself. I didn't think I could come up with 5 things to think positively about. All things considered, I think I will love holding my little boy more than anything. I cannot WAIT! :)

Now for the pictures. Excuse my swollen face, sweatiness, and overall pregnant grossness. I am not one of those girls that feels sexy when she's pregnant. Definitely not!

Jed and I at Olive Garden (Alyssa is taking our picture). We get so spoiled. I watch our friends 1 yr old daughter for a few hours, and they give us a gift card to the Olive Garden. YUMMY!

Friends from my ward throwing me a baby shower! Thanks Sarah! It was a blast! Nice to have Alyssa  there as well.

There he is. This is me, at 38 weeks-- Aug 12th.  I honestly didn't think I could get this big. At least my huge club feet aren't in the picture (thanks Alyssa) they are huge!

This is Jed and I at Bear Lake for his family's reunion. It was a lot of fun, warm!!, but lots of fun. Look at the water! I had never seen water that color before-- gorgeous! p.s. Jed has gotten a tiny belly too. I loveeee it!

Motherhood:-An-Eternal-Partnership

As the weeks (days!) come down to the big event. Easily one of the
biggest in my life so far, I am touched by the power of motherhood.
What a divine calling it is. As I struggle to balance being a mother, a wife,
a student, a daughter, a sister, a friend and all other roles I hold in my life,
I am confident that it can be done.

Thank you, all the women in my life, for being such a great example to me.
Thank you for showing me that it IS possible. Thank you for encouraging me
with words of love and support, and for helping me see my own potential.
To all the mothers and women- know that the Lord loves you. And is mindful
of your righteous desires. Keep up the good work.

Below is a link of a video that is certain to brighten any day, and make
that list of to-dos seem possible. Oh- and its by Elder Holland. :)

Motherhood:-An-Eternal-Partnership

Just Pictures

I had to hold the camera super, super still... and these are maybe a 1/4 or what I wanted to upload, but here's some for now.

This was in April when we found out we were having a boy. I knew, Jed knew, we just had to let the Dr's see. Oh goodness he's so darn cute. P.s. I didn't even cry. I was super surprised.

This was at Jed's friend Jacob's wedding. Jed was the best man. Don't we look hot. :) Took me forever to find a dress to wear... and I really can't stand that dress. Oh to find cute (CHEAP) clothes whilest pregnant.

There she is! My lil' sister getting her diploma.  It was really, really weird to see her all growed up like that. Oh, and did I mention how weird it was being back (only 2 years after my own graduation) with a hubby and a baby..... that was slightly weird.

My nephew, Jax and myself. Loved being back in Illinois. Loved seeing the fam, and this little guy even let me hold him. Just a few times. He is too darn cute!

My two besties. The cutie on the left is Heidi and the hot one on the right is Jennifer. These are the girls that I spent my high school years with. Boy did we cause trouble. Love them both so much and miss them already! p.s. between the three of us, we're pretty much unstoppable.

 There's the 3 of us (the Three Sisters) with our picture proudly displayed on a HUGE wall of other pics at our favorite restaurant, the Three Sisters.  To my knowledge we are the only pic that aren't biologically sisters.

**** Well I had tons more pictures to post. I didn't get  to post any of my family or the awesome baby shower they threw. Maybe sometime soon. 

Hypnobirthing

Looking forward to the Parker's birth date (c. August 24th) it is sooooo soon. I have no idea how I am ever going to get everything done. Tomorrow I am going shopping for fabric to make his bedding with (that should be interesting!) Then we still have a BUNCH of shopping to do as well as much needed psychological  preparation. But one thing we have started, that I am way stoked about!!!, is our birthing class.

For me the biggest thing about this baby, is to have a relatively good birthing experience. I love children- look at what I am studying- and though I need a lot of work in the mom department- children are the greatest things in the whole world to me. But the thought of doing this whole baby thing again, at the moment, is not sounding too good. (All about adoption)  So I REALLY need this to be a good experience so I will look back and say- yeah, I would do that again (if only for my children).

