Waiting...

...I seem to be having to do a lot of it right now.  Waiting to fall asleep.  Waiting to stop coughing.  Waiting for my food to be ready. Waiting for Albert to get home from school.  Waiting to go into labor.  Waiting for red lights to turn green.  Waiting for laundry to finish.  Waiting for the Quest guy to come and get our new internet hooked up so we can save a LOT of money (even after the first 6 months are over) (too bad our phone jack isn't hooked up so we actually can't save ANY money...dang it).  Waiting for the window AC unit to cool the house down.  Waiting for it not to be so cold in the morning because I never turned the AC unit off in the middle of the night.  Waiting for Albert to finally give in and go on a long walk with me.
Someday I'll stop waiting.

One Step Closer

     Today has been a great day so far.  Albert and I took a drive up to Taylorsville, UT.  We're one step closer to Albert becoming a full citizen of the USA.  He got fingerprinted today.  Currently a back-ground check is being done.  As soon as he's cleared, we'll get a notice letting us know when Albert is going to take the citizenship test and then we just have to wait for him to be sworn in.
     YAY!  that means that soon his last name will be "Helsing" and then not long after that I'll be come a "Helsing" (and finally stop using my maiden name as my last name...no offense fellow "Evans"s).
     Anyways, life moves on.  Johnathan is still healthy and kicking around and making me uncomfortable (though I still can sleep).  No real contractions and very few Braxton Hicks.  No cervix change from last week.  Found out that the most I'll have to wait to be induced is 10 days...and they'll make me wait at LEAST 7.  ugh.  Hopefully Johnathan wants to come before that...for my sake.
     I've finally have my bags for the hospital packed.  And I have pre-registered at the hospital (though we didn't end up getting a tour because by the time we were about to head up there, both Albert and I were really hungry)) and we know where to go and so I'm a lot less nervous about the whole occurrence.  but seriously, if you have advice of stuff to take along or leave or ask for or get afterwards, please feel free to let me know because I love hearing the advice and it makes the whole "unknown" of the situation a lot less scary.  (note: you could just e-mail me at al.mel.helsing@gmail.com instead of posting here...)
     Last weekend, one of Albert and I's friends (Melissa) took us up by Sundance Resort and got some really awesome pictures.  Here are just a couple of them:

 Albert had the sun in his eyes.  Melissa and I just told him to deal with it. :)

 We found a lovely tree to sit on...and there were ants...none got in our pants hahaha.

There was also this random creek and Albert wouldn't let me jump across it

or wade in it...ah well.

wild flowers...they're awesome...

 We did our best to keep Melissa amused during the shoot...

I kept hitting Albert with the flowers...

and he kept protesting and Melissa and I ganged up on him. :)

Yep.  We love each other. :)

Speaking of which.  We just celebrated our 1.5 year anniversary. Yay us for making it through this far!  We look forward to many more anniversaries to come.

Updates:

First Albert:
At the start of May, we went back to the BYU Health Center to see the Dr (finally) and the doctor ordered some bloodwork (a test that would tell how Albert's blood sugar had been doing for the past 3 months). Also during this appointment we discovered that though previous doctor had told us that Albert was type 1 diabetes, Albert's cart said he was type 2...yeah. About a week later, the doctor called Albert and told him that Albert's average blood sugar count for the past 3 months was around 245 (if not a bit higher). Albert's IDEAL blood sugar level is 100...yeah, not good. Albert was also told that he had really high cholesterol and that all of it was bad...ah! (yet another pill to help with that) So the Dr. at the health center recommended Albert to a diabetes specialist. In the meantime (while we waited for Albert's appointment day to arrive), Albert stopped drinking power-aid (he'd been drinking a LOT before that) and decided to only drink water (which he has stuck to since) and now the majority of his meals are salads. So Albert went to the specialist, who ordered a blood test that would tell us whether he was type 1 or type 2 and also gave him another pill to try and somehow managed to convince Albert to check his blood sugar 3 times a day (when he wakes up, right before dinner, and right before going to bed).
          It's getting better little by little. One of the first nights, Albert checked his blood sugar and it was at 200, when he checked it in the morning, it was 245. Recently, it's been better (usually in the 100s). Albert has been very good at eating healthily (even eating breakfast most days, which he didn't really do before) and has been at least FEELING better than before...so, that's good. Anyways, this past week he got a call from the Diabetes specialist and was informed that he was type 2. honestly, I think it's a good thing because with type 2 you have a better chance at possibly being able to make it go away, while with type 1 you're stuck with it for life...it's something to encourage Albert to be good about keeping healthy...which will also help ME be healthy...well...mostly (I still get sugar every now and again...I just try not to eat it in front of Albert because I feel guilty despite his insisting that he really doesn't like sugar and that he's fine with me eating it in front of him...)
          At the start of June, we (yes I went wit him this time) went to a dietitian AND the specialist.  The dietitian was actually super amazing and I think Albert was a little iffy about what she was saying because she was telling him that he could eat whatever he wanted, he just had to count the carbs.  She told him that he could put rice and stuff back in his diet and it was totally fine.  Her reasoning: "well, we could keep you on the track you're already on and cut everything out and basically turn you vegan" (Albert and I exchanged a look like "yeah right!") "or, we can let you eat what you want (in regulated amounts) and treat your blood sugar at that level" Albert of course chose the second option.  The specialist informed us that he was type 2, and that the problem wasn't that his pancreas wasn't making insulin, but that his body was resistant to insulin (which was hereditary...but now we know to keep an eye out for it in Johnathan once he's here...the dr. says we won't really know anything about diabetes until he's like 3 months or something, but we're definitely going to get it checked out.).  So Albert was put on another pill called Actos (which unfortunately BYU Health insurances doesn't cover because it's not generic yet (we're working it out)) and it's worked WONDERS.  i.e. Sunday, his blood sugar was 102!!!  That's like the lowest I've ever seen it!!!  Albert isn't always very happy with how many pills he's taking.  the other day he exclaimed "I'm taking more pills than my grandma and she's 86!!!"
      Albert is currently enjoying his few days off from school before summer term starts. luckily this term all of his classes are at BYU campus here in Provo so he's near by if I have to call him and pull him out of class to take me to the hospital.
Now me:
      Johnathan is dropping lower!!  YAY!!!  2 weeks left!  It's way crazy.  Stressing out about not feeling all the way ready.  we have the physical stuff (stroller, crib, diapers, wipes, clothes, car seat, etc.) well...everything I can think of that we would need.  Not sure if I'm quite all the way ready emotionally...but I don't think I'll be all the way ready until AFTER Johnathan is here.
      I can still sleep pretty well.  And I'm usually fairly comfortable.  The doctor said that everything is going well with the baby....I just need to spend a little less time on my feet.  I was 1 cm dilated last Monday.  I have been having a few braxton-hicks contractions, but nothing anywhere near the real thing...exempt for random muscle/ligament pains in my stomach...often while Johnathan is pushing hard on my stomach.  He's head down.  So yeah. It's all good with me...just a little freaking out last minute...Luckily, Albert isn't freaking out yet....YET being the main word lol.

He's Glad They Called Him on a Mission.

          For those of you who didn't know, a few months ago, my brother Eric was called to serve a mission in the Japan, Fukuoka mission (I love Japanese because it's so easy to spell haha)...speaking Japanese of course.
          Tuesday, May 31st Albert and I left our humble (sometimes) abode and drove up to the Salt Lake City airport to pick up my little younger brother, Eric.

           Isn't he so happy looking?!  :)  The first thing he said to me was "wow!  you've gotten BIG!!" (he hadn't seen me since April...when I didn't look like I had stuffed a basket ball under my shirt).  He happily told us about his flight and how he used his Spanish skills to listen in on the conversation of an older Brazilian couple who happened to be in the same boarding group as he was.  Apparently they were assigned the seats right in front of his and as they were disembarking from the plane in Salt Lake, he offered them a Book of Mormon.  He was very disappointed to find out that they already had one, but was happy that they were for sure going to see temple square.  He never found out if they were LDS or not, but he said that he was pretty sure they weren't.
          Anyways, he claimed that he wasn't hungry, but Albert and I began his training in eating even though one may not be particularly hungry (which apparently missionaries have to do all the time...we were glad to help) by giving him his first experience at Cafe Rio (Albert was very surprised Eric had never been to Cafe Rio before...haha).  When we got back to the car, we noticed some gum stuck to our tire, so I took a picture of it...cuz it looked cool.

