"Birthday, Birthday, Coming to Earth Day..."

"...pink and wrinkled and small!!!!"  love that song...it's been stuck in my head all week...thus Albert officially does NOT love that song hahaha.  So yeah...YAY FOR BIRTHDAYS!
My first thought upon waking up the morning of my birthday and being 21 was "that was a weird dream...why did Albert make me go in that hair salon where they were making people look like cats"...and then "why did they have a karaoke contest?!" and then "why didn't I win?...it's my dream!"  Yep...
I feel like my birthday really started Wednesday with the arrival of my birthday package from my wonderful and amazing parents.  I got a birthday tiara, some blowy noisemaker thingys, confetti, party hats, balloons, cake, some candy, and some trail mix. :)  All that with a birthday card promising the soon arrival of gift cards (one to Jo-Ann and one to Olive Garden (yay!!!)).  
    Anyways, Thursday morning Albert and I took a pleasant trip to the BYU Student Health Center to get some blood work done concerning his diabetes.  After that, we went up to Tucanos (the Brazilian all-you-can-eat grill) and enjoyed a wonderful lunch (yay free birthday meals!!).  After that we walked a bit of what we ate off going around the little shopping area and enjoying the views of all the interesting goodies there were.  I used my boarder's gift card to buy Albert's father's day present, Tron: Legacy (the new one)(which I gave to him early....partially because we'd started it at a friend's house and hadn't been able to finish it and we both REALLY wanted to find out what happened).  On our way back to the car, Albert bought me some chocolate covered strawberries (one of my very favorite treats).  As we drove home, we stopped by the mall and picked up the necklace Albert had bought me for our wedding (it'd broken in the middle of last year and we just hadn't had time to fix it until a week or so ago)...while we were there he bought me a bracelet to match the necklace. (AND it was on sale so it was also a super lucky buy)
     Once we were home, we watched Tron and then Albert went to class.  I got a call from his classmate and friend, Jared's, wife (Britney) and she and I went to watch Albert's friend Melissa's new laberdoodle puppy (she's soooo cute!) and then used my Red Robin birthday coupon to eat.  After that, we went to one of Britney's friend's houses for a knitting party where I learned to crochet the flower headband thingys :)
     Amidst all this, I received many wonderful calls from family with wishes of happy birthday and many variations of the birthday song. :)  many thanks to all of you, your love and well wishes are muchly appreciated. :)
     After the knitting party (well...Britney was learning to knit something), we met our husbands back at my house and went our separate ways to bed. :)
      Overall, it was a very, very wonderful birthday.

As the time draws near...

...and we slowly get everything together for the baby, everything becomes more real...and it's kind of crazy.
Wonderful quote from Albert: "I can't believe in 63 days we're having a baby...a REAL baby...not one of those fake ones we get at the store"
:) Oh I love him.
Updates:
          -31 weeks today
          -Johnathan has finally started kicking for Albert.  A few days ago Albert had his arm around me and his hand on my stomach and, almost instantly, Johnathan kicked him.  Early the next morning, Albert had his hand on my stomach over the blanket and Johnathan was trying really hard to kick his hand and get his dad to feel it. YAY!
          -Braxton-Hicks contractions have started...so far no pain... which is good.
          -I'm sick again.  with another stuffy nose...so far I haven't really been coughing...so I'm hoping that I can keep it just at sniffles
                    -Somehow whenever any of my co-workers is sick, I catch what they have.  A few weeks ago, Denise was sick with a sore throat and a cold...the next day, I had the same thing.  Last Friday, Janet came to work with no voice and sniffles...by the next day I was sniffing as well.  too bad I can't take anything stronger than calcium (plus sleep) to ward off illness...airborne and echenasia (sp?) are off limits because of the baby...please, if you have any good suggestions for keeping healthy that I haven't listed, please let me know...both albert and I are tired of me getting sick.
                    -Fortunately, I called my dr. the last time I was sick (two weeks ago) and was told that I can take robetessen (even DM) and any kind of tylonol and even musinex...I don't have a ton of stuff left over from being sick last time, but tomorrow I've scheduled a trip to the store to fix that...
          -We finally have a crib!!!! We got it today when we went to Albert's parents' house. :)  (we have wonderful in-laws)
           -My birthday and then baby shower are this week...and I don't really know what I want/need...ah well...
          -There is officially not a single episode of Hogan's Heroes that I have not seen and/or slept through. Albert watches it a lot...the only reason I'm ok with it is because it is 99% clean and it's funny and he likes it and I usually like it and I can block it out really well... :)
           -Albert and I's new favorite date spot is Nickle City in Orem.  we have collected just around 8545 tickets all together...we're going for 30,000 so that we can get the Ipod prize...we're not in a rush to get it...it's just something we're doing for fun.
Fun fact: Today I was frying 2 eggs for Albert, and one of them had a double yolk! I was super excited.
So yep...that's us!