Hence- the need and desire for a birthing class. I really wanted to find one that fit my needs, as well as encouraged a natural birth (I knew I would need all the encouragement I could get). After talking to my midwife about different classes offered here in Utah county, I decided to look into hypnobirthing. I had never heard of it before, nor did I have any idea what it was about. But after a few days, more discussions with my midwife, talking to Jed, and looking at this incredible website www.hypnobirthing.com  I had made my decision. At first finding a class that worked with our schedule, finally finding one and then the instructor needed to cancel due to family issues etc., we finally started our class.

It is a five week- 2 1/2 hour- course that teaches hypnobirthing. We had a great experience last night. We were taught all about what it is, taught why it works, and even started doing hypnosis in class. It was way cool. Not cool. That's not the right word-- it made sense. We talked about our conscious and subconscious minds, and how strong our minds are and can be if we help train ourselves to use that potential. At first I read hypnosis and thought- okay, well my midwife is a wonderful, trained medical professional- and she said that she has personally seen this type of birthing work wonders for each patient willing to put in the effort--- so I continued thinking, hypnosis... like swing a watch in front of your eyes, wake up an hour later and have no idea what happened-- lame, I want to be fully awake and alert during my birth. But after all the research I have done, the class, and I started reading the book about it, it is anything but a crock. It really is mind over matter, and letting our bodies do what they were created to do.

I cant wait to keep learning about this class, and I am actually (sort of... in a way) looking forward to the birth now. I love love LOVE how much Jed is involved. It is exactly what I wanted. I'll keep you posted on more about our class, as well as hopefully soon update with pictures. (Our camera cord is shredded). Much Love from here in the valley <3

First of many (hopefully) ~ April~

I really don't like cleaning. I mean, aside from a handful of people out there- LUCKY!- who does? But i mean, if you asked any member of my family, especially my younger sister that had to share a room- who is the messiest in our family, it would be me. I like to think its because I am so busy, that cleaning is just not an option-- which in high school that could have been a decent excuse-- but now it really doesn't fly. Aside from growing a baby everyday-- which is literally a piece of cake (or two, with ice cream) I haven't been doing too much. Okay-- so we moved, I went on an amazing trip back home to Illinois, and there is plenty of stuff keeping me busy with a baby in our near future--- REALLY what I am trying to say is

Sorry for not blogging. I didn't want to come out and say it, but seeing as this is an exciting time, and my family does like to keep updated on what the heck I am doing in Utah, I really hope to be better at blogging more regularly. Even just to post pics (which hopefully I can remember how to do)

So this post is about April. That was a CRAZZZYYY month for us. I was getting over being sick (no details there-- it was gross. so glad its over) but I was beginning to feel better.  Jed and I both were finishing the semester- which involved several late nights with both of us finishing projects, papers etc. It was crazy. Im pretty sure looking back there were a few days where aside from saying prayers together- we didn't see each other.
       Then there were finals, and because I work at the the Testing Center on campus, I was working tons!!-- oh and pregnant. My co-workers were really sweet and offered to let me do the jobs where I could sit- that was so kind of them!
        Jed also had to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, and apparently he opted to take a more difficult 2nd half of the test. (Instead of general engineering he took the mechanical engineering portion) But because he works at the math lab, and is a smart kid, he didn't really need to study too much because most of the math was fresh in his mind. We recently got his scores ( HE PASSED!) It was just a pass/fail test-- which I think is lame. I really want to brag that he did super super good comparatively, but HE PASSED so I guess thats all that matters.
      Then we moved. Into a much nicer apartment. It's still a basement apartment, but the windows are much bigger, there are actual rooms, and with all of Jed's handy-man work, it looks so much better. We love it. I honestly forget about some of the rooms because of their creepiness, but mostly because I am used to being able to see my whole house from the couch.

***** PICS to be uploaded later when I can re-figure it out*******

What's Going on...