          After we got home, Ben came over and he and Albert began telling mission adventures and giving advice.  This was really fun for me because Albert doesn't usually just share mission stories. :)  After a bit, I had to drop Albert off up on BYU campus (usually he'd drive the scooter, but he left it up there over the weekend and we hadn't gone to get it yet) so that he could go to his class in Salt Lake (luckily he has a group that he drives with so he only has to actually drive up once every other week).  That night we went to my Grandma Evans's house for ice cream.  (yummm!)  Mike and Petra and their girls came and Paul and Jaelyn and of course Grandma, Johanna and Mary Ann.

 Paul had fun putting a box on his head and scaring Kaylee and Taylor...and amusing the rest of us.

 Kaylee found two beautiful leaves that she really wanted me to take a picture of.

 Taylor decided she wanted to take a picture with the leaves too. :)  Luckily Kaylee let her take a picture with them lol.

 This was grandma's idea haha.

 Petra, Mike, Eric, Me, Ben, Taylor and Kaylee on grandma's porch with Eric.

          At one point during the night, Taylor came over to Uncle Paul (whom she kept calling "grandpa" haha) and showed him a snail.  Uncle Paul took the snail and plopped it in his mouth.  Jaelyn was not amused.  Luckily he didn't keep it in there very long.  I didn't get a picture of it.
          We finally got home around 10 and Eric (being a good missionary) got ready for bed (he got to sleep on our very soft couches).  Albert got home about 15 minutes after us.  While Eric and I both were asleep well before 11 (eric probably before 10:30...but I'm not sure), Albert stayed up late watching a show on his laptop with headphones in (which served to make it so that I couldn't hear the show and he couldn't hear me snoring...which apparently I do more than I thought I did...ah well)
          We all woke up at 6:30 in the morning.  (which was VERY early for me, but I gotta get used to it since I have class at 7 every day in the fall)...I made eggs for breakfast and we ate and then Albert went off to campus to take a test (he thought the testing center opened at 8, but it really opened at 10 (when he had class) so he had to miss dropping Eric off...bummer).  While we waited for 1pm to get closer, Eric and I decided to take a little trip to the Provo cemetery to visit Grandpa Evans and say hi and happy early birthday and happy memorial day.  We then dropped some stuff off in the family storage unit (which was further down the road than Grandpa, but since we were in the area, I figured I might as well get the stuff out of the back of my car.  A little while later, eric and I went to pick Ben up (his scooter broke the night before) and then came back to my house.  We played a couple rounds of skip-bo...(to break the tie between Eric and Ben from the games from the night before)...I won 1 game all out...the second game was when ben and I were playing for 2nd...despite losing a lot, I also laughed a lot...hard enough that I was sore afterwards.
          Around 12:20, Grandma Evans came over and together, we drove the the BYU Creamery on 9th so that Eric could say goodbye to a friend.  After that, we drove up to the MTC.

 Happy brothers in the back seat

          It was kind of funny because the guard at the gate thought that Ben was the one going in...and while Ben would have GLADLY taken Eric's place...we let Eric go instead.  I love places where you can just drive in and feel the Spirit there without even having to try.  That's what the MTC was like...I'd been there before, but that was just for picking up laundry.  This was my first experience dropping someone off.  It was really nice because they had a whole bunch of missionaries lined up along the sidewalk and as Eric got out they were all enthusiastic and welcoming and happy.  Unfortunately, they were not allowed to take our picture for us...ah well.

 Eric hugging Grandma

 Walking over to Ben and I.

 :')

Eric and Grandma again.

