Finally

I am a college grad and it feels so good. It only took me six years but I finally finished and I will never look back. Life has been a little nuts this past month and I have to publicly thank Tim for keeping me from jumping off the roof. Because I am not lying - it was tempting.

I had a feeling this semester was going to be a little difficult, taking 18 credits and still working full-time in West Valley. But I figured that I'd done it several times before and I could do it again. I did not take into account the whole new angle that being pregnant would throw at me. It has been a highly emotional and frustrating time, but now its over!!! (This really deserves like 129 exclamation points). I am doing my best to breathe a deep sigh of relief, but this kid is seriously crowding my lungs.

I also turned 24. That's kind of big one for me. It's the age that I have always used when I am guessing someone's age that I think is older than me but not really old yet. It's weird to use it as the age to describe myself.

It was a perfect day. And not only because I did NOT have homework hanging over my head for once. My mom treated me in the morning to a massage and pedicure, then lunch at Iron Gate Grill in Logan. When I got home Tim was making a birthday cake. His family came over and watched me open my gift from him, which was the sewing machine I asked for. THEN we went to Applebee’s with our friends Devin and Kailey and met Erin and Jesse there. Some crazy games of Catch Phrase and Dominoes ensued. I loved it. Thanks to everyone who made the day great!

I've been booting Tim off the bed with the copious number of pillows needed to prop up my huge body, so the first order of business was making smaller pillows that would still do the job. I was making pillow cases for them and Tim had to give it a try. He's so cute.

 

Carribean Cruise

Well we just got back from our much anticipated cruise! It was so fun enjoying the heat, the food, and the sea. I love love love beaches and sun more than anything so I couldn't really ask for more. We loved that Dana and Steve came and made the trip that much better! We spent a lot of time in-between locations lying out by the pool, working on our tans and eating. (DISCLAIMER: I'm not just chubby in these pics. There's a baby in there.)

Our first stop was Jamaica. It was a pretty amazing place to visit once, but I don't think I'll go back anytime soon. We hiked right up the middle of Dunn's River Falls (without a guide, thankfully) then spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. All the while getting hounded to either let them take our picture for a tip, or buy marijuana.

We weren't able to spend time at Grand Cayman and swim with the stingrays like we'd hoped because they closed the port to due high winds. We went to Key West instead (which was beautiful) and went snorkeling. It was our first time and it was even better than I thought it would be. Tim had a minor panic attack when we got in the water because he couldn't figure out the snorkel and float at the same time. He forgot to blow up his life vest. Luckily, the guide noticed and gave him some help. After that we loved seeing all the fish. We even came face to face with a Barracuda!

After the cruise we had a day to burn before the long flight home, so we caught a couple taxis and spent the day at the Metro Zoo in Miami. It was actually pretty fun. The animals were a little more lively than they normally are at Hogle Zoo, so we got a few good pics.

It was kind of rough coming back to school and work and snow. All in all, successful vacation!

Updated: News

We had the targeted ultrasound done yesterday (3/9). It was pretty amazing. The little guy was moving so much the tech had some trouble getting a clear shot. I'm surprised I can't feel him move more often with all the jumping around he's doing in there.
 

At our last appointment the doctor said that he was 98% sure it was a boy, but the umbilical cord was wrapped between the legs, so he couldn't be 100%. This pretty much took it to 100%.

News

Gender = Male
Tim could not wipe this grin off his face. It's still there right now. And I am pretty dang excited myself! I hope he looks just like his dad.

VACAY!

Before we found out that I was pregnant, Tim and I had some big plans. We had a trip planned to Disneyland in December, and then Costa Rica for my graduation present in the spring. The baby put those plans on hold. As if canceling vacations isn't a big enough bummer, add a couple months of morning sickness.

I feel guilty about it now, but it made it pretty hard for me to be excited about being pregnant. I would get in a slump and Tim would remind me that we have a lot of friends that are trying to have children and it's not working out like they'd hoped. I can't imagine being in that situation, so I really am so thankful that we never had to worry about that. Now I feel incredibly blessed that we are going to start our family soon. And really, the timing is good. I graduate in May, Tim's work is going well, we just sold our condo (today!), we'll have been married for over four years, and we are unbelievably happy together.

That being said, I needed that vacation. So we are going to the Caribbean! We are headed out with our friends Steve and Dana (get Dana's funny take on the way it was planned here) on February 28. It is a six day cruise to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. SUN! FUN! MORE SUN! I can't wait.

Adding to my excitement is the fact that we find out on Monday if we are having a girl or a boy. For some reason whenever we tell people that, they say, "Hopefully it's not both!"

YEAH.

We were going to do this to the guest room anyway, but now we can say we did it for the baby. Let the nesting begin!

Before

After