So I thought, after a month, that I should do a post. Nothing too exciting is happening
in our lives.  But I thought I would do a quick update, before April.
p.s. it's a long post,  but there are pics!

We are both still chugging along in school. Jed is super busy (all the time) with
projects and homework etc. but he manages to come home at decent hours (most nights)
so we can spend some time together.

I am just finishing up my sophomore year, and Jed will be done with his Junior year. I
should be applying to the the EL ED program, but I am not too sure how thats all going to
work out. I don't plan on going back to school in the fall (the baby is due the week before school
starts) and I know I am going to need those four months to heal/figure out how to
be a mom. And with my program come the exciting practicum hours where we go into
the schools and teach for 6 weeks out of each semester. This would be very difficult/rather
impossible to do with a nursing baby, and a husband who's gone all the time. So I am going to
keep trying to figure out a way that it can work, because Jed and I both feel that I should
continue going to school.

Jed is nearly done with his bachelor's degree, and looking forward to graduate school. We both
were pretty much solidified with this idea after a banquet Jed got asked to go to. They talked
about with a bachelor's degree Jed can be making "X" amount of dollars, but not really
doing any sort of designing himself- primarily he would be working under other people. We both
know that Jed would be good at that, but I know he would much prefer getting to do his own drawings
and working on his own schedule etc. So, we're going to continue renting and being poor for awhile
so that he can go to graduate school, I can be a mom, and find a way to go to school as well.They
discussed at the banquet that either you can go to graduate school and have a full-time job, or you
can just go to school. With having a full-time job, graduate school will usually take upwards or
four year (vs. 1 1/2- 2 years) So-- we're hoping Jed can get a research position where he is able to be
doing research, getting paid for it, and working towards his thesis all at the same time. That
is obviously ideal, and if that doesn't work, then we'll go to plan "B".

What come after graduate school you must be asking yourself? Well that would be CONTINUING
school and working towards his PHD. haha. Dr. Jedediah Alvey. I think it's great. With a doctorate,
Jed will be able to do his own drawings, have more freedom with his own work, and being the
one to actually create something that didn't exist before. This will take a few more years, and we
will continue being poor and living off nearly no income ( I will probably be working part-time etc)     

But this is our plan for right now. It's a rough outline, and we're not too sure how babies, my schooling, and bills are all going to fit in that equation- but we both feel like we're headed in the right direction.

Now we just have to figure out what school Jed's gonna go to. Who knows where we'll be in a year?
I am so excited though. As we were laying in bed last night (Jed got done with his homework SUPER
early!!) and we were trying to listen to the baby move (Jed loves to do that. He asks me all the time if
he can talk to "my baby" like it isn't his or something!) haha---- Jed said, "So we're gonna be in school
for the rest of our lives. I was like-- yup. Im planning on being a teacher, so even when we're done,
I will always be in school. We both love school though. We were the kids in elementary who cried
if we had to miss a day. Loved doing extra credit etc. We are such nerds.

So now-- on to CONSIDERABLY more exciting things! April 9th, we go in for our 20 week ultra sound. I am supppppperrrrr excited. Though I think it's a boy, but REALLY want a girl, I just
want to know what it is, so we can start buying cute stuff :) We had an appointment at 16 weeks
and got to hear the babies heart beat. Beautiful. I think it was like 140 or something. which is
super middle of the road-- so healthy! and they looked at me and said that my body was just
built for baby carrying--  i was like whew- i would be nervous if it wasn't!-- so everything
seems to be great. Just two more weeks and we get to see everything. Big Question-- BOY
OR GIRL? Parker or Adelaide? Who knows? I am getting giddy just thinking about it.

So the picks below-- the first one is 13 weeks, and the second is 15 weeks. I am 18 weeks now,
but I haven't taken any pics this week. Maybe I'll do a quick post this afternoon, after I shower. :)

p.s. I think the 13 week one looks HUGE, but really I think its just the shirt. ????