          I'm proud to say that I did NOT cry (though I did tear up very badly haha...and that doesn't mean that I don't still tear up when I think of my little brother all grown up and going away to Japan for almost 2 years).  Eric was no help...as I was hugging him goodbye he said "Just think about when it's Johnathan leaving" (almost makes me cry right now...I'm going to be a mess when it actually happens lol).  And then he was gone...well...we were gone and he was behind us and walking further into the MTC.
          Right after we drove out of the MTC, Albert called and said that he was done with his test...so he just barely missed dropping Eric off.  No worries, if we're still in/near Provo in 4 years when Josh and Brian go in, we're going to make sure he's there haha.
          Anyways.  Yep.  He's gone...While he was here we reminisced a little about when we were younger.  Since we're two years apart, we planned that we'd go into the MTC at the same time...my mission is a little different right now though...Even though we aren't going in at the same time (I'll be going in in several years when Albert and I's children are all grown up), he's still going to be a WONDERFUL missionary.  I can't wait to see what interesting experiences the Lord has in store for him. :)

Memorial Day Weekend Activities

          It started on Thursday night.  We'd agreed that it'd be fun to go camping with Albert's friend/classmate Jared and his wife Britney that weekend, but hadn't made any definite plans.  Anyways, so Thursday night Albert and Jared were off in Salt Lake City and Britney and I were hanging out at my house.  We decided that we really DID want to go camping and planned out meals, started looking at places to camp, and informed our husbands of our weekend plans.  When they got back to Provo, we told them our short shopping list and we all headed to Walmart and got the stuff.  When we got home, I cut up onions and some tomatoes and started the meat defrosting (not in the microwave...just leaving it in a less freezing environment) and then went to bed.
          The next morning I went to work and then ran over to Mike and Petra's house to get more sleeping bags.  Upon arrival at home, Albert helped me get a few of the things ready (clothes packed, shovel out of the basement, the heavier stuff in the car, etc) and then went to his physics lab.  about an hour or so later I went over to Britney's apartment and we made sure we had everything.  Us girls then headed up to Diamond Fork and found a really nice campground for free.

  We set up the one tent we'd brought

(which ended up not being big enough for us...so Albert invested further into our camping supplies) and started the fire.  We were actually quite proud of ourselves and our fire.

Britney and our fire

About an hour and a half before the boys came

Britney getting water from the stream/river

          While we were waiting for the boys to come, we watched the fire and were amused by the ants burning in the log we'd brought...well..amused may not be the right word...but it was interesting

         About 2-3 hours after we'd gotten up there, the boys came up (having finished their physics lab and made it through a lot of traffic and made stops for ice, wood, and Albert and I's tent).  When they arrived, it started the epic off-and-on drizzling that lasted most of the night.  They were a little TOO impressed that we'd managed to start the fire on our own...ah well.
         Albert and I set up our tent and then we carried our supplies up to our campsite.  Once everything was up at the site, we made dinner (hobo dinners) and stuck them on the amazing coals that Britney and I had made.  while waiting for our dinners (which turned out amazing BTW) to cook, we played around with flashlights...and Albert somehow thought that his super bright flashlight would work better than the camera flash.

guess not.

         When our dinners were finally done, we hid in Albert and I's tent and ate there, which was a lot more comfortable than eating in the rain.  By the time we were done eating, it'd stopped raining, and we went out and cooked s'mores.  Jared proved to be a fire bug and almost NEVER stopped playing with the fire.

         We went to bed around midnight.  I managed to only need to go to the bathroom once in the "middle of the night" aka when it was super dark and Albert had to come with me (we were lucky enough to have a site that had a bathroom).   that was about 4:30 in the morning.  To be honest, I really didn't sleep SUPER well because the ground was hard (we had like...5 sleeping bags under us) and I was only on one shoulder all night.  So I "woke up" again at 7:30 ish and it was light enough outside that Albert decided that I could go to the bathroom alone and he could sleep (haha).  I was unable to go back to sleep after that. So, instead I mostly just sat around in the camp site and...took this picture of our camp:

          Around 9:30, my fellow campers started to wake up and Jared got the fire started (admittedly it was a LOT faster than what it took Britney and I, but oh well.) and Albert and I got out our newly purchased gas stove (I'm slowly reeling him into the world of REAL camping...aka, not in a RV or cabin and acutally roughing it sometimes) and we made a delicious meal of farmer's breakfast (basically you cook bacon, hash browns and eggs together in a pan and it's wonderful) and Albert cooked some corn in the fire (which was also amazing).  We were all pleasantly surprised by the warm (ish) sunny morning it was turning out to be.  