"The only reason people want you to post pregnant pictures is so that they can see you fat" -a very close friend

it's true.  Thinking about it, when one is pregnant is the only time that society doesn't look at them and think "woah fat is ugly" instead they think "oh cute pregnant woman"...in fact, I've had more people bug me about eating more now that I'm pregnant than I've ever had bugging me...people get upset that I'm not fatter than I am...it's kind of funny.  And now for a picture of my pregnant belly. :)

 bahahaha...sorry...I did just promise a picture of my belly...there are actually much better pictures of me pregnant and some that even include albert, but I don't have those...I need to get them from Albert's aunt.
:)
Happy news: I'm done with all of my finals and feel like I did pretty dang well on all of them...Albert has started school again, but isn't completely stressed out yet... thus, we are happy.
So, recent adventuring led me to my sister's house with a yard of aqua fabric and an excited feeling to both see my adorable nieces and to sew a diaper bag. :D
Upon arrival at my sister's house, I, my sister, and my older niece, Brooklyn (or B) went down to my sister's sewing room.  We laid out the fabric and began cutting.  After I'd sewn the first two pieces together (which was right) I flipped the fabric over to discover little loopies in the stitching...I didn't really care, but I figured Andrea would...apparently her tension disks were off and we couldn't figure out how to fix them...ange even took the machine apart.

   We never did discover what was wrong with it...well...not while I was there, after I'd left Andrea figured it out, but that's a different story.
So, since we couldn't sew at the time, Ange cut out all of the little pieces I'd need and told me exactly how to sew them (I have a sewing machine...I just hadn't brought it with me).

While all this was going on, B was generally a very happy kid (exempt when she fell on the sewing machine case and bit halfway through her lip...not fun).

Deciding not to give up on sewing all the way, I decided to try to find where Thad (andrea's husband) had put the sewingmachine that my parents had bought for my younger sister and stored at Ange and Thad's place.  I found it...and carried it upstairs (shhh...don't tell albert...not that it's heavy at all)

After that, we had a delicious lunch of quesadillas (aka, tortillas with cheese on them), pineapple and bbq chips.  Addie woke up right before we started eating and decided she was hungry as well.  After B and Addie had both finished eating, Ange put addie on the couch and B, being the sweet older sister she is (she gets it from her mom), went over and laid next to her...

which earned her some chocolate...I guess I'll have to be more nice to babies to get more chocolate haha.
(oh, random cute picture of my sister with both her girls...wiping spit off of addie's face)

After that, Ange laid both the girls down for naps and we went downstairs to look at crafty blogs, the singer sewing machine manual, and sew a little more.

(Andrea told me that this was her "chipmunk face")
We didn't end up finishing the bag, but made plans to meet up again and finish... :D  over all it was a very fun satisfyingly baby-filled trip.  Life is good.

29.5 Weeks OR A Slight Change in Plans

So, it's been a while since I posted.  And not that much has happened...I think...We'll see.
First an update on Johnathan (yes that's how we're spelling his name):
     -He's healthy and growing just like the Dr. thinks he should (which is wonderful)
     -He hasn't made me diabetic (yay!  not that it would have made much of a difference in my eating habits since Albert, but whatever)
     -He refuses to kick for his dad.
     -His favorite thing to do (as far as I can tell) is kick my bladder (he needs to learn a new trick)
     -He also likes to kick just anywhere...and punch...and just push out slowly (which feels weird)
     -He's got a whole bunch of clothes that Albert's mom and I got at a sale thingy for wonderfully low prices.
          -this includes bibs and little tiny socks that I think are so completely adorable (albert thinks I'm ridiculous)

That's about all that's new with him...exempt I finally finished the teddy bear I started over a year ago and have decided to give it to him.