          After we ate, Jared decided to run up the hill near us to a large rock/stone/ boulder and Britney, Albert, and I sat around the fire and cooked s'mores (definately a GREAT choice!).  When Jared got back, he joined in the fun of s'more making.  Albert was daring and ate 2...maybe 3...it was the first sugar he'd had since the start of May.  Let's just say he enjoyed it.  We all felt very accomplished because we finished the WHOLE bag of marshmallows and didn't finish off the chocolate TOO fast (it was still there in the morning right up until the last couple of marshmallows).

          After s'mores, we played Ticket to Ride (albert's favorite board game...exempt for maybe Risk) and a winner was not determined (though we're pretty sure Jared or Albert would have won) due to the fact that it started raining (not fun...since our tents were still up.).  So, we quickly packed the game up and then proceeded to pack everything else up and headed home.

          It was about...2:30 ish when we finally got home.  One thing camping does is make us EXTREMELY grateful for all of the wonderful modern things we have available in our homes.
         At 6 Jared, Britney, Melissa (another of Albert's classmates that he has ALL of his classes with) and her husband (whose name is also Jared) came over and we made pizzas. :)  one crazy mix of everything and the other BBQ chicken.

The Jareds decided to put basically ALL of the pepperoni on the mixed pizza.

(notice the tiny bit with mushrooms...only Britney and Melissa wanted them lol)

          We later added a plethora (I really like that word) of olives, bell pepper slices, cheese, and maybe some other items that I can't remember...I think we had jalapeno pepper on a tiny bit for Britney...ah well.  Either way, the pizzas turned out GREAT!  We enjoyed our delicious creations while watching Knight and Day (which is a freakin' amazing movie btw)
          Sunday, we woke up just barely in time to get ready and get to church (I slept through the alarm beh).  Albert was very sore because of our night's sleep on the ground (he sacrificed himself so that I would have the smoother part of the ground...I think he's still trying to get better from the lumps lol).  We made it to church just barely on time...whew!  After church we came home (I got a snack...since I'm ALWAYS getting snacks and I'm almost always hungry...such is the nature of this child...he's going to eat us out of house and home when he's a teenager), and then left again for Aunt Sonia's house to celebrate Albert's sister, Vanessa, getting back safely from Germany.  We ate lomo saltado for dinner and then began watching a slideshow of pictures Vanessa had taken.  a hour and a half (maybe 2 hours) later we were only a week into the trip and half way through the slide show.  AHHH!!!  :)  it's ok most of the pictures were quite amusing.   When we stopped watching the slide show Sonia let me help her work on a knitted sweater for Johnathan.  We began in Sonia's bedroom then moved out to the living room where albert was laying on the couch and refused to make room for me to sit on the couch...so I sat on him.

          Monday, I woke up around 7:30 so that I could be at work at 8 to do bookdrop.  It took a lot shorter than I thought it would (I was thinking around 3 hours...but it only took about 1.5-2).  After that I went home and woke Albert up and we ate breakfast.  We chilled around the house for a bit and then went to the mall to get the Bourne series (we watched the first one Saturday night and really wanted to watch the rest of them) and also got some cute shoes for me so that I could have something cute and new for summer that I'd still fit into the same after Johnathan is born.  After that, we came home and ate lunch and watched our new movies.  After that Jared and Britney called us and we went over to their house to play ticket to ride again.  Jared won, with Britney in second and me in third...Albert's plans were altered greatly by devious minds.
          So yep, that's what we did over the weekend. :)  lots of fun. :)  lots of good memories. :)