As for me...well...there have been some interesting changes:
So, previously my plan was to continue on with school until I fully graduated with my Bachelors (even with the baby) ...however, at this point, reality has hit and Albert and I are seeing that I'm an extreme stress case now with just being pregnant, working, going to school, and doing homework. So, next fall will be my last semester until...an unknown time. Luckily I only have one class left before I have fully completed my Associates degree in Elementary Education here at UVU (yet another blessing of UVU....they actually give out associates degrees.) Anyways yeah. I had very mixed feelings when Albert and I first talked about this (scared, unsure, not sure if I'd be happy with myself, all the while knowing that it'd get rid of a TON of stress and I'd have more time with Johnathan), but with a slight change in med-school plans we now hope to stay in Utah, where one does not need even an associate's degree in order to be an elementary school librarian. yep. that's the plan. I'll stop school to become what I'm going to school to be...


Other than that, life goes on and we're happy!
     Albert is almost done with finals (mine start next week) and has thinks that I've gone completely baby crazy and tries to "limit my time with babies". Unfortunately for Albert's best efforts, I have been called as the Primary President in our ward...and since the oldest child in our ward is 2 I spend all of my time after sacrament meeting on Sunday with adorable little children.
     A few Sundays ago, my counselor, Kristen, was trying to shoot some balls into the basketball hoop on the opposite side of the room ("Jimmer range" as we decided to call it) and two balls bounced off and went into the trash. the oldest nursery child exclaimed "You put it in the trash!" and proceeded to tell her that every few minutes. Needless to say, he made us laugh a lot.
     Oh! I almost forgot, while I was hanging out with Andrea, she very graciously helped me make a changing pad for a diaper bag (which I have yet to make, but I have the fabric for it...I've just been sick and so have been avoiding getting Ange's adorable girls sick). it turned out pretty well. :) Albert even was impressed...which made me very happy because he has this thing against re-using fabric and sewing things that I'm REALLY trying to get him over...I will succeed!!
     Due to a lot of rain this past week, we've discovered a leaky roof right over the toilet...lots of fun...no it doesn't drip INTO the toilet...just on the seat.  Luckily we're going to get it fixed soon...
     So yep, that's us. :)  We happy and almost healthy and very ready to be done with this semester (though Albert is still taking summer classes).
     Still no baby-bump pictures yet...sorry...maybe next time?

I remember last year

It was my very first valentine's day when I was actually with someone. :) We celebrated Valentine's day the day before because Valentine's day was Sunday.  I had work in the morning....I was still a page...and when I came back, you had gone to the store and gotten me a large bouquet of circus roses (I'm not sure if I ever told you how impressed I was that you remembered that those were my favorite...not just on Valentine's day...but before that when we were dating...I only told you once...and that was on our first date) and a whole bunch or rose petals...and then you spread the rose petals out on the bed...over the temple blanket my mom made us...it was white side up...and then we "played with our set of keys" and almost ruined the blanket haha!  we decided to not do it with petals on the bed ever again haha.

after that we got dressed...I wore my red dress and you wore your suit pants and a blue dress shirt.  we went to tucanoes and that same waiter guy told us that we should wait to have kids. :)  silly waiter.  That's all I really remember...we got the rose...and we probably cuddled a lot and stuff...:)  it was fun...  it was memerable (mostly haha)  It made me love you more. <3

 

"bob-we-had-a-baby-it's-a-boy"

So, the baby is a boy!!  For the sake of those who love pictures in blogs:

nice picture proof of the boyness. :)  During the ultrasound he was moving around a lot...very active...only even with the ultrasound thing pressing into my belly, I still couldn't really feel him moving...the nurse reassured me that it's ok to not feel him moving for a while, so I just have to be patient...  Sorry, I haven't taken or posted any pictures of my "baby bump" yet...maybe tomorrow...maybe...haha.  I was told today that I don't even have one...but my clothes mostly beg to differ...
Albert and I have decided upon the name "Jonathan"...we just aren't 100% sure exactly how we're going to spell it... and we aren't sure what the middle initial is going to be (Albert doesn't like middle names for some reason, so I got him to at least give our sons middle initials). :)   But yeah. that's us.  we're super happy.  Albert's mom was super happy that she was right...and Albert's dad was so happy that he got it up on facebook before I did haha.  One of my visiting teachers, Katie, told me today that she knew how to make little boy vests and ties so I now get to look forward to a get together with her and my sister Andrea to make cute little boy clothes. :)  yep.  It's nice being able to talk about "the baby" and be able to call him by name...though it's been a bit of a transition to go from calling the back room "the baby's room" to "Jonathan's room"...but we'll get there...it's only been a day.
firsts in the last day and a half:
     -first time I got to see my son
     -first time I actually got heartburn
     -first time I met with my new visiting teachers
     -first time starting a mission fund for a child of mine
          -ok so it doesn't even have a dollar in it yet, but Albert and I figured that every little penny put in is a penny towards our son serving a mission, so might as well build it up...it'll add up quickly...hopefully.
     -first time in over 2 years attempting to make potatoes au grauten...haven't tasted it yet...it's still in the oven
          -this first time resulted in my first big cut since getting pregnant and lots of bleeding despite it being a very shallow wound...which may or may not have caused me to almost pass out.
     -first time in over a month that I've kept Albert up all night with moving around and talking in my sleep.
          -ok maybe this is the second...but then the first time would have been the night before...I was so proud of myself haha.
     -first time that I've actually noticed just how often I get hungry during the day...it's like every hour...or even half hour...yay for chips and salsa!
that's all the firsts I'm able to think of right now...yep!  it's been a good happy time  :)

almost a banana

         So...today is the day!  We find out if we're having a boy or a girl. :)  This coming Sunday makes us at week 20 (the half-way point, so after this it's all...downhill and getting bigger) which according to the site that sends me e-mails every week means that the baby is about the length of a banana.  I'm starting to actually show and am having a harder time fitting into most of my older shirts ("most" because I had a couple of those "I look like a maternity shirt but still look cute on a not pregnant person" shirts).  I haven't really felt the baby moving yet...I think I felt a bit of a flutter the other day, but it hasn't happened again yet so...we'll see.

         Morning sickness is totally gone (though I still have some troubles with really greasy meats like bacon, sausages and Wendy's hamburgers) and though I'm still tired, I usually feel fairly awake in the morning (so that's the time to see me right now cuz I won't be a total space case like I get in the evenings).

         Albert has been very good with dealing with all the moodiness, and tiredness, and crying, and mind changing, and picky-eatingness that comes with me being pregnant. :)  He also has been very patient with me counting down the days until today (when we find out what we're having) and with me getting hungry at really random times (like right before we're going to bed...though he does still look at me like "are you SERIOUSLY hungry again?" haha) now I just need to work on getting him to get the food for me lol.

         So: thoughts right before going in to the OB/GYN

-we don't care if it's a boy or a girl...we just would really like a healthy baby.

-Albert is still worried that it's going to end up being twins even though the Dr. told us that if it were twins I'd be bigger by now (blame that on a couple of games of life and a dream his dad about us having twins without knowing that that same night Albert and I talked about the possibility of us having twins)

-Albert's mom is DEAD convinced that it's a boy...she says it's because I was so sick during morning sickness.

-Laura C. and Mandy (from work) both think it's a girl...they didn't give any reasons.

-I don't know what to think it is.

-Albert's dad is super duper excited...I think he's almost as excited as I am haha. :) it's a good thing.  our baby is going to have a great grandpa. :)

-it's going to be a lot easier after this appointment because now when people ask me what I'm having I can actually say that I know (unless the baby decides to be shy...we're hoping it won't be) and I can start planning on what the room is going to look like and start making outfits for it (with the help my ridiculous crafty sister, Andrea)

-I'm still trying to get Albert to speak more Spanish around the house now because some studies say that the baby is starting to hear now...so far I speak more Spanish than he does...even though he knows I'd be able to understand most of what he was saying to me.

-randomly feeling grateful that my child has decided that it DOES like sugar (unlike it was acting like at the very start of the pregnancy)...this is emphasized by the fact that Valentine's day is Sunday and my mom has sent out the valentine's day cookies...

         -laughing at Albert for not liking as much frosting as my mom usually puts on the cookies so she just frosted the edges and wrote his name in the middle and he seemed so relieved when I told him haha.

now my mind is on a tangent and really just wants to think about sugar...totally going to have rice crispies when I get home from school hahahaha. good thing I only have 1 class today.

Anyway, more later...hopefully including at least one picture. :)